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Participant
Jun 21, 2023 10:09 PM UTC
Question

Sapphire Plugins can't be keyframed on adjustment layers

Some effects from the Sapphire plugin set (BorisFX), like S_Shake, can't be keyframed properly if the effect is on an adjustment layer.

The effect works normally if it doesn't have any keyframes on it, but the issue is that if I try to keyframe any of the values, it only holds the value of the first keyframe (like there were none at all). I also tried making a preset with the keyframes I wanted, and this showed no effect completely. I first went to the BorisFX forums, since they are the creators of the plugins, and they told me that the issue was on Adobe's end, and that it has been an issue for a while. PLEASE fix this, as it adds a lot of hassle and requries a lot of nesting to work around.

I want to mention that some of my friends have the same plugins, and do not suffer from this issue, so if anyone knows if there is some setting I can change to fix this, please let me know!

I am using the latest version of Premiere Pro (23.5) and the latest version of Sapphire (2023.5). I am on Windows 11 22H2

9 replies

Participating Frequently
Oct 26, 2025 8:16 PM UTC

Unbelievable that this is still going on, have upgraded both Premiere and Sapphire over a 5-year course of program and plugin usage, with this issue remaining unresolved. The only "solution" I was able to find was a flimsy workaround that only functioned half the time.

 
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R Neil Haugen
Legend
Oct 26, 2025 11:28 PM UTC

Adjustment layers are not 'regular clips' and cannot control a clip. The effects must be only working on the view passed through that layer itself, not on the clip. An AL is not an "extension" of the Effects Control Panel of a clip on another track. It doesn't work that way.

 

So there are many motion type things that are 'inherent' Premiere effects that can't be used on an AL. It's not a bug at all, simply a limitation on the AL to begin with.

 

This is something many of us users struggle to understand ... what can and can't be done with AL's.

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Everyone's mileage always varies ...
Participating Frequently
Oct 27, 2025 12:40 AM UTC

Interesting, how come BCC's Camera shake and Red Giant Universe's shake effect can be keyframed? Hell, Sapphire effects DO work, just without keyframing. What makes Sapphire any different from these plugins? How come these work on After Effects ALs? How come you can "wake the adjustment layer up" with a workaround?(Although it only works half the time.)

 
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Participant
Jun 22, 2023 12:47 PM UTC

I tried downgrading the project to previous versions of 23 (23.4,23.3,23.1) and that didn't fix the issue. The BorisFX forums said that this has been a bug for years.

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Community Expert
Jun 22, 2023 6:24 AM UTC

Maybe it's related to that bug introduced in 23.5:
https://community.adobe.com/t5/premiere-pro-bugs/quot-untoggled-quot-keyframes/idi-p/13880957

 

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