Easing & interpolation
Interpolation is per keyframe, not per property. Two keyframes on the same track can ease completely differently.
The five types
| Type | Behaviour | How to apply |
|---|---|---|
| Linear | Constant rate between keyframes | Animation → Keyframe Interpolation → Linear |
| Ease | Slow in and out | F9 |
| Ease In | Slow on arrival | Shift + F9 |
| Ease Out | Slow on departure | Ctrl/⌘ + Shift + F9 |
| Hold | No interpolation — the value jumps at the next keyframe | Animation → Keyframe Interpolation → Hold |
Plus custom cubic Bézier, set by dragging handles or by typing the four control numbers.
Hold is the one people forget. It is how you do frame-by-frame swaps, hard cuts on a property, and stepped motion.
Three places to shape a curve
The graph editor
Shift + G in the timeline. Value mode draws the property curve as a Bézier path; drag keyframes to retime or revalue them, drag handles to reshape the ease.
Speed mode draws the derivative. It is read-only vertically on purpose — a Y position there is a speed, not a value. Use it to find where a move actually accelerates.
The Graph panel
The same curve, larger, with big draggable keyframes, easing presets that reshape the curve live, and exact numeric entry. Sequencing lives in the timeline; this panel owns how a value moves.
The ease clipboard
This is the feature that makes a scene feel like one piece of work, and it also lives in the Graph panel.
- Select a keyframe whose ease you like. Press Copy.
- Select any other keyframes — different property, different layer, any number of them.
- Press Paste.
The curve is stamped onto all of them. Nothing else about the keyframes changes.
Keyframe assistants
| Assistant | Effect |
|---|---|
| Easy Ease All | Ease every keyframe on the selection |
| Time-Reverse Keyframes | Reverse the order in time |
| Sequence Layers | Lay the selected layers’ bars end to end |
| Stagger Animations | Offset each layer’s start by 0.3 s by default |
| Smooth motion path | Ctrl/⌘ + Alt + S |
See Keyframe assistants.
Practical advice
- Ease out of nothing, ease into rest. Entrances usually want ease-out on the final keyframe; exits want ease-in on the first.
- Match the ease across a group. Copy one curve and paste it onto everything in the sequence; then stagger the timing, not the shape.
- Check the speed graph before adding more keyframes. A move that feels wrong is usually a velocity problem, not a missing keyframe.