When to clone and when to use new

[steven62]

Hi all,

I know I should know this by now but I seem to have missed the session on the tutorials I have read and/or purchased.

When in the O&A window when do I clone a key frame and when do I hit the new key frame button and more importantly does it matter?

This whole concept of key frames especially multiple key frames is fairly new to me and I don't know if I am just dense, not paying attention or what. I have tried to understand it in the guide, Lin's PTE 5 book and listening to Barry's Tutorial over and over but I am just not getting it.

I know I had a tough time with curves in photoshop for a while but there were enough tutorials out there that one day the light went on and life was once again good.

Thanks,

Steven

[Lin Evans]

Hi Steven,

You "clone" a keyframe then move it to the point along the timeline when you want to "hold" some image for a period of time before making further changes. For example, let's say you have done a zoom in and you want to keep the zoomed in image stationary for a period of time. You create a keyframe, select that keyframe then do your zoom. Now "clone" that key frame and move it further along the timeline for the length of time you want that particular zoom to remain as it is.

When you create a "new" keyframe the "expectation" is that you want things to change, but if you manually enter the same zoom, rotate, etc., values for the "new" keyframe, it will function exactly as the "cloned" keyframe did. The "clone" feature just automatically copies everything except the "time" and saves you the trouble of entering the values again.

Remember - all animations, etc., happen in time and happen "because" of differences in zoom, rotate, pan or 3D transform values. The distance along the timeline between adjacent keyframes determines "when" animations start and end. The "values" in the pan, zoom, rotate or 3D transform determine "whether" there will be be changes. The "clone" feature just copies all of the existing values associated with a keyframe "except" the time and makes it convenient to essentially "stop action" for the period of time represented by the distance between keyframes relative to the display time for that slide.

Best regards,

Lin

[steven62]

Thanks Lin,

That is very clear and I am not sure if I missed it in other sources or what.

Steven