Understanding expression time in nested comps

Default time references to properties in nested compositions use the original default composition time, not remapped time. However, if you use the source function to retrieve a property, the remapped time is used.

For example, if the source of a layer in the parent composition is a nested composition, and in the parent composition you have remapped time, when you access the position values of a layer in the nested composition with the following expression, the position values use the composition's default time:

comp("nested comp").layer(1).position

However, if you access layer 1 using the source function, the position values use the remapped time:

thisComp.layer("nested comp").source.layer(1).position

Note: If you use a specific time in an expression, After Effects ignores the remapped time.