Creating smooth changes using roving keyframesUsing the roving keyframe option in After Effects, you can easily create smooth movement across several keyframes at once. Roving keyframes are keyframes that are not linked to a specific time; their speed and timing are determined by adjacent keyframes. When you change the position of a keyframe adjacent to a roving keyframe in a motion path, the timing of the roving keyframe may change. Roving keyframes are available only for spatial layer properties such as Position. In addition, a keyframe can rove only if it is not the first or last keyframe in a layer, because a roving keyframe must interpolate its speed from the previous and next keyframes. ![]() The original motion path (left) indicates different velocities between keyframes. After the keyframes are set to rove (right), the motion path displays consistent speed over the range of keyframes. To smooth motion over several keyframes:
![]() When you deselect the roving-keyframe option (left), the keyframe may shift to smooth the motion (right). To change a roving keyframe back to a nonroving keyframe:
Do one of the following: |