Motion and Animation Presets

The editor has one animation system in two places. The compact Animation section in Properties covers everyday moves while you cut. The Motion workspace (Alt+3) opens the full layered composition: layers, keyframes, graphs, presets, and procedural motion.

Select one or more Edit clips and choose Create Motion Clip to keep them inside a layered composition. Select an existing Motion Clip and choose Open in Motion to edit its layers.

Apply an editable preset

1. Select one or more clips or Motion layers.
2. Choose a preset under Entrance, Exit, or Emphasis.
3. Set On apply to Replace to swap motion with the same intent, or Add to keep existing keyframes.
4. Open the property rows or the value graph to adjust the generated keyframes.

The Applied section lists manual keyframes and each preset application separately. Select an entry to move the playhead to its first keyframe.

Add a live behavior

Live behaviors evaluate during playback without creating keyframes. Leave them live for motion you can adjust, or bake them when you need frame-level control.

• Select a behavior tile to apply it with its default settings.
• Adjust Intensity and Duration from its applied controls.
• The hatched band in the Motion timeline shows where procedural motion runs.
• Applying a behavior to several clips offsets their phases instead of moving everything in lockstep.

Build a composition

1. Choose Motion in the workspace switcher, or press Alt+3.
2. Pick an existing composition from the composition menu, or choose New Comp.
3. Drag video, audio, images, text, shapes, Lottie files, or another composition in from the media library.
4. Or choose Add Item to create Text, Solid Color, Gradient, Shape, or Null Object layers.

A composition can never contain itself, directly or through a chain of nesting.

Set duration and active range

The authored duration defines the composition. The In and Out handles on the ruler define the active render range inside it.

1. Drag the In and Out handles above the Motion ruler to mark the active range.
2. Choose Trim Comp to Active Region to shorten the authored composition to that range.
3. Choose Zoom To Fit to frame the composition without changing its duration.
4. Edit Comp Duration in Properties, and switch its unit between frames and seconds.

Layers that run past the authored duration stay visible in the dimmed overhang.

Arrange and time layers

• Drag a layer span to move it in time. Selected layers move together in one undo step.
• Edit each layer's In and Out fields, or drag its span edges to trim it.
• Use the layer controls for visibility, lock, solo, blend mode, and stacking order.
• Drag the three-dot handle to reorder a layer or group. Child layers stay inside their group.
• Select two or more layers and choose Layer Group. Group visibility, lock, solo, timing, and reordering apply to its children.
• Right-click a layer or group to rename, group, ungroup, duplicate, copy, paste, or delete it.

Animate properties

• Expand a layer to reveal property groups, value controls, auto-key, navigation, and keyframe diamonds.
• Set the property filter to Animated properties when you only want rows that carry keys.
• Select a property diamond to add or remove a key at the shared playhead.
• Select two neighboring keys to edit their segment easing.
• Select a property's curve icon to swap its dope-sheet lane for an inline value graph.
• Open the Position group menu and choose Separate Position dimensions to edit X and Y independently.

Parent layers with a Null Object

1. Choose Add Item > Null Object. A Null Object controls transforms but never renders.
2. Choose a parent from the Parent menu, or drag the parent pick whip onto another layer.
3. Release normally to preserve the child's canvas pose.
4. Hold Shift while releasing to snap the child position to the parent, or Alt/Option to use the child's authored local pose.
5. Ctrl-click or Command-click the child pick whip to detach it while keeping its current pose.

Valid parent targets highlight while you drag. Self-parenting, descendant targets, and links that would create a cycle are rejected.

Link properties or write an expression

Parenting creates a layer hierarchy. A Property Link makes one property follow another without changing that hierarchy.

• Drag a property pick whip to a compatible row in Motion, the dope sheet, or the graph.
• Link scalar values to scalar values. Position, Scale, and Anchor link as complete two-dimensional values.
• Select the braces button to add a sandboxed expression without deleting the property's keyframes.
• Use the expression pick whip to insert a prop("layer-id", "property") reference at the cursor.
• Use value, preValue, frame, time, scalar or [x, y] values, arithmetic, and the supported math functions.

Keyframes are evaluated first, then Property Link, then the expression. Preview and export use the same order.

Reuse a composition

1. Open Published controls inside the source composition.
2. Publish the text or colors that should be changeable on placed instances.
3. Place the composition in a regular sequence and select that instance.
4. Edit its published values in Properties without touching the source composition.
5. Reset one override, or use Reset all overrides, to restore the source values.

A placed composition behaves like any other clip: move, trim, animate, or apply effects to the instance. Internal layer animation and whole-clip animation stay independent, so a title can animate inside itself while the instance fades in Edit.

Save motion for reuse

1. Choose Bake to keyframes to sample live layer behaviors into editable property keys.
2. Select the clip with the animation you want to keep.
3. Choose Save Animation, name it, and save it to the project library.
4. Apply the saved animation to another compatible clip or layer.

Saved animations can carry editable keyframes, live behaviors, text motion, or a mix. Use Applied to tell them apart, remove one preset application without touching unrelated keys, and use Trim animation to delete keys a trim left outside a clip. Trim animation changes stored animation, so use the toast action or Undo if you need those keys back.

Related

• Keyframe Animation
• Shapes and Masks