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media kat
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May 6, 2026
Answered

Parenting Questions

  • May 6, 2026
  • 1 reply
  • 16 views

I have a cup with a video of steam rising from it. I keyframe the cup so it scales up and then I parent the steam video to the cup so they both scale up.

  1. What happens if you have multiple properties keyframed on an image and you parent it to something else, does it copy all of the keyframed properties? So if the the cup was keyframed to scale, rotate, change position and opacity, does the steam do all of these things also?
  2. If so, is there a way to control what is copied when parenting or does it just copy all the properties?
    Correct answer Nishu Kushwaha

    Hi there,

    Thanks for reaching out. Parenting in After Effects can feel a bit confusing at first, but the key idea is that the child layer follows the transform properties position, scale, and rotation (not opacity) of the parent layer. Parenting does not copy keyframes or properties from one layer to another. Instead, it creates a relationship where the child layer follows the parent’s transforms (position, scale, rotation) in addition to its own keyframes.

    So in your example:

    • If the cup is the parent and the steam is the child, the steam will follow the cup’s movement, scale, and rotation

    • But it doesn’t inherit or duplicate the cup’s keyframes. It just reacts to them

    • Opacity is not affected by parenting

    • Parenting does not override the child’s own transforms. It adds on top of them

    Here's a YouTube video showing how the parenting works. It also show how you can parent individual properties: https://adobe.ly/3RqmXQ8

    Hope it helps. Let me know if there are any other questions.


    Thanks,

    Nishu

    1 reply

    Nishu Kushwaha
    Community Manager
    Nishu KushwahaCommunity ManagerCorrect answer
    Community Manager
    May 6, 2026

    Hi there,

    Thanks for reaching out. Parenting in After Effects can feel a bit confusing at first, but the key idea is that the child layer follows the transform properties position, scale, and rotation (not opacity) of the parent layer. Parenting does not copy keyframes or properties from one layer to another. Instead, it creates a relationship where the child layer follows the parent’s transforms (position, scale, rotation) in addition to its own keyframes.

    So in your example:

    • If the cup is the parent and the steam is the child, the steam will follow the cup’s movement, scale, and rotation

    • But it doesn’t inherit or duplicate the cup’s keyframes. It just reacts to them

    • Opacity is not affected by parenting

    • Parenting does not override the child’s own transforms. It adds on top of them

    Here's a YouTube video showing how the parenting works. It also show how you can parent individual properties: https://adobe.ly/3RqmXQ8

    Hope it helps. Let me know if there are any other questions.


    Thanks,

    Nishu

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