After Effects Keyboard Shortcuts

General Shortcuts
0 (number pad) RAM preview - audio and video
. (number pad) RAM preview - audio only
CTRL-N New Composition
A Layer anchor point
C Toggle 3D camera view
P Layer position
R Layer rotation
S Layer scale
T Layer opacity
U Reveals all keyframes in a layer
V Selection tool
W Composition Settings
Z Zoom tool
Home Jump to home
End Jump to end
CTRL-M Add composition to Render Queue
LL Shows audio waveform in timeline
* (number pad) Creates marker in timeline or on layer
Shift-(any keyboard number) Creates numbered marker in timeline
Type any keyboard number Jumps to corresponding numbered marker on timeline
, and . Zoom in and out on display windows
~ Maximize window
Press and hold Spacebar Hand tool
ALT-[ or ] Sets inpoint or outpoint of a clip in the timeline
[ or ] “Slips” the inpoint or outpoint of a clip to the CTI position
(doesn’t change clip inpoint, just moves the clip)
CTRL-A Select all layers
F2 Deselect all layers
CTRL-D Duplicate layer, comp, footage, etc.
ALT-[ or ] Sets inpoint or outpoint of a clip in the timeline
[ or ] “Slips” the inpoint or outpoint of a clip to the CTI position
(doesn’t change clip inpoint, just moves the clip)
Tap Spacebar Plays the timeline
- and = Zoom in and out on timeline
; Zoom to/from frame view (the most zoomed in)
Page Up, Page Down Steps forward/backward in 1 frame increments
Shift-Page Up/Down Steps forward/backward in 10 frame increments
CTRL-‘ Show/hide Grid
CTRL-0 Save RAM Preview
* on number pad Set Marker
CTRL-Click Marker Delete marker
Double-Click Marker Annotate marker

Keyframes
Alt-Shift-P Sets the first position keyframe
J, K Previous, next keyframe
CTRL-Click keyframe in the timeline Toggles linear/bezier keyframe
Click on the word “Position” (speed) Selects all keyframes
CTRL-Click on keyframe in the timeline (speed) Breaks the handles
Drag keyframe handle up/down in timeline (speed) Adjusts speed
Drag keyframe handle left/right in timeline (speed) Adjusts the amount of influence
F9 Easy ease both in and out
Shift-F9 Easy ease in
Control-Shift-F9 Easy ease out
Shift-drag in timeline Snaps to keyframes
Double-click keyframe Edit keyframe properties
Other Helpful Tips
Layer>Blending Mode (F4) Dodge, burn, dissolve, overlay, sharpen, etc.
Shift -, shift = Tab through blending modes
Layer>New>Adjustment Layer Affects all layers underneath it
Click on { } (brackets) in comp window Set In/Out points
Double-click the center of the Work Area bar Expands the work area to cover the entire Composition.
Shift-drag number parameters Coarse adjustment
CTRL-drag number parameters Fine adjustment
Hold shift, scrub timeline Snaps to layer ins, outs, keyframes, markers, etc.

Text Tool
ALT-Left or Right Cursor keys Kern letters with text tool
CTRL Temporary switch to move tool to position text
Edit>History Shows the undo history
Double-click center of Work Area Bar Resets the Work Area to the length of the comp

Rendering
0 (on number pad) RAM Render Timeline
. (on number pad) RAM Render Audio Only
CTRL-M Add to Render Queue
CTRL-0 (on number pad) Render Timeline to File

3D
ALT-CTRL-O Opens Camera Orientation dialog
C toggle Toggle Orbit Camera tool
Aa Camera settings

Layers

To loop a clip, look in Interpret footage (File>Interpret Footage>Main), or CTRL-F

To loop a sequence: Right click on sequence, select Time Remapping, alt-click on Time Remap, paste the expression:
loop_out("cycle",0)

To replace footage in the timeline, With the layer highlighted, hold alt and drag the new footage over the layer in the
timeline

If a layer flashes, it is locked

To rename a layer, click on the name and hit ENTER

To flip a layer upside down or reversed, set the H or V scale to -100%

To create a seamless loop, set the last keyframe to one frame past the end of the comp

Slip edit tool: If you have set an inpoint or outpoint on a layer in the timeline, then you can position the mouse inside the
white “handles” area and slip the clip according to the length of the handles.
To scrub audio, hold down the CTRL key while dragging the timeline cursor

To move Anchor and Position together, use the Pan Behind tool
To place the anchor point in the center of a shape, alt (option) click on the pan behind tool.

Frame Blending vs. Motion Blur:

To smooth out an animation and make it less strobed, use Motion Blur.
If you want to smooth live-action video to which you assigned a frame rate much lower or higher than the original, use
frame blending, not motion blur.

Remember, to use motion blur, you have to click on the MB icon in both the layer AND the master enable button above.

Motion Blur can be enhanced by increasing the shutter angle or samples per frame (composition settings>advanced tab).
Photoshop

In Photoshop, always create graphics with an EVEN number of pixels in height and width.

To convert a PSD from footage to layers, click Layer>Convert to Layers

To edit a PSD, click on the file or layer, right-click>Edit Original. AE won't "see" any added layers, though.

Keyframes

To Stretch a group of keyframes out over time, select them, then alt-drag the first or last one.

Hold shift to snap to keyframes

To time-reverse keyframes, click on at least two keyframes, then right click>Keyframe Assistant>Time Reverse

Exponential Scale - Select two scale keyframes, right-click>Exponential Scale

Comp Window

To zoom in/out, click in the Comp window and scroll the mouse.

To return to 100%, double-click the zoom tool