The Timeline shows the active composition's layers against time: each layer's bar, its keyframes, markers, the playhead and the work area. It is the After Effects Timeline panel, with video-editing additions such as lanes, transitions and ripple delete.
Layout
Left side (layer outline): one row per layer with these switches and columns:
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Eye | Show or hide the layer. |
| Solo | Solo the layer. On audio layers this is the same as the Mixer's solo: monitoring only, not saved. |
| Shy (H) | Mark the row shy. With Hide Shy Layers on (in the + menu), shy rows leave the list. They still render. |
| Lock | Lock or unlock the layer. |
| Speaker | Mute or unmute audio. On a group it mutes the group's audio. |
| Twirl | Expand a layer to show its animated properties, keyframe rows and, for audio, the waveform lane. |
| Name | Kind icon and layer name. |
Optional columns, shown from the + menu in the header and resized by dragging their header dividers (double-click to reset). Click a column title to condense it.
| Column | What it does | Shown by default |
|---|---|---|
| Mode | Blending mode. Hover the list to preview each mode on the frame. | No |
| Matte | Track matte: source, Alpha/Luma toggle, Invert, and a pick whip you drag onto another layer. Add another matte to build a composite matte stack. | Yes |
| Link | Transform parent — or Follow in time (a time link). A layer that follows another shows a chip; click it to stop following. | No |
| In | The layer's in point. | No |
| Out | The layer's out point. | No |
| Stretch | Time stretch %, and ↺ to reverse. | No |
Right side: the time ruler, layer bars, keyframes, markers and the work area bar.
The + menu (Show columns and filter layers)
| Item | What it does |
|---|---|
| Show Column ▸ Blending Mode, Matte, Link, Time - In, Time - Out, Time - Stretch | Toggle each optional column. |
| Only Visible Layers (eye on) | List only layers whose eye is on. |
| Only Soloed Layers | While something is soloed, list only the layers that play. |
| Hide Shy Layers | Take shy rows out of the list. The count of shy layers is shown. |
| Only Unlocked Layers | List only layers that aren't locked. |
| New Lane | Make a lane from the selected layers, or an empty one at the top. |
Filters only change the list; hidden rows still exist and render.
Header bar
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Render | Open the Render dialog (⌘M / Ctrl+M). |
| Timeline zoom | Zoom the time axis. Keys 0 (in) and 9 (out). |
| Waveform | Show or hide audio waveforms. |
| Easing presets | Apply easing presets to selected keyframes without opening the graph editor. |
| Marker | Drag onto the ruler for a comp marker, or onto a layer's row for a layer marker. |
Working with layer bars
- Drag a bar to move the layer in time. Drag its ends to trim the in and out points.
- Drag the row-height handle to make rows or lanes taller; drag a waveform's edge to resize it.
- Right-click the ruler to switch the time display between seconds and frames.
Clip right-click menu
| Item | What it does |
|---|---|
| Speed ▸ Custom | Set the playback speed as a percentage. |
| ↺ Reverse | Play the clip backwards. |
| ❄ Freeze Frame | Hold the frame under the playhead for the whole layer. Extend the clip and it holds. |
| ◷ Time Remap | Precomps, drawings and video/sequence footage. Retime with a curve that starts as a straight line across the clip; keyframe it to bend. It replaces speed and reverse. |
| Label | Pick a label colour, or the default kind colour. Right-clicking inside a selection labels the whole selection. |
| ◫ Guide Layer | Show the layer in this comp's viewer only — renders, exports and parent comps skip it. |
| ✎ Draw Over This Clip | Make a vector drawing layer above the clip, as long as it, that moves with it in time. |
| ⧓ Add Transition Before / After | Clips in a lane. |
| ⇤ Ripple Delete | Clips in a lane. Remove the clip and pull everything after it back to close the gap. |
| Reveal in Project Panel | Clips from footage. |
Right-click where two clips in a lane meet to get the transitions for that cut. Transition kinds: Cross Dissolve, Dip to Black, Dip to White, Dip to Colour, Wipe, Push, Slide, Zoom and Blur Dissolve, with Direction, Feather and Amount where they apply. Alignment options are Centre on Cut, Start at Cut and End at Cut. Click a transition on the bar for its settings; drag its ends to change its length.
Keyframe right-click menu
| Item | What it does |
|---|---|
| Linear, Ease In/Out, Ease In, Ease Out, Hold, Bounce, Elastic | Set the easing of the key (or of all properties at that time on a collapsed row). |
| Key label | Give the key its own label colour, or None to follow the layer's label. |
| Time-Reverse Keyframes | Reverse the selected keys in time. |
| Save Motion to Library | Save the transform keyframes and their easing, relative to the layer, to the Library's Motion tab. |
| Loop Keyframes ▸ Cycle, Ping-Pong, Continue, Off | Loop the layer's keyframes. Off stops looping and holds the last value. |
| Delete All Keyframes | Remove every keyframe; the property keeps its current value. |
Click a property name in the outline to select every keyframe on that channel, or drag down the column to sweep several. Shift or Ctrl adds to the selection. A selection of keys shows handles to move it and to scale it in time.
Marker right-click menu
Edit Comment…, Delete This Marker, Copy Comp Markers to Selected Layers, Copy Layer Markers to Comp.
Work area right-click menu
| Item | What it does |
|---|---|
| Trim Comp to Work Area | Cut the comp's duration to the work area (one undo). |
| Clear Work Area | Remove the work area. |
Drawing frames
On drawing layers, frames appear as blocks. Drag a block to move it, ⌥-drag (Alt-drag) to copy it, and drag its right edge to change how long it holds. Right-click for Split Frame (F6) and Delete Frame.
Shortcuts
| Action | Mac | Windows / Linux |
|---|---|---|
| Play / pause | Space | Space |
| Step 1 frame back / forward | PageUp / PageDown | PageUp / PageDown |
| Jump to comp start / end | Home / End | Home / End |
| Audio-only preview from the playhead (press again or Space to stop) | D or Numpad . | D or Numpad . |
| Set work area start / end | B / N | B / N |
| Go to layer in / out point | I / O | I / O |
| Previous / next keyframe on selected layer | , / . or J / K | , / . or J / K |
| Slide layer in / out point to playhead | [ / ] | [ / ] |
| Trim layer in / out point to playhead | ⌥[ / ⌥] | Alt+[ / Alt+] |
| Zoom timeline in / out | 0 / 9 | 0 / 9 |
| Marker at playhead | * or ⇧M | * or Shift+M |
| Go to composition marker 0–9 (main-keyboard digits) | 0–9 | 0–9 |
| Set composition marker 0–9 at the playhead (moves it if it exists) | ⇧0–⇧9 | Shift+0–Shift+9 |
| Copy / cut keyframes | ⌘C / ⌘X | Ctrl+C / Ctrl+X |
| Paste keyframes at playhead | ⌘V | Ctrl+V |
| Paste keyframes time-reversed | ⌘⇧V | Ctrl+Shift+V |
| Move selected keyframes 1 frame earlier / later | ⌥← / ⌥→ | Alt+← / Alt+→ |
| Delete selected keyframes | Delete | Delete |
| Split layer at playhead | ⌘⇧D | Ctrl+Shift+D |
| Add default transition at the nearest cut | ⇧⌥D | Alt+Shift+D |
| Show audio waveform lane | LL | LL |
| Hold the drawing one frame less | ⇧F5 | Shift+F5 |
| Split drawing frame at the playhead | F6 | F6 |
| New drawing frame | F7 | F7 |
The property-reveal keys (P, S, R, O, A, L, U, E, M) are listed on the Properties page.
Tips
- The particle and physics cache shows as a green band; scrubbing inside it is instant.
Shortcuts can be changed, and the After Effects keymap preset changes some of them; see Help ▸ Keyboard Shortcuts… for the current set.