What Are Keyframes?

Let’s understand the keyframes: what are keyframes and why they are used? Basically, keyframes are specific points on the timeline that identify the starting and finishing points of any changes we can make in properties like opacity, rotation, scale, or position. The animations that we set on the beginning and ending points of the video timelines can be specified by keyframes. And the program will automatically calculate the transitions between them. This process is known as “tweening.”

keyframe is set for the shape’s position at the beginning of a timeline and another keyframe is set at a different position later on, Alight Motion will animate the shape moving from the starting position to the end position.

Why Use Keyframes?

With the help of keyframes, you can precisely control animations and produce fluid, complex motions. They are necessary for:

Animating objects:

Animating objects is the process of moving, scaling, rotating, and altering their attributes over time.

Creating transitions:

Move between scenes or states with ease.

Applying effects:

Use opacity, blur, and color adjustments to animate effects.

Adding intricacy:

To produce complex animations, combine several keyframes and layers.

Keyframes in Alight Motion

The Alight Motion app is a powerful and popular video editing tool and animation. Keyframes are an essential component of animation and motion graphics, as they allow you to control the movement of elements in time. The significance of keyframes in producing dynamic and high-quality animations cannot be overemphasized.In this article, we will provide you with complete guidance on how to use keyframes in Alight Motion. And we will cover everything from basic concepts to advanced techniques. Even beginners can easily use keyframe animation to enhance their projects

Getting Started with Keyframes in Alight Motion

Setting Up Your Project

Before you start using keyframes, first you need to setup your project on Alight Motion. First of all, create a new project and choose the background color, frame rate, and resolution you want. A 1080×1920 resolution and 30 frames per second are ideal for most animations.

Adding Layers

Each element, such as shapes, text, or images, exists on its own layer in the layer-based system used by Alight Motion. You must add a layer before you can begin animating:

✅To add an additional element, tap the “+” icon.

✅Select the layer type (such as Shape, Text, or Image) that you wish to add.

✅Change the layer’s font, color, and size, among other properties.

Adding Keyframes

To add a keyframes you need to follow below steps:

Choose the Layer: To access the properties of a layer, tap the layer you want to animate.

Access Keyframe Controls:

To access the keyframe controls, locate the keyframe button in the properties panel. It is typically indicated by a diamond icon.

Set the First Keyframe:

To set the initial state, move the playhead to the beginning point on the timeline and press the keyframe button.

Move the Playhead:

Drag the head of the player to a new location on the timeline where the modification is to be made.

Modify the Asset:

Modify the property (position, scale, rotation, etc.) that you wish to animate. It will automatically generate a new keyframe.

Advanced Keyframe Techniques

Easing and Interpolation

The term “easing” describes how an animation moves quickly and slowly to give motions a more realistic appearance. Keyframes can be eased with a variety of options provided by Alight Motion:

Linear: The animation moves forward at a steady pace.

Ease In: The animation begins slowly before picking up speed.

Ease Out: The animation accelerates at first and then slows down.

Ease In-Out: The animation begins slowly, picks up speed, and then picks back up speed.

To apply easing, pick a keyframe, tap the easing curve icon, and either create your own custom curve or select one of the presets that are available.

Fine-Tuning Keyframes

Your keyframes must be specifically adjusted in order to produce realistic and fluid animations:

Positioning: To keep the appropriate pacing, make sure keyframes are positioned precisely on the timeline.

Modifying Properties: To prevent sudden changes, adjust the properties in between keyframes.

Using the Graph Editor: By modifying the interpolation between keyframes, Alight Motion’s graph editor enables more exact control over animations.

Animating Multiple Properties

Position, scale, rotation, and opacity are just a few of the properties of a single layer that can be animated simultaneously. To animate a moving shape and alter its opacity, for instance:

✅Determine the shape’s position’s keyframes.

✅To adjust the opacity, move the playhead and set keyframes.

✅To make both properties work together as a cohesive animation, adjust their timing and easing.

Looping Animations

Make sure the final keyframe has the same characteristics as the first keyframe in order to produce a looping animation. This method works well for making continuous movements or recurring patterns.

Practical Applications of Keyframes

Animations of Text

Text can be animated with keyframes to make it appear, disappear, or move in a dynamic way. As an illustration:

Text Fade In/Out: To progressively reveal or conceal text, use opacity keyframes.

Text Fly In: Animate the text to appear on screen as it moves from an off-screen position.

Shape Animations

Shapes can be animated to communicate information or add visual interest. Typical applications consist of:

Shape Transformations: To produce a morphing effect, animate a shape’s rotation or scale.

Path Animations: Modify a shape’s position keyframes to move it along a specific path.

Animations with effects

Use keyframes to apply effects such as blur, glow, or color correction and animate their intensity over time. As an illustration:

Blurring Backgrounds: To draw attention to the foreground, gradually intensify the blur effect on a background layer.

Color Shifts: Adjust the hue of a scene to emphasize certain elements or alter the mood.

Final Verdict

With Alight Motion, keyframes are an incredibly useful tool that let you make complex and captivating animations. By learning the basics of keyframes and experimenting with more advanced techniques, you can realize your creative visions. Keyframes provide the flexibility and control necessary to create high-quality graphics, regardless of whether you’re creating text, shapes, or interesting effects.

You’ll gain a greater comprehension of animation concepts and methods as you work with keyframes in Alight Motion more and more. Not only will this knowledge improve your projects, but it will create new avenues for artistic expression. Now explore the world of keyframe animation and use Alight Motion to create visually stunning motion graphics!