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YuK1_Works
Inspiring
Aug 11, 2026 2:09 PM UTC
Open for Voting

Timeline UI gets progressively slower as more keyframes are selected with marquee selection

When selecting a large number of keyframes in the Timeline using marquee selection, the After Effects UI becomes progressively slower as the number of selected keyframes increases.

This is especially noticeable when repeatedly adding more keyframes to the current selection.

Steps to reproduce

  1. Create a composition with a large number of keyframes across one or more properties/layers.

  2. In the Timeline, use marquee selection to select some of the keyframes.

  3. Keep adding more keyframes to the selection using additional marquee selections.

  4. Observe the Timeline UI responsiveness as the number of selected keyframes increases.

Actual result

The Timeline gradually becomes less responsive as more keyframes are selected.

In my case, the slowdown starts becoming clearly noticeable at around 100 selected keyframes. As the selection grows further, marquee selection and other Timeline interactions become increasingly sluggish.

The important point is that this does not appear to be caused simply by having many keyframes in the composition. The performance degradation appears to correlate with the number of currently selected keyframes.

Expected result

Selecting additional keyframes should not cause Timeline UI performance to progressively degrade based on the number of already selected keyframes.

Selection and marquee interactions should remain reasonably responsive even when hundreds of keyframes are selected.

There have been previous reports of Timeline performance issues involving large keyframe selections, but I could not find a report specifically describing this behavior where the UI becomes progressively slower as the current keyframe selection grows.

    5 replies

    Participating Frequently
    Oct 28, 2026 5:23 PM UTC

    I get the same thing, and my ram usage goes through the roof. From 30gb to 150gb, just by selecting keyframes. I’m using an m3 mac. 

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    Nishu Kushwaha
    Community Manager
    Community Manager
    Oct 28, 2026 6:08 PM UTC

    Thanks for reaching out. Could you share your exact After Effects version and build, macOS version, and how much RAM your M3 Mac has? Does memory use drop again when you deselect the keyframes? If you can, please also share a short screen recording showing the selection and memory increase.


    Thanks,
    Nishu

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    Participating Frequently
    Oct 29, 2026 10:40 AM UTC

    AE 26.5.0, Mac 27.0.1, and sorry it’s an m4 mac with 64gb ram. No the memory use stays until I restart AE. 

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    Nishu Kushwaha
    Community Manager
    Community Manager
    Aug 11, 2026 5:09 PM UTC

    Hi, thanks for a well-articulated report.

    The distinction you're making is helpful. I recall a similar issue being reported some time back that was fixed. If you are not using the latest version of After Effects, try updating it.

    A couple of details that would strengthen the escalation:

    1. Your exact AE version and OS.

    2. Your hardware specs (CPU, GPU, RAM).

    3. Roughly how many keyframes total exist in your test comp, and how they're distributed (many layers with few keyframes each, or few layers with many keyframes each)?

    If possible, share a screen recording of the issue.


    Thanks,

    Nishu

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