
AFTER EFFECTS CS3
User Guide
211
Motion path in Composition panel (top) compared to speed graph in Graph Editor (bottom)
A. Dots are close together, indicating lower speed (top); speed is constant (bottom). B. Dots are far apart, indicating greater speed (top); speed
is constant (bottom). C. Inconsistent spacing of dots indicates changing speed (top); speed decreases and then increases (bottom).
The change of speed over time is affected by the following factors:
• The time difference between keyframes in the Timeline panel. The shorter the time interval between keyframes,
themorequicklythelayerhastochangetoreachthenextkeyframevalue.Iftheintervalislonger,thelayerchanges
more slowly, because it must make the change over a longer period of time. You can adjust the rate of change by
moving keyframes forward or backward along the timeline.
• The difference between the values of adjacent keyframes. A large difference between keyframe values, such as the
difference between 75% and 20% opacity, creates a faster rate of change than a smaller difference, such as the
difference between 30% and 20% opacity. You can adjust the rate of change by increasing or decreasing the value
of a layer property at a keyframe.
• The interpolation type applied for a keyframe. For example, it is difficult to make a value change smoothly through
a keyframe when the keyframe is set to Linear interpolation, but you can switch to Bezier interpolation at any time,
which provides a smooth change through a keyframe. If you use Bezier interpolation, you can adjust the rate of
change even more precisely using direction handles.
A B
A BC
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