Having all of the properties open in the After Effects timeline can be overwhelming and frustrating. Especially, when working on smaller laptop screens. Let me show you how to fix this problem with a simple keyboard shortcut called Solo Properties.
I use this keyboard shortcut every day. It is a simple keyboard shortcut, but you will be surprised to know how many motion designers never heard of it. In fact, the third comment in our Solo Properties YouTube video says the following: “3 Years of after effects, I did not know about this trick until now.” Sometimes the simplest keyboard shortcuts are the most effective.
Let’s open up After Effects and dive right in!
Here we are in After Effects. I have a text layer, a shape layer, and the background.
Step 1: Select All Layers
LEFT-CLICK and drag over all of the layers in the After Effects timeline.
Step 2: Collapse the Layers
LEFT-CLICK on the collapse icon in the timeline to see all of the properties.
Step 3: Select Multiple Properties
Individually select all the properties we want to keep on our timeline with a keyboard shortcut CTRL+LEFT-CLICK on a PC or CMD+LEFT-CLICK on a Mac.
Step 4: Solo Properties Keyboard Shortcut
Then with all of the properties selected, all we have to do is just press S twice on our keyboard. That simple!
I hope you found this After Effects Solo Properties Tip useful. You can check out all of our Tips on our website. Also, make sure to subscribe to our email list!
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