[Roland R. kahlenberg]

[Bob Cole] “Some of the layers display the Opacity in a pink-red shade”

That color is a visual cue that an Expression is used for the property.
Just below the property’s value is an = sign. Click on the sign once to temporarily disable the Expression. Then change the value (keyframe it) as you normally do. Check that the results are what you want. Then you may delete the Expression by selecting the property and hitting ALT+SHIFT+=. This key combo is also available as a menu item within the Animation menu.

HTH
RoRK
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[Roland R. kahlenberg]

[Bryan Neff] “The hold would work, as it appears similar to Declan’s response – it even mentions that it’s similar to opacity, but more like a switch. It doesn’t explain how to actually perform this action, however. So I’m not entirely sure how to perform it, and even if it would really work”

Using linear or bezier keyframes, repeated one frame apart, to create a pause/hold will cause problems if the affected property pertains to pixel movement. The problem will manifest itself when the final render involves fields, or an interlaced video – there will be an errant field where the layer will exist between the two keyframes.

For properties such as opacity, this will not be an issue. However, it is best that you utilize Hold KFs as and when they are required. They also provide a good visual cue of what’s happening in the Timeline – ie a pause/hold is at play.

To create a Hold KF, you can either (1) select one or more KFs and right-click and select Toggle Hold KF (2) select one or more KFs and hold down CTRL+ALT and then add a mouseclick on the KF(s). TO toggle/revert to linear or bezier (depending on which was at play when applied the Hold KF), apply the same shortcut/keyboard+mouse combo.

One major hurdle for new users is that any KF created after a Hold KF , temporally/sequentially, will also be a Hold KF. You then toggle the Hold KF as explained in the above para.

HTH
RoRK
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[Roland R. kahlenberg]

Thanks for dropping by Mr AE! 🙂

Tom, if it’s not yet obvious, Andrew worked on the Vimeo video that linked to in your post.

HTH
RoRK
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[Roland R. kahlenberg]

You’ve not provided a visual description of what your overlay looks like or what it contains BUT I think what you want/need is to use Hold Keyframes. Unfortunately, there is much coverage that I know of on this extremely useful keyframe.

Here’s what I found via Google and it seems decent – https://www.peachpit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=1327260&seqNum=2

HTH
RoRK
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[Roland R. kahlenberg]

Plexus’ Beams are the way to go. It’s not messy if you pre-plan and then organize your work as you progress.

HTH
RoRK
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[Roland R. kahlenberg]

If you move the layers, you shouldn’t have to move the camera – less work. You should also search the forum with the keyword “carousel”. And search the COW’s AE Expression Forum.

HTH
RoRK
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[Roland R. kahlenberg]

Frame rate, pixel resolution and the number of colors in the palette of a GIF animation determines its final size. Tweak these variables to meet your quality expectations and file size requirements.

HTH
RoRK
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[Roland R. kahlenberg]

Photoshop or Fireworks’ Save for Web option is what you want when outputting a GIF animation. GIFs can contain an optimized 8-bit color palette and dithering. These options are available in the aforementioned save feature.

HTH
RoRK
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[Roland R. kahlenberg]

You can reach the folks from ReVisionFX here.

HTH
RoRK
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[Roland R. kahlenberg]

Try setting scale to 0 instead of opacity to see if things speed up.

Cheers
RoRK
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