Adobe After Effects CS4 User Manual
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USING AFTER EFFECTS CS4
Layers and properties
Last updated 12/21/2009
•
To show only properties that have keyframes or expressions, press U, or choose Animation
> Reveal Animating
Properties.
The U and UU commands are especially useful for learning how animation presets, template projects, or other
animated items work, because they isolate the properties that were modified by the designer of those items.
You can also filter layers in the Timeline panel to show only layers with properties that match a search string. See
“
Search and filter in the Timeline, Project, and Effects & Presets panels
Select a property or property group in the Timeline panel
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To select a property or property group—including all values, keyframes, and expressions—click the name in the
layer outline in the Timeline panel.
Anchor Point property selected
Copy or duplicate a property or property group in the Timeline panel
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To copy properties from one layer or property group to another, select the layer, property, or property group, press
Ctrl+C (Windows) or Command+C (Mac OS), select the target layer, property, or property group, and press
Ctrl+V (Windows) or Command+V (Mac OS).
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To duplicate a property group, select the property group and press Ctrl+D (Windows) or Command+D (Mac OS).
You can only duplicate some property groups, including shapes, masks, and effects. However, you can’t duplicate top-
level property groups such as Contents, Masks, Effects, and Transforms. If you attempt to duplicate a top-level
property group, the entire layer is duplicated, instead.
Copy a value from a layer property that contains no keyframes
You can copy the current value of a layer property to another layer, even when the original layer contains no keyframes.
1
In the Timeline panel, show the layer property containing the value you want to copy.
2
Click the name of the layer property to select it.
3
Choose Edit > Copy.
4
Select the layer into which you want to paste the value.
5
If the target layer contains keyframes, move the current-time indicator to the time where you want to paste the
value. If the target layer does not contain keyframes, the new value applies to the entire duration of the layer.
6
Choose Edit > Paste.
More Help topics
Keyframes and the Graph Editor (keyboard shortcuts)
Showing properties and groups in the Timeline panel (keyboard shortcuts)