[2024] How To Easy Ease In After Effects - Full Tutorial

What Is An Easy Ease Keyframe?

By understanding and mastering Easy Ease, you can make your animations smoother and more natural. Let's break down the three types of Easy Ease:

Easy Ease In:

• Purpose: This is all about deceleration. It's when your animation slows down as it approaches a keyframe.
• How it works:
• Imagine you're driving a car and you see a stop sign ahead. You don't slam on the brakes immediately; instead, you gradually slow down until you come to a complete stop right at the sign.
• In After Effects, this is achieved by adjusting the speed graph. The graph starts steep (indicating faster motion) and gradually flattens out (indicating slowing down).
• When to use: Use Easy Ease In when you want an element in your animation to decelerate into its final position or state.
• Practical Example: If you're animating a bouncing ball, as it reaches its peak height, you'd want it to slow down before it starts its descent. This is where Easy Ease In comes into play.

Easy Ease Out:

• Purpose: This focuses on acceleration. It's the opposite of Easy Ease In. Here, your animation starts slow and then speeds up as it moves away from a keyframe.
• How it works:
• Think of it as pressing the gas pedal of your car from a stationary position. You start slow and then pick up speed.
• In After Effects, the speed graph for this will start flat and then get steeper, indicating the increase in speed.
• When to use: Use Easy Ease Out when you want an element in your animation to start its motion slowly and then accelerate.
• Practical Example: Going back to our bouncing ball, as it starts its descent from the peak, it begins slowly and then speeds up due to gravity.

Easy Ease (Both In and Out):

• Purpose: This combines the best of both worlds. Your animation will slow down as it approaches a keyframe and then gradually accelerate as it moves away.
• How it works:
• It's like approaching a speed bump in a car. You slow down as you approach it, go over it slowly, and then accelerate once you're past it.
• The speed graph in After Effects for this will have a bell-like curve, indicating the deceleration and then acceleration.
• When to use: Use this when you want a smooth transition at both the start and end of a motion.
• Practical Example: If you're animating a pendulum, as it reaches either end of its swing, it slows down, pauses momentarily, and then accelerates in the opposite direction.

‍

After Effects How To Easy Ease

Accessing the Timeline Panel:
Dive into the Timeline panel to see a list of your keyframes. This is where your animation starts to take shape.

Entering the Graph Editor:
Click on the Graph Editor button, and from the menu that appears, select "Edit Speed Graph." This tool allows you to visually adjust the speed and influence of your keyframes.

Selecting Your Keyframe:
Using the Selection tool, click on the keyframe you wish to adjust. Each keyframe represents a specific moment in your animation.

Splitting and Joining Direction Handles:
Direction handles control the speed and flow of your animation. To split the handles, use Alt-drag (Windows) or Option-drag (Mac OS). To join them back together, bring one handle close to its counterpart until they meet.

Adjusting Keyframe Speed and Influence:
Drag a keyframe with joined handles up to speed things up or down to slow things down. For split handles, dragging up accelerates the speed, and dragging down decelerates. To adjust the influence of the keyframe, pull the handle away or towards the keyframe's center.

The Magic of Easy Ease:
"Easy Ease" makes animations feel more natural. In the Graph Editor or layer bar mode, select the keyframes you want to apply this to. Choose from the options under Animation > Keyframe Assistant or use the buttons at the bottom of the Graph Editor.

‍

What Is The Shortcut For Easy Ease In After Effects?

Ease In (Starting Slow):

Shortcut: Shift + F9

What It Does: Frankly, this is all about the beginning of your transition. It starts the animation slowly, then speeds up. It's perfect for objects that need a gradual start.

Ease Out (Ending Slow):

Shortcut: Ctrl + F9 (or Cmd + F9 on Mac)

What It Does: On the other hand, this focuses on the end of your transition. The animation starts at a regular speed but slows down towards the end. It's ideal for objects that need a gentle stop.