Hello Friends,
As a compositor, You should know about keyframes and their types. This is a little bit theoretical topic, But let's understand some term like Interpolation, Keyframes, and their types with help of some images and GIFs.
Keyframe
As you know After Effects is layer-based software for animation and compositing where keyframes and interpolation are a super important topic because keyframes are everything in After Effects. So let's understand those term in the easiest way.
“Keyframes are basically markers that indicate the value or property of elements such as the position, rotation, scale, FX amount, etc”
(Keyframe Icons)
Interpolation
Before we understand the types of keyframes we need to understand the interpolation term. Interpolation is a method that, how the After Effects calculate the values between two or more keyframes. It might be Spatial Interpolation or Temporal Interpolation.
1. Temporal Interpolation
Temporal Interpolation deals with motion and time. It means how property changes over time(In the Timeline panel). With help of this method, you can set the animation time and get a smoother & natural look in your animation
(Temporal Interpolation)
2. Spatial Interpolation
Spatial Interpolation deals with the motion path of elements. It means how the element will perform on the motion path (In the composition panel). With help of this method, you can change the motion path the way you like.
(Spatial Interpolation)
Types of the Keyframe
Linear keyframe is default interpolation in After Effects. It will change the values between keyframes by the uniform rate. It's indicated by the diamond-shaped icon.
(Linear Keyframe)
This interpolation is very useful when you need more fluidly and smooth animation. You can play with the curve handles and you will get a very smoother animation. This curve value is generated automatically by Ae. To create this keyframe just hold the Ctrl/Cmd⌘ key on your keyboard and click on the keyframe. This keyframe is indicated by a circle-shaped icon.
Continuous Bezier is like an auto bezier keyframe. But here you can change the influence of the keyframes manually. To create this keyframe just select your keyframes and press Ctrl/Cmd⌘ + K on your keyboard. After effects show you the keyframe velocity setting box. Here you can change it manually. This keyframe is indicated by an hourglass-shaped icon.
(Continuous Bezier Keyframe)
Bezier keyframe gives you full control of motion path functionality. It means you can change the motion path of your element within the composition panel. Also, you can adjust values using the graph editor in the timeline panel. This keyframe is also indicated by an hourglass-shaped icon.
This keyframe holds the specific keyframe. It means the hold keyframe allows you to jump from one point to another point directly without having a smooth transition. To create this keyframe just hold the Ctrl/Cmd⌘ + Alt key on your keyboard and click on the keyframe. This keyframe is also useful for freezing the footage.
For freezing video clip follow this step
Right click on Layer/Footage > Time > Freeze Frame
(Hold Keyframe)
That's it guys. I hope this article will help you to understand Interpolation and Keyframes term.
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