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After Effects Keyboard Shortcuts

See Shortcuts

Here is a list of most of the shortcut in AE. You can also find this in you help files too. Go through them, you will be surprised what great shortcuts you will find.

You can even type one short cut like “T” to reveal the opacity then hold SHIFT and press “R” to reveal the rotation. This is a clean way to work and efficient. Learn the shortcuts and you will be unstoppable. Try to make yourself learn a new one everyday and make sure to use it everyday.

Feel free to list some of your favorites.

68 RESPONSES TO "After Effects Keyboard Shortcuts"
Ricardo Sassaki
July 9th, 2007 @ 9:37 pm

Hello Andrew,
You always trying to help us! Thanks!!

Haydn González
July 9th, 2007 @ 9:39 pm

Thanks 4 the tips !! I appreciate it a lot ;)

Flim by Tim Productions.
July 9th, 2007 @ 9:55 pm

pg down and pg up are my favourite I love them so much i use them for like every after effects vids make the timeline go one frame up and one frame down also ctrl +d is also great (duplicates the layer)

fersh0
July 9th, 2007 @ 10:11 pm

I thanks GOD for your life and the knowledge that HE gave to you , they are very useful for me

Sandy
July 9th, 2007 @ 10:17 pm

Thankyou Andrew!!!!

thnx 4 the list. Thnkyou for all the help u r doing for us.

Warm Regards
Sandy

SPC Goodwin
July 9th, 2007 @ 10:18 pm

man i have been looking for this all over the net.

July 9th, 2007 @ 10:38 pm

THANKS SO MUCH. I couldnt find it on the help files. It will be good to print out and have next to me till I remember them all!

July 9th, 2007 @ 10:38 pm

Does this mean you expect to be doing some faster paced tutorials? This is going to save all of us a whole lot of time!

P.S. I talked to Starbucks, they said you can make your movies there….. As long as they are P.G. And as long as Sam doesn’t get injured on the premesis.

ChaRLeS x
July 9th, 2007 @ 10:50 pm

just what i need….

July 9th, 2007 @ 11:01 pm

Swapping a layers properties to another file that isn’t on the timeline.

Left Click the layer you wish to switch out.

Press and hold down Alt

Left click and hold the replacement footage.

Drag the replacement footage over the footage you want to replace.

Let go of left click then let go of Alt.

this is good when you have an update piece of footage and rather then spending the time to reanimate all the keys you can basically swap it as easy as a proxy.

Craig Woolhouse
July 9th, 2007 @ 11:02 pm

My favourites are…

Selecting all layers in the timeline and hitting U to see all keyframes.

The @ symbol to switch on & off my safe area markers is very useful.

The ¬ key to enlarge an area to full screen is a good one too.

S. Gilbert
July 9th, 2007 @ 11:22 pm

This is what every after effects user needs

Thanks Andrew

Jeff (NoodleMaps)
July 9th, 2007 @ 11:35 pm

When you going to start charging $100 a year like NAPP?

July 9th, 2007 @ 11:38 pm

Craig Woolhouse, for the @ symbol to switch on & off my safe area markers, do I just press shift and 2/@ at any time to get the safe markers on and off? cant seem to get it working.

Anyone here know off the top of there head how to add markers while watching the video? I recall it being in a Trish and Chris Myers book about when listening to audio. Can’t recall it and haven’t been able to locate it.

July 9th, 2007 @ 11:46 pm

I think the star key by the numbers.

Superbad
July 10th, 2007 @ 12:01 am

Thanks for the list Andrew! I learned alot of shortcuts from watching your tutorials, but this should still be helpful! And it is the asterisk key to set markers

Alexander Jansen
July 10th, 2007 @ 12:35 am

Smart ones to know ; )

July 10th, 2007 @ 12:42 am

to zoom in and out of the video footage.

YEE :]

Sebastian Vázquez
July 10th, 2007 @ 12:55 am

Your wife’s got a problem, ’cause I wanna marry you.

Gianni (ITALY)
July 10th, 2007 @ 1:00 am

Thanks Andrew…just what I need…you’re the ONE!

m.abulazm
July 10th, 2007 @ 1:14 am

Alt+. (in the keypad) sound Ram Perview.
Turn SHIFT on while render … stop to play the movie while reder process.
* to make marker in the selected layer while you listen to your music.

The @ symbol to switch on & off my safe area markers is very useful.

i didn’t get this ….. ?

thanx Andrew …
there is a tones of shortcuts …
at the end i hope we can make it in one file.

July 10th, 2007 @ 2:11 am

Great shortcuts..! Thanks a bunch.

July 10th, 2007 @ 2:25 am

ah, great! thanks alot!

Will
July 10th, 2007 @ 2:47 am

Shortcut, my favorite : Ctrl-Alt-T for time-remapping

Will
July 10th, 2007 @ 3:00 am

Not a shortcut, but usefull for me : a quick way to select a small part of a long footage. In composition, double-click on the footage (it open a window for the preview)… position the cursor at beginning of the action you want, click left bracket.. position the cursor at the end of action, click right bracket (brackets buttons are at bottom left of the preview window). Close the preview. This automatically reduce the footage to the action selected, and it start at the timeline cursor. Did you get it ? This is very helpfull when the footage is more longer than the composition duration.

July 10th, 2007 @ 4:00 am

the andrew kramers cheatsheet!

nice one!

July 10th, 2007 @ 4:34 am

Alt F4 for those moments when I’m going to destroy my computer (note press ctrl S first or you’ll kill me)

thanks for the 2 confirming * for audio markers.

ucantstop
July 10th, 2007 @ 5:22 am

thanks a lot ,
it will be realy helpfull.

July 10th, 2007 @ 5:36 am

What would we do without shortcuts?!
When you know you’ve been working with AE too long:

- Every time you screw something up, like forgetting your girlfriend’s birthday, you start hitting command + z in the air. (I’m sitting on a mac)

- And you never use a scissor, no no, why use a scissor? Just hit command + c.

- When you want to trim a comp…ehh I don’t want to get into that, you can figure that out yourself…

Best regards Max Marklund!

Magnusfaz
July 10th, 2007 @ 5:39 am

I found that in spanish keyboard some of the shortcuts can’t work, but just change the language and done.

Craig Woolhouse UK
July 10th, 2007 @ 5:50 am

I’m not too sure, but I think we (here in the UK) may have a slightly different layout for shortcuts. I know our keyboards are set out differently for sure but not too sure on the AE ‘cuts? Can anyone shed any light?

Jacob Aaron
July 10th, 2007 @ 6:01 am

Thanks man! This is realy helpfull.

Kami3D
July 10th, 2007 @ 6:18 am

Keyboard shortcuts save huge amount of time. hrmm, Andrew I love your tutorials. Your work is soo good that one can use that in real-life production work. Has soo much useful tips and tricks any1 can learn.

I like the idea of openning the tutorial with what you can expect to learn before starting the actual tutorial:)

Quick Question:

What Video Camera did you guys use on tutorial (24. Blood Splattering on a Tree! and 05. Camera Shake with the Wiggler)?

Was it the HVX-200?

Kami3D
July 10th, 2007 @ 6:22 am

Actually forgot to say “HELLO” to everyone here, This is my first posta’msg here:)

I look forward to amazing tutorials from you Andrew.

Thanks buddy!

Philip
July 10th, 2007 @ 6:46 am

Anyone got a PDF of all of these? I found one here, but it isn’t very well organized (lots of wasted paper if printed out).

http://ddblog.vfs.com/2007/02/20/after-effects-shortcuts/

Anyone found a better, all-in-one file?

Philip

Orc Master
July 10th, 2007 @ 7:42 am

Wow, thanks a lot, Andrew! That’s some REALLY useful stuff ;)

July 10th, 2007 @ 7:57 am

Ah yes, very helpful Andrew. I love that you posted this. This is going to save me tons of time! :)

http://www.MichaelBrodner.wordpress.com

Ryan
July 10th, 2007 @ 8:13 am

I just press buttons tell it works XD no, i know a lot and I work pretty efficiently.

William
July 10th, 2007 @ 8:25 am

“MM” brings up the mask effects, i like that one

July 10th, 2007 @ 9:05 am

Hey thanks Andrew, these are most helpful. I like MM to William since I use masks a lot. Almost all of the are helpful. Page up and page down too..wow thats helpful!

Kyle Shields
July 10th, 2007 @ 9:22 am

I mostly use, T(opacity), P(position), and ctrl Z(undo), and S (scale)sometimes.

Ezequiel
July 10th, 2007 @ 9:29 am

thanks a bunch for this

rjf
July 10th, 2007 @ 9:49 am

My favorite if I’m applying expressions to effects that have several parameters (like Fractal noise, Colorama, etc.) is to temporarily set a keyframe in the Effects window. Then hit U in the timeline to bring up JUST those effect parameters that you have set temporary keyframes for. Now you can shut the keyframes off and set your expression (pickwhip and all) without having to twirl down the whole effect in the timeline. Thank you Brian Maffit of Total Training for that one.

rjf

Spence
July 10th, 2007 @ 10:16 am

“J” to go to the previous key frame.
“K” to go to the next key frame.
“B” to Set the “Beginning” of the Work Area where the Time Indicator is located
“N” to Set the “eNd” of the Work Area where the time Indicator is located.
“;” to zoom in on the single frame your time indicator is on.
‘ (apostrophe) to turn on Title Work Safe Guides.
To start the layer from current position of the Time Indicator press [
And to do the opposite press ]
“-” and “+” to zoom in and out of the timeline.

One of my favorite features is when you have a certain point that you need to keep going back to you can set a reference point by holding “SHIFT” and press any number. “1″ – “0″ then to get to those points just press the number; say you set “SHIFT” and “1″. then just press 1 to jump to that place in time.

Zoom in “,” comma
Zoom out “.” period
Zoom to 100% “/”
Zoom to fit “SHIFT” “?”

After adding a layer mask I usually just press “f” to jump to the mask and Feather options.

“G” to toggle the pen mask tool selections
“Q” to toggle the mask style options (Rectangular or Elliptical)
“W” to Rotate
“Y” to Pan behind

I work in After Effects 8 hours a day, at least at work
40 some hours a week for the past year and a half. these have been a blessing and saved me a bunch of time. Hope you can use these you guys!

July 10th, 2007 @ 11:02 am

Kami3D Says:
“What Video Camera did you guys use on tutorial (24. Blood Splattering on a Tree! and 05. Camera Shake with the Wiggler)?”

I believe they use an XL-2, but I could be wrong. I hope so because it is my favorite prosumer camera. I heard of a multi-million dollar production outfitting one with a $700,000 lens, and using the footage for the finished product!

Reyer
July 10th, 2007 @ 12:53 pm

Whenever im working in some 3d stuff, its always annoying to keep going up and changing the camera tool.

If you just pres C you go through the 3 different tools and it makes it much easier.

m.abulazm
July 10th, 2007 @ 1:30 pm

can anyone tell me how can i change the view … i mean top left …..

July 10th, 2007 @ 2:27 pm

I’m using Mac OSX and I just switched (and loving it) and the whole finger layout is moved to the right…I’m still getting used to shortcuts!

July 10th, 2007 @ 2:27 pm

I’m using Mac OSX and I just switched (and loving it) and the whole finger layout is moved to the right…I’m still getting used to shortcuts! But they’re so handy

http://www.et-films.net
http://www.et-films.net

July 10th, 2007 @ 4:07 pm

I love the Alt+ click on Pre-comp… result is ganging up layers.

Why because you can adjust things in the pre-comp layer then toggle between both layers as you work and minimize layers in you main comp and be Oganazized!

Grrrrrrrrrrr
Fight like apes!

Yimbo
July 10th, 2007 @ 6:02 pm

Hey Andrew i think i’m gonna abduct you or simply steal your brains and stuff and maybe sell it to someone in here, but don’t freak out, the money i get for your brain i’m gonna spend it in your products :D Yay!!!

Kamisama
July 10th, 2007 @ 6:42 pm

Thank you so much Andrew for all your hard work. I see you’ve become quite the specialist in AFX, and newbies like me just blow their head off to all the learning there is to do here. And you can put up those tutorials with that little touch of humor we all like. ^_-

If there is one place to go for AFX info (and this list is only a tiny part of it), it got to be video copilot !

Regards,
Kamisama

Alexander Jansen
July 10th, 2007 @ 8:23 pm

Yimbo: You are kinda creepy! :o

List more shortcuts please! Written every comment down now ;)

July 10th, 2007 @ 9:22 pm

Hello Andrew I from Argentina
I see you tutorials and i want to tell you thank you so much for all your hard work.
I hope but to see but works yours
See you!!!

From Argentina Bs. As.
=-)

Jason
July 10th, 2007 @ 10:14 pm

I’m thinking about creating a PDF of the most common or (possibly) all of the shortcuts that can be printed onto an 11×17 sheet of paper, similar to the quick study guides you can find at Fry’s. Does this sound like something that would be useful to anybody?

m.abulazm
July 11th, 2007 @ 2:05 am

there is a PDF file from Trish & Chris Meyer, but i think it’s better to share our shortcuts here.

Scott Telle
July 11th, 2007 @ 12:40 pm

I’m surprised no one has mentioned the shorcut for pre-comp.

If you’re animating multiple layers and want to manipulate the layers as a whole (resize, rotate, whatever) you can nest them in a pre-comp.

Select the layers and hit CRTL+SHIFT+C. AE then prompts you with a few basic options (name, open the precomp, etc), but that’s basically it.

Then you are free to manipulate everything previously selected as a whole. I love this short cut… try it!

July 11th, 2007 @ 1:30 pm

I like MM for mask effects, but that’s also ’cause those are my initials… haha. keep up the amazing work andrew.

July 11th, 2007 @ 10:14 pm

Scott, I just started to use that a lot this week, I’m doing a project that has becoming into many many pre comps and by comp 7 I couldn’t take it and looked it up. Another fav. and extremely useful shortcut tip to have.

July 12th, 2007 @ 3:57 pm

I don’t know if they had this one on there, but if you double-click on the project panel, it brings up the import sequence dialogue box. Very helpful

sabeer
July 14th, 2007 @ 10:53 am

to cut a footage in timeline Alt + }

Flim by Tim Productions.
July 14th, 2007 @ 1:13 pm

New to Adobe After Effects there is a help button and then keyboard shortcuts not sure if its also in previous versions but I just found this out and its great.

Gary
July 15th, 2007 @ 12:10 pm

I have a problem. The shortcut that is the most usefull in after effects (Alt + [) for triming layers doesnt work for some reason. It’s not that big of a deal but it’s pretty annoying to trim it by draging to the exact frame.

Any ideas why my brackets dont work?

sabeer
July 17th, 2007 @ 5:48 am

trimming layers Alt + [ and Alt + ]

sabeer
July 17th, 2007 @ 5:50 am

to move a frame Page up/down

Titso
July 21st, 2007 @ 5:07 am

sleep to 12am, turn on computer, turn on after effects cs3 then press: ctrl+yand then ctrl+n then i have something to do all day:)

Mind open Films
July 29th, 2007 @ 7:52 pm

Thanks to Andrew. the most shortcuts i use are these you use in your tutorials.The first thing i’d done to get into After Effects was watching them all!
In addition: i love to use a mouse with more keys than just the left and right button. zooming with the mouswheel is great, and it’s just amazing to undo your faults just with a movment of your thumb, or change to any tool you like;)
(excuse my bad english, i’m surely one of your youngest german fans :)

Murtags
February 29th, 2008 @ 6:24 am

I am from Argentina, I always had trouble with my spanish keyboard, even changing it to us mode, it didn´t work 100% with all keys. Recently I found this link: http://generalspecialist.com/archive/2006_07_01_archive.asp
and it helps you working with non-us keyboards. Hope it helps, it did for me after a long time of taking the long way.
Thanks Kramer and his crew for all this amazing proyect going on in here.

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