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ic27402023
Participant
May 4, 2017
Answered

Can't see keyframes at all (CC 2017)

  • May 4, 2017
  • 3 replies
  • 7373 views

Hi all,

I recently updated AE on my mac, and on making a new project, I can't see any keyframes in the timeline whatsoever.  I can drag them around and navigate between them as if they are still there, and they have the expected effects, they are just competely invisible.  I did a totally fresh install on a Windows machine as well, same issue.

I've used AE pretty extensively before, so I don't think I'm making an obvious error, but who knows.  I can't find any other topics on the matter on multiple forums, so I'm starting to lose my mind.  Any help would be very appreciated.  Thanks!

Correct answer ic27402023

Did some experimenting when taking the screenshot, and figured out the cause.  I was editing a layer past the 3 hour mark on the source footage, which apparently is known to not display correctly.  I searched that topic and found the official info on this page: After Effects composition basics

"The limit for composition duration is three hours. You can use footage items longer than three hours, but time after three hours does not display correctly."

You led me to the answer in a roundabout way, so thanks!!

Just as an aside @Adobe: it would be nice if the program warned the user of these issues, rather than silently perform in unexpected ways.

3 replies

naimahr85046859
naimahr85046859
Participant
August 25, 2020

hey if you just precompose it works lol

R
ryan varnfield
Participant
April 2, 2025

u r my hero king 

Jason Leaver
Jason Leaver
Known Participant
November 13, 2018

I have a similar problem - and thanks to this thread I've solved it. It would seem the problem isn't limited to comps that are over 3hrs, but it would seem a clip over 3hrs has the same issue.

Dave_LaRonde
Dave_LaRonde
Inspiring
November 13, 2018

Folks, here's not a bad rule of thumb.  If your AE comp is longer than a minute, you need to start asking yourself, "Is there any possible way to do this without using After Effects?"

If the answer is "yes", I guaran-darn-tee you will be happier using it.

Roei Tzoref
Roei Tzoref
Legend
May 4, 2017

show us a screenshot of you full Ae inteface. press UU on your layers so we can see everything. if that doesn't show anything twirl down some properties so we can see what's going on. how can you drag keyframes if you can't see them ?

I
ic27402023AuthorCorrect answer
Participant
May 4, 2017

Did some experimenting when taking the screenshot, and figured out the cause.  I was editing a layer past the 3 hour mark on the source footage, which apparently is known to not display correctly.  I searched that topic and found the official info on this page: After Effects composition basics

"The limit for composition duration is three hours. You can use footage items longer than three hours, but time after three hours does not display correctly."

You led me to the answer in a roundabout way, so thanks!!

Just as an aside @Adobe: it would be nice if the program warned the user of these issues, rather than silently perform in unexpected ways.

    I
    ic27402023Author
    Participant
    May 4, 2017

    interesting. how did you get a layer to pass 3 hours? was this a footage with a timecode that passed 3 hours which you created a composition from?


    No layer was ever longer than 3 hours.  After trimming out some unwanted bits, could pull layers left and extend the right-hand bound of the last layer past the 3 hour mark of the footage.

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