How to stop and start a key frame on a specific time on After Effects?

Question

I am new to After Effects. When I set my first key frame on my image, it would move to that specific co-ordinates. Now I want it to stay there and then move again to the next. What I did was create a new key frame for that. Problem is, it goes to the first then straight away to the next. I want it to stay put on the first key frame for about 5 seconds then start moving on the next. How can I do that?

Answer 1

I understand your problem as follows:

There are three timepoints: T0, T1 and T2.

At T0 you place the image in an initial position.
At T1 you place the first keyframe (position: x1, y1).
And at T2 you have the second keyframe (position: x2,y2).

You want it to stay at T1 for several seconds before moving on to T2. The easiest way to achieve this is to make a new keyframe at a timepoint several seconds after T1, but before T2. Let's name it T1a.
Now the image will move to x1,y1, stay there until keyframe T1a and then move to position x2,y2.

Answer 2

You can change the second keyframe to a hold type. This will cause the image to stay at position 1. At time 2 it will jump to the second position. No moving will be visible. If you want the movement to be visible you need to use the solution presented by the other answers.

You might want to research use of the velocity graph. Look up adobe TV.

Answer 3

It sounds like your understanding of key frames is just slightly off, but almost there. Key frames in After Effects (or any key frame based animation system for that matter) indicate that at a given time, the value of a given property (the key framed property) should be at the value you specify for that key frame.

You have told After effects that you want it to start at a given value A, move to another value B and eventually move to another value C, but you haven't told it that you still want it to be B for a while.

You simply need to add an additional key frame at the end of the time period that you want the value to stay the same. This way, the system knows that from the start of reaching the coordinates to the end of the time it spends at those coordinates, it won't move. Then, after the second key frame for position B, it will start moving to C.

You have A...B...C, but you need A...B....B....C. In other words, rather than saying start at A, then move to B, then move to C, you want to say start at A, move to B, stay at B for a while, then move to C.

Answer 4

Simply select your first keyframe(s) in the timeline and copy them. Move to the correct position in your timeline (+5 seconds) and paste.

To avoid any confusion, when I refer to the 'first' keyframe, that is the one at the start of the desired 5 second hold. This would work anywhere in the timeline in that case. Select any keyframe you want to hold at and copy & paste it 5 seconds along in the timeline.