Adobe After Effects is one of the most popular visual effects software used by movie producers, advertisement agencies, media companies, and personal videographers for post-production visual and motion effects. Key features include motion graphics creation, text animation, visual effects, compositing, animation, 3D creation, and integration with other Adobe services and products. Adobe After Effects is commonly used to complete post-production videos for social media content, advertisements, title sequences, broadcast graphics, film, and other general video post-production.
Due to its extensive features and capabilities, Adobe After Effects tends to be more difficult to learn than other creative software. Still, with the listed Shape layers, Markers, Motion tracking, Saving, Exporting, and Rendering keyboard shortcuts below, you will be up and running with Adobe After Effects.
Shape Layers Keyboard Shortcuts
- Group selected shapes Ctrl + G
- Ungroup selected shapes Ctrl + Shift + G
- Enter free-transform path editing mode Select the Path property in the Timeline panel and press Ctrl + T
- Increase star inner roundness Page Up when dragging to create a shape
- Decrease star inner roundness Page Down when dragging to create a shape
- Increase number of points for star or polygon; increase roundness for rounded rectangle Up Arrow when dragging to create a shape
- Decrease number of points for star or polygon; decrease roundness for rounded rectangle Down Arrow when dragging to create a shape
- Reposition shape during creation Hold the Spacebar when dragging to create a shape
- Set rounded rectangle roundness to 0 (sharp corners); decrease polygon and star outer roundness Left Arrow when dragging to create a shape
- Set rounded rectangle roundness to maximum; increase polygon and star outer roundness Right Arrow when dragging to create a shape
- Constrain rectangles to squares; constrain ellipses to circles; constrain polygons and stars to zero rotation Shift when dragging to create a shape
- Change outer radius of star Ctrl when dragging to create a shape
Markers Keyboard Shortcuts
- Set marker at current time (works during preview and audio-only preview) * (multiply) on numeric keypad
- Set marker at current time and open marker dialog box Alt + * (multiply) on the numeric keypad
- Set and number a composition marker (0-9) at the current time Shift + 0-9 on the main keyboard
- Go to a composition marker (0-9) 0-9 on main keyboard
- Display the duration between two layer markers or keyframes in the Info panel Alt-click the markers or keyframes
- Remove marker Ctrl-click marker
Motion Tracking Keyboard Shortcuts
- Move feature region, search region, and attach point 1 pixel at current magnification Arrow key
- Move feature region, search region, and attach point 10 pixels at current magnification Shift + Arrow key
- Move feature region and search region 1 pixel at current magnification Alt + Arrow key
- Move feature region and search region 10 pixels at current magnification Alt + Shift + Arrow key
Saving, Exporting, and Rendering Keyboard Shortcuts
- Save project Ctrl + S
- Increment and save project Ctrl + Alt + Shift + S
- Save As Ctrl + Shift + S
- Add active composition or selected items to render queue Ctrl + Shift + / (on main keyboard)
- Add current frame to render queue Ctrl + Alt + S
- Duplicate render item with same output filename as original Ctrl + Shift + D
- Add a composition to the Adobe Media Encoder encoding queue Ctrl + Alt + M
