Preview Animated Property Keyframes in a Pre-Comp

[Ross22074604zdq1]

I'm curious: when you animate a property (or several) on a layer and press U, it opens all of the animated property values so you can see the keyframes of each. Once you pre-comp a layer (or several), there's no way to see the keyframes of the pre-comp in the main comp without opening that comp (that I know of).

Why doesn't pressing U on a pre-comp do the same thing it does for regular layers? Even if there are several layers with animated properties, surely you could still display each animated parameter like : Layer -> Property -> and the keyframe positions on that line.

This would be very handy for being able to group (pre-comp) several layers together and then still animate other properties around the animations in the groups without having to bounce back and forth between comps.

Does anything like this exist or no?

Thanks!

[Mylenium]

No. That's why people use markers to sync their timing. Displaying actual keyframes doesn't make a lot of sense to me unless they were specifically tagged and selected. Even a handful of layers can already have hundreds of keyframes if only they have enough effects and other animated properties. Therte's no realistic way to display that without it being more confusing than useful.

Mylenium

[JohnColombo]

Hi @Ross22074604zdq1,

Thanks for making this request. If you add the animated property from the layer in the pre-comp to the Essential Graphics panel, you will be able to see (and even modify!) the keyframes on the property in any composition where you nest the pre-comp.

Try these steps:

1. Open the pre-comp in the Timeline
2. Open the Essential Graphics panel
3. Set the "Primary" field in the Essential Graphics panel to the pre-comp (or use Composition > Open in Essential Graphics)
4. Right-click the animated property in the Timeline and choose "Add to Essential Graphics" (ignore the warning about keyframes, it doesn't apply in this case).

Now there should be a new group called Essential Properties on the pre-comp in any other composition where it has been nested, with the property you added shown with its keyframes.

Check out more details on Essential Properties here: https://helpx.adobe.com/after-effects/using/essential-properties.html 

Cheers,

- John, After Effects Engineering Team