Repeat animation on additional objects

[Kevin E.]

Hello. I have created an animation using keyframes for an object...let's call it "Newspaper 1". I would like to have additional objects to follow the same animation after it on the timeline...let's call them "Newspaper 2, Newspaper 3, etc." How can I repeat the animation on the additional objects without having to manually put in the keyframes for each one?

[Conrad_C]

After you work out the animation for Newspaper 1, you can copy and paste all the keyframes to the other objects. A quick example:

1. In the Effect Controls panel, for Newspaper 1, click the Position heading to select all Position keyframes for that track (or for an Essential Graphics layer* within that track), then choose Edit > Copy. 

2. For Newspaper 2, click the Position heading to select all Position keyframes.

3. Move the current time indicator to the frame where you want Newspaper 2 to start moving, and choose Edit > Paste. The keyframes paste starting at that time, so they will be offset from Newspaper 1 by that amount of time. So if you paste when the current time indicator is one second later than the first Position keyframe for Newspaper 1, then Newspaper 2 will begin animating one second later.

4. For the other objects, repeat steps 2 and 3.

*If you are animating layers within one Essential Graphics object, then also make sure that you are editing the correct layer’s Position property in Effect Controls. In other words, the Effect Controls panel lists Position for the entire selected track, as well as for each Essential Graphics layer on that track, so Effect Controls can list multiple Position properties for a track and you want to make sure you’re pasting the keyframes into the correct Position property.

[Kevin E.]

Thank you. That sounded so simple, but of course, it never is for me! ☹

I have a set of keyframes for position, scale and rotation set at approximately 6, 9 and 17 seconds. I selected and copied them all for Newspaper 1, ensuring all of them are blue. But when I paste them in for Newspaper 2, it only pastes the 9 and 17 second keyframes, leaving out the 6. I’ve tried it several times and get the same result.

[Kevin E. · Accepted solution]

I finally figured out the simplest way to do this. Drag the new object onto the timeline. Right click on the original object and select "copy". Then right click on the new object and select "Paster Attributes". Worked like a charm!

[Kevin E.]

I mean "Paste Attributes".

[Conrad_C]

Yeah, that’s a good option, I use Paste Attributes all the time. I think the reason I didn’t suggest it was that the keyframes have to be manually offset after pasting, but that isn’t a big deal.

I usually use the keyboard shortcut for that command, which is listed next to it on the main menu: Edit > Paste Attributes.