Keyframe 'on' or 'off' an effect ?

[djmattyz]

this must be something simple, but i cannot seem to find a way to do it

id like to keyframe on and off the lumetri color effect, for example, this is so that i can use the clip in my VFX showreel and show what things look like with, and without the effect.

but the toggle button for activating the effects does not have any stopwatch for keyframing

any ideas how it can be done?

thankyou

[Mike_Abbott]

Apply the effect on an adjustment layer. Then keyframe that layer's opacity to 0% or 100% using hold keyframes.

[djmattyz]

but does and adjustment layer not affect all the layers below it?

i would like to affect only one layer

[P.M.B]

Just set a keyframe on all the attributes or all the attributes that you changed from default.   Then you can hit the effects "reset" and new keyframes will be set essentially turning the effect off. 

[djmattyz]

this is not really practical, because a plugin like lumetri color has too many parameters, it is possible that one will not even remember what parameters were used, and in fact, i do not think the "curves" part of that plugin can be keyframed either (needless to day it is also  very difficult to put those kind of parameters back to zero once they are set up.

duplicating the clip and fading between them also works to some extent, but this can become complicated in certain scenarios.

i wonder why a simple Toggle on-off switch for an effect cannot be keyframed.

[P.M.B]

Another option:   In the timeline...all effects have "compositing options".    Twirl open the compositing options and key the "effect opacity".    You owe me a pizza 

[pragmatic_user]

That's the correct answer.

[Rick Gerard]

djmattyz  wrote

this must be something simple, but i cannot seem to find a way to do it

id like to keyframe on and off the lumetri color effect, for example, this is so that i can use the clip in my VFX showreel and show what things look like with, and without the effect.

but the toggle button for activating the effects does not have any stopwatch for keyframing

You are way over thinking this. Duplicate your footage, put the layer with Lumetri applied on the top, remove it from the bottom, then animate a mask or a transparency to reveal the original footage below. It's way easier and more effective. I use the technique all the time to produce examples tutorials or workshops.

[P.M.B]

You don't even need two layers.  You can just apply the animated mask to the layer with lumetri and then add the composite function in the layers "compositing options".    If you don't need the mask animated you can just key the effect opacity which is also in the layers compositing options

[Jose Panadero]

If you are trying to do a breakdown of color or vfx, then render multiple passes of your footage with and without effects and use a non-linear editor like Premiere to edit them. Trying to do this in After Effects is perfectly possible but time consuming because there is not an quickway to "deactivate" the animation.

[iusebiro · Accepted solution]

A few years ago they introduced Compositing Options at the bottom of every effect. If you use the opacity slider on that it just turns the whole thing off. Is that what you mean?

[djmattyz]

that covers it guys thanks !!

i didnt know about the opacity slider in the compositing options, that pretty much does what i wanted  🙂

pizza on the way for everyone !

[ubernemo]

Coming later... 

I have 10 min of 4K footage. I use an effect only for the first 10sec and then it should be off for the rest of the 10min.

But will turning opacity to zero % will reduce rendering time for that effect?

I know I can asssemble two pieces of footage but for other reasons I prefer not to.

Nyway my question is intresting in general I think. Thanks!

[Rick Gerard]

Stop trying to do everything on one layer. If you don't need an effect after a few seconds or a few frames, split the layer using Ctrl/Cmnd + d and delete the copy of the effect on the other layer. Fiddling with adjustment layers and compositing options to turn off an effect is not going to save you as much rendering time as just splitting the layer and removing the effect.

And even better option for your 10-minute video.  Edit the piece in Premiere Pro, make a cut at 10 seconds into the shot, replace that 10 seconds with an AE comp, and keep your editing in an NLE instead of trying to use After Effects as a video editor. It is not one, was never designed to edit video, and it always takes longer to render the final shot than any NLE. 

[ubernemo]

Agreed. Of course that was my first solution as I wrote "I know I can asssemble two pieces of footage but for other reasons I prefer not to.". The said reasons are below.

I was looking for a different approach as 1) I might have to change the "cut point" many times, to match music being composed, from 10sec to other values. 2) The other reason is that the two pieces of footage (effect processed and not) must match perfectly (pixel level) at the cut point. As the effect is a 3D unwraping of the second footage from sphere to flat it makes things difficult.

Anyway, contrary to my intuition setting the effect opacity to 0% does not take any (or very little) additional rendering time. It's like assembling the two pieces as you mention but without all the trouble in my case. By the way I agree with you 100% : AE is not intended as and is not an NLE.

Anyway: thank you for your reply.

[ubernemo]

Rick, if I may... Why isn't it a "on/off switch" for effects that could be keyframed like any other parameter? I understand that opacity is more flexible (0-100%) but still, it would make things more obvious imho.

Another case where I would use it (and not go the Premiere Pro way) is if the effect is reacting to some external trigger (e.g. music) turning it on and off at irregular times dozens or hundreds of times in one sequence. Cut & pasting clips would be unthinkable.

Of course, if responding to live input I would go for tools such as TouchDesigner or Notch, much better adapted to such tasks.

[angie_taylor]

If you want to do this. Move the time marker to the place where you want to have zero effect. Go to Edit > Split Layer. Remove the effect on the part you don't want it applied to.

Or use the technique above using the Compositing options slider and held keyframes.

[ubernemo]

Hello Angie and thank you for your reply. But aren't these two methods exactly essentially the ones Rick and discussed in the posts hust before yours? Maybe you missed them. I'm not sure that I understand what is the difference, if any. Best regards.

[angie_taylor]

Oops! YES! You're absolutely right, I'm sorry, I missed Rick's response in my messages digest. Apologies for the repeat. Although it kind of goes to show its the best solution if we both said the same thing! LOL!

[ubernemo]

LOL! I guess it does! No problem and thanks again!

[Nathan5C65]

It's nearly four years later but now I owe you a pizza too.