How To Copy & Paste Keyframes - An Adobe After Effects tutorial 

Awesome. 11 minutes to teach a 5 second task.

Step one does not begin until 4:53 minutes of fluff! geez. Select keyframes. Copy it. (cmd-c (mac) or ctrl-c (pc)). move to different time. Paste it. (cmd-v or ctrl v)

For those who don't want to sit through an 11-minute video for 20 seconds of instructions, here's how to do it: select only the keyframes copy (cmd-c / ctrl-c) move to a different time click the layer you want to make sure it's selected paste (cmd-v / ctrl v)

"When you select a layer it turns from light grey to dark grey" Awesome piece of info i cant belive it

4:48 Enjoy

Hi. Can you please help me. I need to make the background of a subtitle to appear/disappear with the subtitle. Is it a way to copy the key frames from the "Source text" over the layer of the background? Thanks so much!

You sound like Seth Rogen.

Ok. I got the whole copy and paste but I have a question. If I convert audio to keyframe how do I cut out the keyframe so that the text is affected only after half of the keyframe.. I tried to drop it in scaling but even when I take say the front part of the keyframe the text is still affected even though it does not show the keyframe anymore.. OK OK. let me run thru this. I put audio in. I use animation to convert to keyframe, I then create text, I split the keyeframe and take off the front of one and the back of the other, i add text to timeline, I link the text to back end of keyframe, when I run the audio the text is still affected by the other part of the keyframe but yet, I never linked the front part of the split keyframe.. what am i doing wrong?

Looks to me like they have a camera that just moves back in 3d space and there are 3d layers about. How that helps.

what did you do at 3:50 ? Can you tell me! thank u so much :)

Great tutorial, thanks! Also, I believe the hot key for opacity is T because opacity = Transparency :)

Isnt there a way to just aply it to the first and last keyframes?

Is there a way to copy the value of keyframes for position? That a box follows the exact movement of another object, but at the current position of that object? (Every time I copy the position value, the objects moves to the exakt same position, which I did not want - only the value)

Thanks for the tutorial. I'm new to After Effects, so little bits of info like this are helpful :]

Hey quick questions, just wondering if you can copy/paste keyframes on the same layer?

Can we do this same thing in flash CS5.5?

Also, what shortcut did you use to jump ahead in the timeline like that? Thanks again!

Is there any alterations to rotating from MOVING the shape itself to STEER it around - like a driving wheel?

Is there a way to copy and paste an adjusted velocity value from one keyframe simultaneously onto multiple other keyframes in different layers?

just bustin' your balls. I've been searching videos to find out how you copy and paste keyframes. When trying to do this with multiple layers of keyframes it actually pastes the whole layer and not only the keyframes. In order to do this I finally found out you can only copy keyframes on 1 layer at a time.

Hey there, I know this is a silly question but i'm new to AE...how did you resize the "@ecabrams" while keeping it all the same dimensions? For the life of me I cant seem to figure it out. When I drag the corner to resize it changes the height and width depending on how I move it. I thought holding shift then dragging would work..like it does in PS, but that doesnt work. Your help would be so appreciated! And thanks for this vid. Saved me a ton of time!

I'm pretty sure this one was done in CS6. Alt+drag still does the same thing and copy/paste still does the same thing. What exactly are you trying to copy and where are you trying to paste it?

Thank you for replying. Well I am doing this game animation and I have 3 positions of the character. The 1st and 3rd animation are the same and the 2nd is different so it will have a loop. I did the 1st and 2nd and now I'm trying to make the 3rd by alt+dragging the 1st. But to my surprise it does nothing. I tried the good ol copy+paste method and it duplicates the entire layer with all the properties. So I'm really wondering why it doesn't do that. I tried CS5 and I had no problem. IDK why. :/

any idea how to copy and paste key frames into the same layer? im animating a person walking and i wanna create a loop i have the first steps my idea was to just copy and paste the first steps and have the person walking for a while. any idea how i can do this?

Hey Andrew. I'm pretty sure those are made using a stock plugin called "twitch" by video copilot. Or a similar thing from Red Giant. Making it from scratch is a little complex but if you want to get close try using the "offset" effect and some channel effects in there.

hello!!! I have a problem with my animation I have a walk cycle and I wanna copy/ paste my keyframes. I don't wanna use the looping expression cause it seems its doesn't work. My problem is that every time I copy my keyframes and paste them one sec after it creates new layers of the same walk cycle. It doesn't paste them in my timeline what should i do ?

Sadly I can't duplicate the error. If you're alt+dragging something it should be to stretch or compress existing frames. As for your pasting a whole new layer. it must be a miss match in source to location. Do you perhaps also have the layer selects for duplication? That might be it. Either way I've never had the problem myself and I can't seem to make it happen on my setup so I'm not totally sure what to offer as advice except to try copying and pasting one property at a time.

I have a Question how about triming a video, like for instance im a gamer right? im trying to trim the best shooting from the person i shot and i die in the end is there anyway to edit it?

How do you duplicate a key frame to the same layer? I am trying to do an extended pause in animation.

Do you know how to save these transitions as a present , like an effect which I can just drop onto my clips ?

I almost didn't watch this because I know how to cut & paste keyframes. Still learned something new. Thanks for all the tutorials.

why not? Are you seeing them? Do you have the timeline open?

my copy and paste function is not working anymore for key frames. What could be the issue?

This 1 really helping me with animation assignment easier, simple and informative

Just started teaching myself to use After Effects and this really saved me!!! Thank you

1:06 Well played, Sir. Well played. ^__^

I agree, this is definitely using the stock settings in Twitch. I'm currently in the process of creating my own library of glitch effects so I can have more granular control over the effects, and my process for the RGB splitting effect involves creating 3 duplicate layers of the precomposed source material, using the Set Channels effect to set each one to a separate color channel, and writing twitch expressions for each one, the controls of which are tied to independent sliders on each channel.

I didn't fully understand why it would paste keyframes in a seemingly random place. Now I know it all depends on where the play head is at. Thanks you Evan.

came from your website to say thanks for taking the time to help with your tutorials

I would have to see it. Can you send me a link to the video?

Has anyone come up with a solution yet to copy and paste keyframes from multiple layers? I have a composition with approx. 16 layers with reference keyframes that are to be copied and pasted to another composition with the same layers and effects. Adding up to the problem: the keyframes are on an effect to which you cannot add expressions. Can it be solved by writing a script?

Thanks for the professional presentation, with just enough humor.

Hey this is a fantastic video, I was wondering is there a way to copy and paste with paint animations as well? Like being able to copy some animations you added on one subject and copying it on an entirely new subject?

These are handy tutorials, useful for many kinds of projects. Granted the T for opacity was the main thing to learn from this particular video :)

That is correct. To get an idea of why that is paste the keyframe data into a text editor. You'll see many rows of things. If the target location can't take those rows then it has to make a new layer. So for your other woes: What happens when you select multiple keyframes, hold alt and click and drag one of the frames you've selected?

You should put what version of AE you're using because this doesn't work in CS6 anymore. Also do you by any chance know how to copy paste keyframes in CS6 because alt+drag doesn't work and copy pasting method only pastes the layers.

have you tried copy/paste in the same layer?

Thanks Evan... I'm always learning something new looking at your videos... You are the best!

What if I add effects in the keyframe... How can I copy it together to another keyframe?

Trying to work out how i could create the effects in /watch?v=jJPOYCSHyIY seen between 1:17 and 1:20 and also the cromatic abortation effect seen at 2:48 to 2:49 any help of hints would be apprecatied. Thanks Andrew

No worries. Things computers do might seem random but we just need to remember it's because we don't fully know the "rules" they work with and then put the hammer down and let the computer off with a warning... this time.

Like always, a great tutorial. But i have another question about AE which i cant figure out... I will just go ahead to save you the whining :P I want to do Frame by Frame Animation in AE (with drawing and stuff, like the good old cartoons). I know that Adobe Flash is the better programm to use it for such a thing, but i dont own that -.- . Anyway, my major problem is that when i draw something, and i jump to the next keyframe, i dont see the stuff i have drawn in the last keyframe as a reference. So it should "Copy" the last keyframe i have drawn but into a seperate "layer" so i can delete that "layer" in the end to have only the orginial keyframes with the supposed animation. I hope u got the hang of it and i would really appreciate your help. Thanks.

Thanks for your help everyone. Knew it was something just needed the right people with the right information.

thankyou, these steps saved my life !

Thank you for explaining this so well.

how do I do this in Premiere Pro?

well thanks. I'll try my best to keep them coming :)

Thank you for the U key tip :D I've been clicking on the main twirldown button and manually hunting my layers. -___-;

well you're welcome. Glad you enjoy them.

Thank you. Useful and well-detailed.

Neither. Why should it be either or? I use a Mac Pro tower.

YEAH! I got it to work! When pasting keyframes in AE it doesn't behave like on the other Adobe softwares. You have to select only the property and not the layer when pressing paste command. But that didn't solve my Alt+dragging problem though. I'm still not able to do that shorter shortcut.

I actually utubed this 2 days ago cause I wasn't sure I was doing it 100% right. Thx

nice stuff you do my good sir, keep it up.

Nice work. I like your style

Thank you! This was helpful!

thank you, you really helped me :D

im trying to do karaoke, how to copy and paste keyframes to multiple layers ? and make the keyframes are aligned to their own layers. changing Time Indicator and copy/paste them one by one took so much time.

before 10 yeard this video its really helpful for AE 2022

no worries, enjoy

Exactly what part of Canada are you from?

i can't understand how to paste keyframes from an animation to a mask of a layer. if i copy the keyframes, and then try to paste them on the mask path, it will automatically paste them on the entire layer and fuck everything up. please, how do you do it?

ECA abrams this is interesting and all but you may need to explain what some of the shortcut keys do and what the buttons are that are required.Although you may not have time to reply to this if you can i would greatly appreciate it.thnx for the help tho because you did help.

it will always paste AT the playhead. You need to rethink how you want to do that.

i want to copy keyframes from multiple layers but it pastes the layers instead of keyframes..

Thanks Dude You saved my life ;)

I have a problem. When I try and copy and paste the keyframes, it copies and pastes the layers instead.

thank you! you just saved me hourrrss

more tutorials on animating text:) great video!!!

Talk talk talk talk talk after all that talking I got what I need so thanks SORTOF I geuss

you saved me a lot of time thx

I'm glad you like it. I'll try my best to keep delivering.

Well thanks. Always good to have a boost to my ego.

great tips! thank you!

ECAbrams, Is there a way to keep copy/pasting the same keyframes over and over again? For example, I'm making a layer blink every 2 secs, so I start at 0 sec, 0% Opacity, then at 2 secs, 100% Opacity, then at 4 sec, 0% again... I want to keep pasting 0% opacity, and 100%, every 4 seconds, but I have to manually move the playhead to the specific time in the timeline every time. Is there a shortcut to copy and paste the same values over and over again, every X seconds?

Thank you 😁, it helped!!!!

May I just say that you're videos are magnificent! I have learnt so much from you, I'm actually thinking of reading the after effects manual so I could perhaps get an insight into your mastery!

'Copy and Paste' keyframes one layer at a time.

Gr8 it really helped

Well thank you kindly sir.

Very useful! Thanks.

your'e awesome bro ..and you know what IT'S TRUE

in 2023 this helped me 😁😁😁

HOW TO DUPLICATE IN THE SAME LAYER ?

Thank You!

that was very helpful thanks

thank you so much really helpful

thank you very much for this tutorial, you are soy clear thanks

Well why didn't you just say so. I recommend the MacBook Pro of the two then. Screen space, CPU and RAM are your only concerns and highest is best. IF you can cram more into an air go nuts but the pros are, like their name suggest, for professional power use,

amazing.