Using property keyframes

A roving property keyframe is a keyframe that is not linked to a specific frame in the Timeline. Animate adjusts the position of roving keyframes so that the speed of motion is consistent throughout a tween.

Roving keyframes are available only for the spatial properties X, Y, and Z.  Editing motion paths this way often creates path segments in which the motion is faster or slower than the other segments. 

Use roving property keyframes to maintain a consistent animation speed throughout a tween. When property keyframes are set to roving, Animate adjusts the position of the property keyframes in the tween span. The tweened object then moves the same distance in each frame of the tween. You can then use easing to adjust the movement so that the acceleration at the beginning and end of the tween has a realistic appearance.

When you paste a custom path onto a tween, Animate sets the property keyframes to roving by default.

To enable roving keyframes for an entire tween:

• Right-click (Windows) or Command-click (Macintosh) the tween span in the Timeline and choose Motion Path > Switch keyframes to roving in the context menu.

To enable roving keyframes for an entire tween:

• Right-click (Windows) or Command-click (Macintosh) the property keyframe in the Motion Editor panel and choose roving in the context menu. For more information about the Motion Editor, see Editing property curves with the Motion Editor.

When property keyframes are set to roving, they appear as round dots instead of squares in the Motion Editor.

 If you enable roving keyframes for a tween span and then disable them, the keyframes retain their locations in the span that resulted from enabling roving.

Viewing and editing property keyframes of a tween span

• To view frames containing property keyframes in a span for different properties, select the span. Choose View Keyframes from the span context menu, and then choose the property type from the submenu.

• To remove a property keyframe from a span, Ctrl-click (Windows) or Command-click (Macintosh) the property keyframe to select it. Right-click (Windows) or Ctrl-click (Macintosh) the property keyframe. Choose Clear Keyframe for the property type you want to delete the keyframe for.

• To add property keyframes for a specific property type to a span, Ctrl-click (Windows) or Command-click (Macintosh) to select one or more frames in the span. Right-click (Windows) or Ctrl-click (Macintosh) and choose Insert Keyframe > property type from the span context menu. Animate adds property keyframes to the selected frames. You can also set a property of the target instance in a selected frame to add a property keyframe.

• To add a property keyframe for all property types to a span, place the playhead in the frame where you want to add the keyframe. Choose Insert > Timeline > Keyframe, or press F6.

• To reverse the direction of motion of a tween, choose Motion Path > Reverse Path from the span context menu.

• To change a tween span to static frames, select the span and choose Remove Tween from the span context menu.

• To convert a tween span to a frame-by-frame animation, select the span and choose Convert to Frame by Frame Animation from the span context menu.

• To move a property keyframe to a different frame, Ctrl-click (Windows) or Command-click (Macintosh) the property keyframe. Drag the property keyframe to the new location.

• To copy a property keyframe to another location in the tween span, Ctrl-click (Windows) or Command-click (Macintosh) the property keyframe. Use Alt-drag (Windows) or Option-drag (Macintosh) the property keyframe to the new location.

Adding or removing 3D property keyframes in a tween

• Do one of the following:
  • Add 3D properties using the 3D tools in the Tools panel.
  • Right-click (Windows) or Ctrl-click (Macintosh) the tween span in the Timeline and choose 3D tween from the context menu.
  • If the tween span contained no 3D property keyframes, Animate adds them to each existingX and Y position and rotation property keyframe. If the tween span already contained 3D property keyframes, Animate removes them.