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shosho2772
shosho2772
Participant
May 7, 2026

After Effects Beta timeline Modes column becomes visible in header but unusable/collapsed in rows

  • May 7, 2026
  • 2 replies
  • 6 views

After Effects Beta timeline Modes column becomes visible in header but unusable/collapsed in rows

In After Effects Beta, the Timeline panel shows the Mode column header, but the actual blend mode dropdowns for each layer do not appear or remain clipped, even when the timeline columns/panel are stretched wider. The Track Matte and other switch columns remain visible, but the Mode controls are not accessible.

Expected behavior:
When the Mode column is enabled, each layer row should show its blend mode dropdown, such as Normal, Multiply, etc.

Actual behavior:
The Mode header is visible, but the row controls are hidden/collapsed/clipped and cannot be revealed by resizing the column or panel.

Things tried:

Dragging the column/panel wider Toggling Switches/Modes Using the exposed Switches command Checking timeline column layout

Environment:

Impact:
The user cannot access or change layer blending modes from the Timeline panel even though the Mode column appears enabled.

  • After Effects Beta
  • macOS
  • Timeline panel in a composition with many 3D/precomp/model/shape layers
  • F4 is also intercepted by macOS, so the normal Toggle Switches/Modes shortcut is unavailable unless remapped

    2 replies

    JohnColombo17100380
    Community Manager
    JohnColombo17100380Community Manager
    Community Manager
    May 7, 2026

    Hi ​@shosho2772,

    Thank you for posting about this. Blending modes are disabled for 3D layers (models, text, etc) when using the Advanced 3D engine. To use a blend mode with a 3D layer, use Layer > Create > Create 3D Instance to create a Solid with the 3D model’s pixel in it, which you can then use to blend into other 2D layers.

    Blending modes are one of the compositing features that isn’t supported by the Advanced 3D engine, which are listed in the Composition Settings dialog:

    Supported and unsupported features of the Advanced 3D engine

    Regarding the mention of F4 being intercepted by macOS, you may need to change the function keys to act a standard function keys in System Preferences > Keyboard > Keyboard Shortcuts > Function Keys, or hold down the Fn key while pressing F4.

    Cheers,

    - John, After Effects Engineering Team 

    shosho2772
    shosho2772Author
    Participant
    May 7, 2026

    It has something to do with advance 3d if I switch to classic it comes back

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