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mave1969
mave1969
Known Participant
October 23, 2018
Answered

Can't display timeline?

  • October 23, 2018
  • 1 reply
  • 3222 views

Ok, so somehow I lost the timeline from my workspace. I can see it if I switch to one of the other layouts (Standard, Animation etc.) but it's gone from my custom workspace.

No problem though, I'll just select 'Timeline' from the 'Window' menu. Right?

Uh…

Ok, I mean the 'View' menu, it'll be ther- oh.

Huh.

'Composition' menu? Hmm.

'Layer'? 'File'? What the…

Double-click a composition in the Project panel! That's a reasonable expectatio-ohh ffs…

I already spent too much time wrestling with the horrible workspace manager to get things looking the way I want (although it still frequently 'forgets' and has to be reset to the saved layout)

a) I don't want to have to do that every time After Effects randomly craps itself, and

b) Why the hell is there no menu command to show the timeline? Utterly ridiculous.

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer Mike_Abbott

    Window menu > (and right down at the bottom...) > Timeline

    or

    at the bottom of the Comp window there is the third icon from the right - it looks like a mini timeline...

    or

    Window menu > Workspace > (towards the bottom) > Reset [the workspace you're in] to saved layout

    1 reply

    Mike_Abbott
    Mike_AbbottCorrect answer
    Legend
    October 23, 2018

    Window menu > (and right down at the bottom...) > Timeline

    or

    at the bottom of the Comp window there is the third icon from the right - it looks like a mini timeline...

    or

    Window menu > Workspace > (towards the bottom) > Reset [the workspace you're in] to saved layout

    mave1969
    mave1969Author
    Known Participant
    October 23, 2018

    Sorry, I should have been more clear through my stress-induced sarcasm…

    I know the Timeline option should be in the Window menu, but it's not. Or it wasn't, even through two restarts of After Effects. Simply wasn't in the menu as an option.  Resetting the workspace hadn't worked either. I'd begun to wonder if it was some undocumented change in CC2019. On a third re-launch the timeline reappeared as a massive panel behind the Composition Viewer on my second monitor, and I was able to reposition it.

    That said, in 20+ years of using AE I don't think I've ever clicked that little icon in the Composition window, so thanks for teaching me something new!

    EDIT: And for answering so quickly!

    Mike_Abbott
    Mike_Abbott
    Legend
    October 23, 2018

    No problem - and sorry not to 'read' the situation : )

    And I don't think I've used that button at the bottom of the Comp window very much in the last 20 years either : )

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