Navigation and Shortcuts

Navigation and Shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts make a huge difference in your ability
to work speedily and effortlessly in the Timeline.
Time Navigation
Many users—particularly editors—learn time navigation
shortcuts right away. Others primarily drag the current
time indicator, which can quickly become tedious. See if
there are any here you don’t already know:
. Home, End, Page Up, and Page Down correspond
to moving to the fi rst or last frame of the composition,
one frame backward, and one frame forward,
respectively.

. Shift+Page Up and Shift+Page Down skip ten frames
backward or forward, respectively.
. Shift+Home and Shift+End navigate to the work area
In and Out points respectively, and the B and N keys set
these points at the current time.
. I and O keys navigate to the beginning and end frames
of the layer.
. Press Alt+Shift+J/Opt+Shift+J or click on the current
time status at the upper left of the Timeline to navigate
to a specifi c frame or timecode number. In this dialog,
enter +47 to increment 47 frames or –47 to decrement
the same number; if you entered –47, that would navigate
to a negative time position instead of offsetting by
that number.

Make Layers Behave

We were reviewing fi lm-outs of shots in progress from The
Day After Tomorrow at The Orphanage when my shot began
to loop; it looked out a window at stragglers making their
way across a snow-covered plaza and featured a beautiful
matte painting by Mike Pangrazio. About two-thirds
through the shot came a subtle pop. At some point, the
shot had been lengthened, and a layer of noise and dirt I
had included at approximately 3% transparency (for the
window itself) had remained shorter in a subcomposition.

With power comes responsibility. After Effects allows you to
time the entrance and exit of layers in a way that would be
excruciating in other compositing applications that have
no built-in sense of a layer start or end. To avoid the gotcha
where a layer or comp comes up short, it is wise to make
everything way longer than you ever expect you’ll need—
overengineer in subcomps and trim in the master comp.
To add a layer beginning at a specifi c time, drag the element
to the layer area; a second time indicator appears
that moves with your cursor (horizontally). This determines
the layer’s start frame. If other layers are present
and visible, you can also place it in layer order by dragging
it between them.


Here are some other useful tips and shortcuts:

• . Ctrl+/ (Cmd+/) adds a layer to the active composition.
• . Ctrl+Alt+/ (Cmd+Opt+/) replaces the selected layer in

a composition (as does option dragging one element
over another—either in the Timeline or the Project
panel—this can be hugely useful).

• . J and K navigate to the previous or next visible

keyframe, layer marker, or work area start/end,
respectively.

• . Ctrl+Alt+B/Cmd+Option+B sets the Work Area to the

length of any selected layers. To reset the Work Area to
the length of the composition, double-click it.

• . Numeric keypad numbers select layers with that

number.

• . Ctrl+Up Arrow (Cmd+Up Arrow) selects the next layer

up; down works the same.

• . Ctrl+] (Cmd+]) and Ctrl+[ (Cmd+[) move a layer

up or down one level in the stack. Ctrl+Shift+] and
Ctrl+Shift+[ move a layer to the top or bottom of the
stack.

• . Context-click > Invert Selection to invert the layers currently

selected. (Locked layers are not selected, but shy
layers are selected even if invisible.)

• . Ctrl+D (Cmd+D) to duplicate any layer (or virtually any

selected item).

• . Ctrl+Shift+D (Cmd+Shift+D) splits a layer; the source

ends and the duplicate continues from the current
time.

• . [ and ] move the In or Out points of selected layers to

the current time. Add Alt (Option) to set the current
frame as the In or Out point, trimming the layer.

• . Double-ended arrow icon over the end of a trimmed

layer lets you slide it, preserving the In and Out points
while translating the timing and layer markers (but not
keyframes).

• . Alt+PgUp/PgDn (Option+PgUp/PgDn) nudges a layer

and its keyframes forward or backward in time. Alt/
Option+Home or End moves the layer’s In point to the
beginning of the comp, or the Out point to the end.


Layer > Transform (or context-click a layer > Transform)
includes three ways to fi ll a frame with the selected layer:

• . Ctrl+Alt+F (Cmd+Option+F) centers a layer and fi ts

both horizontal and vertical dimensions of the layer,
whether or not this is non-uniform scaling.

• . Ctrl+Alt+Shift+H/Cmd+Option+Shift+H centers but

fits only the width.

• . Ctrl+Alt+Shift+G/Cmd+Option+Shift+G centers but

fi ts only the height.
Those shortcuts are a handful; context-clicking the layer
for the Transform menu is nearly as easy.