Adding, navigating, and setting keyframes

To animate a property is to change its value over time. In Premiere Pro, effect properties can be animated by assigning keyframes to them.

A keyframe marks the point in time where you specify a value, such as spatial position, opacity, or audio volume. To create a change in a property over time, you set at least two keyframes—one keyframe for the value at the beginning of the change, and another keyframe for the value at the end of the change. Premiere Pro then creates a gradual change in values between keyframes, called interpolation.

You can work with keyframes either In the Timeline or in the Effect Controls panel.

Add keyframes

You can add keyframes in the Timeline or the Effect Controls panel at the current time. Use the Toggle Animation button in the Effect Controls panel to activate the keyframing process.

Select keyframes

If you want to modify or copy a keyframe, first select it in a Timeline panel. Unselected keyframes appear hollow; selected keyframes appear solid. You don’t need to select segments between keyframes because you can drag segments directly. Also, segments automatically adjust when you change the keyframes that define their end points.

Delete keyframes

If you no longer need a keyframe, you can easily delete it from an effect property in either the Effect Controls or a Timeline panel. You can remove all keyframes at once or deactivate keyframes for the effect property. In the Effect Controls, when you deactivate keyframes with the Toggle Animation button, existing keyframes are deleted and no new keyframes can be created until you reactivate keyframes.

View keyframes and graphs

The Effect Controls panel and Timeline panels let you adjust the timing and values of keyframes, but they work in different ways. The Effect Controls panel displays all effect properties, keyframes, and interpolation methods at once. Clips in a Timeline panel show only one effect property at a time. In the Effect Controls panel, you have complete control over keyframe values. In a Timeline panel, you have limited control. For example, you can’t change values that use x and y coordinates, such as Position, in a Timeline. However, you can make keyframe adjustments without moving to the Effect Controls panel.

The graphs in the Timeline and Effect Controls panels display the values of each keyframe and the interpolated values between keyframes. When the graph of an effect property is level, the value of the property is unchanged between keyframes. When the graph goes up or down, the value of a property increases or decreases between keyframes. You can affect the speed and smoothness of the property changes from one keyframe to the next. Just change the interpolation method and adjust Bezier curves.

View keyframes in the Effect Controls panel

If you’ve added keyframes to a sequence clip, you can view them in the Effect Controls panel. Any effect containing keyframed properties displays Summary Keyframe icons when the effect is collapsed. Summary keyframes appear across from the effect heading and correspond to all the individual property keyframes contained in the effect. You cannot manipulate summary keyframes; they appear for reference only.

View keyframes and properties in a Timeline panel

If you’ve added keyframes to animate an effect, you can view them and their properties in a Timeline panel. For video and audio effects, a Timeline panel can display the keyframes specific to each clip. For audio effects, a Timeline panel can also display the keyframes for an entire track. Each clip or track can display a different property. However, you can display the keyframes for only one property at a time within an individual clip or track.

The segments connecting keyframes form a graph that indicates changes in keyframe values along the duration of the clip or track. Adjusting keyframes and segments changes the shape of the graph.

The tool tip displays the keyframe location, as well as the property and options you set for it in the Effect Controls panel. Use this information for making precise keyframe placements. You can quickly note the value you’ve set for a keyframe. You can also quickly compare the location and change in value of two or more keyframes.

Set keyframe display for a Timeline panel

You can specify the types of keyframes shown in the tracks of the Timeline. You can also specify whether keyframes are shown at all, by default. For example, you can choose to have keyframes hidden by default, so that you cannot set or change them accidentally when trying to edit a clip.

Move the current-time indicator to a keyframe

Both the Effect Controls and a Timeline panels have keyframe navigators, which have left and right arrows to move the current-time indicator from one keyframe to the next. In a Timeline panel, the keyframe navigator is enabled after you activate keyframes for an effect property.

Modify keyframe values

Edit keyframe graphs in the Effect Controls panel

Once you activate keyframing for an effect’s property, you can display the effect’s Value and Velocity graphs. Value graphs provide information about the value of nonspatial keyframes (such as the Scale property of the Motion effect) at any point in time. They also display and let you adjust the interpolation between keyframes. You can use the Velocity graph to fine-tune the rate of change between keyframes.

Edit keyframe graphs from a Timeline panel