Last updated
Last updated
Staggering animation is one of the most common technique used in Motion Design. It's good to know this technique because you need not manually copy and paste keyframes from one layer to another and offset the timing. Instead you can animate one element, and make all the other layers reference that animation with an offset timing.
, MotionScript, Dan Ebberts
Generally, when we want to stagger or offset animations in time for a series of layers, we can make use of the layers' index
number and the valueAtTime
property.
It is always best practice to use absolute index referencing, because you do not run the risk of your animation being affected if I were to add a new layer to the composition causing all the layers' index number. The simple way to absolute reference is to:
Create a Null layer or use your main animated layer, usually named "start"
Make sure the layers you want to offset is underneath this "start" layer
Get the absolute index number by subtracting the Start layer index from the layer index number
Now you can use that value to calculate the delay offset
This allow you to row by row staggering by separating the dimensions for measuring distances.
delayed sequential offset - WIP