Black Frame when Time Remapping to Loop a Composition

[jjjnyt]

I'm following the basic processing to looping a precomp, and getting a black frame at the end before looping.

Here is the process:

- Trim comp to work area (comp I will loop)

- Place in new comp

- Enable Time Remapping

- Go to last keyframe, step back one frame, make new keyframe

- Double-click last keyframe, enter 0 for time

- Add LoopOut expression to Time Remap

[Roei Tzoref]

make sure that you have trimmed your precomp to the duration of your layer, if not - delete TR and do the same process again.

if this doesn't work show us some screenshots maybe video capture.

when the black frame is preset, what frame/time are you on in the expression enabled time remapping?

[Rick Gerard]

You almost have the correct procedure.

1. Alt/Option + Ctrl/Cmnd + t to enable time remapping - easier because it extends the layer to the length of the comp automatically
2. k to move to last keyframe - the frame should be empty because you are past the last frame of the comp
3. Ctrl/Cmnd + left arrow to move back one frame - you should now see a frame
4. Click the diamond icon the timeline to set a new keyframe at the start of the last frame of the layer
5. k to move to the last frame, which still should be black
6. Click the diamond icon again to delete the last keyframe
7. Alt/Option + click the Time Remapping icon to add the expression loopOut()
8. Click anywhere to exit expression editing

That should be all there is to it. 2 keyframes and every frame of your nested comp will loop. No need for 3 keyframes. If the first frame and the last frame are identical you now have a perfect loop. Some folks like to call this a seamless loop.

If the first frame and the last frame of your nested composition are not identical then you have a repeating pattern. If you want a perfectly repeating pattern then you do need a third keyframe but you should copy and paste the first keyframe rather than manually entering a value. There are a bunch of things that can give the first frame of a layer a value that is not zero. Copy and paste is the only reliable method to get the right value every time. Some folks like to call a repeating pattern a looping pattern or looping sequence. Calling it a loop is a little inaccurate.

[jjjnyt]

Hi Rick,

Thanks for your reply. When I do it your way, in the last frame all my layers of the precomp I'm attempting to loop display for one frame.

I appreciate your help, but what would be most helpful is explaining what I'm doing wrong or where my error is.

thanks

[Roei Tzoref]

your workflow seems fine. you should not get this black frame. it's hard to tell without examining your project. can you show it to us or upload it?

[Rick Gerard · Accepted solution]

Maybe this will help:

[jjjnyt]

This worked for me, thank you Rick!