putting timeline indicator at some specific point

[Suraiya A]

 Hi,

I need to know something.

So I created 5 pngs. And want to make an animation of 2 seconds. My composition fps is 24.

I select all layers, and apply animation> keyframe assistance > sequence layers. (didn’t tick the overlap)

I notice my layers are overlapping!

So here is my question.

2 second animation means total 48 frames. So I have to divide this 48 by 5 to know the exact layer duration length for each layer to play, so that they dnt overlap with each other and cover total 2 second smoothly!

Am I on right track?

And another thing,  48/5=9.6 MICROSECOND! How can I put this in layer so that I can trim? or how can I set the time indicator exactly at 9.6 microsecond in timeline?

Thank you.

[RobShultz]

Frame rates are rounded up. 24 frames per second is actually  23.976. Because of this getting it to line up exactly may be impossible.

[Rick Gerard · Accepted solution]

You have to work in frames. Two seconds at 24 frames per second is 49 frames. 48/5 = 9.5. There are no partial frames. You need to set a frame rate evenly divisible by the number of layers in the sequence and make that comp 2 seconds long.  

Set your 2-second comp to 20 fps. Two seconds at 20 fps is 40 frames. 40 divided by five is 8. 

Now set the CTI to frame 7 (one less than the number of frames you want, so the layer length is eight frames. Sequence layers with no overlap. Now change the frame rate of the composition back to 24. You will end up with five layers. Each will be as close to the same number of frames as they can be, but some will be one frame longer than the others. That is as close as you can get in a 2-second film that runs at 24 frames per second and five layers. 

I hope you followed that. 

[Suraiya A]

Hi Gerard!

Thank you. Very nicely explained.