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Isn't there an onion skin feature in AE?

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Hey,

Sorry about the newbie question, but Google won't help me out here and I really need to know: isn't there an onion skin feature in After Effects? Like the one used in classic cellmation (if I, for instance, am watching frame 6, turning on the onion skin feature will allow me to see both frames 5 and 7 at a lower opacity) and that comes with Flash. I've recently started out with AE since using Flash gives me at least three brain hemmorages a day, and to be honest I just thought onion skinning is such a basic thing so I didn't even bother to check if came with AE... But I just realize that maybe it's not, only to animators.

Well, now I can't seem to find it, some other forum posts mention that it doesn't really exist (why, adobe, why?), but I still wanna make sure it doesn't. Does it?

Todd_KoprivaCorrect answer

Inspiring

There's no onion-skin feature built into After Effects.

This Community Help search pulls up a few workarounds.

It's a good feature request, though.

You can submit feature requests (and bug reports) here: http://www.adobe.com/go/wish

PolkaFever

Inspiring

If you by any chance arrived here in search for Adobe to answer your prayers about onion-skin?
You are not alone 🙂

Stronger Together, United for Change!
So please upvote that same feature request proposed by others.

Among all the requests, this request has the most upvotes at the moment:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/after-effects-ideas/onion-skin/idi-p/13229538

Please upvote and we will make them listen!
Until then use Echo effect , Wide Time effect or the Paint-link plugin for a sub-optimal Onion-skin solution in AE.

Thanks

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adamt18510785

Inspiring

13 years later, way to get on that no onion skin feature there Adobe. It's not like people use after effect to animate.

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keeganh91

Participant

Check out the effect CC Wide Time man, not quite onion skin but it gets the same result
https://youtu.be/IQxvw91sOB4

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adamt18510785

Inspiring

We shouldn't have to. 20 years in the F'n program made for compositing and animation and still no simple tools we should have had decades ago. Like importing OBJs or not having to zoom into a pixel to put a guide in an exact distance. ADOBE SUCKS... Baby steps a program to shake the consumer and never fixes legacy issues.

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keeganh91

Participant

CC Wide Time works well for me, you can apply it to a precomp with your layers

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_nshand_

Participant

There is actually a plug in that provides onion ski in After Effects. They offer a free trial and a paid version.

It's called Paint + Stick by AEScripts + AePlugins.

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sequence W4

Known Participant

Not compatible with Apple Silicon!
awaiting update. . .

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nicolettab954500

Participating Frequently

not very helpful....

The other answers provide legitimate recipes, this answer just passes the buck

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taamyz

Participant

There is an effect called Echo. If you create an adjustment layer an apply this effects you must get the same result as the Flash's Onion skin. I hope it helps

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Rick Gerard

Community Expert

Echo or any other time effect would have to be applied to a nested or pre-composed animated layer or a video to work. Time Difference would be more effective than Echo.

if you want to have onion skinning in AE you duplicate the layer you are animating, the the properties you are animating to the animated layer using a valueAtTime - one frame for the top copy and then set the opacity or the blend mode to something that easily lets you see through the layer. I'm not at a machine that has AE installed right now or I'd show you a screenshot and the expressions to drive some effects.

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taamyz

Participant

Interesting, I'll try your way.

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graceer

Participant

i want this feature too.. onion skinning, and edit pre-comp in main composition, and not have to open side-by-side windows. just entered as feature requests.

I guess after effects wasn't build for cel animation. but if they just add these two features it can make it ALOT easier for cel animation.

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InsomniaGFX

Participant

Toon Boom Animate/Harmony has a fantastic onion skin feature and it's a real shame AE doesn't have it. It's the main reason I dread doing cel style animation in AE.

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Rick Gerard

Community Expert

Onion skinning does not exist classic sense. Depending on exactly what you're trying to do you can fake it. Some plug-ins make use of something like it. It would be very helpful if we knew exactly what you were trying to do.

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sunny_valenceAuthor

Participant

Oh, sorry, ok, I'll be more precise:

I'm creating a classic cellanimation, I have approx. 25 drawings of a car that comes down a street and turns a corner. I simply need to map out these pics in adequate relation to each other (to create smooth animation), and that's like reading in the dark without your little onion skin fella... Right now it looks pretty much as the car is driven by a drunk.

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Todd_KoprivaCorrect answer

Inspiring

There's no onion-skin feature built into After Effects.

This Community Help search pulls up a few workarounds.

It's a good feature request, though.

You can submit feature requests (and bug reports) here: http://www.adobe.com/go/wish

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