Copying Keyvalues, Tracks and Animations

In this runthrough, we'll show you just how easy it is to copy keyvalues, duplicate them along a track, paste them between objects and even get your layers into other Flow files with their animations intact.

This is a quick run-through video with some basic notes.

For an in-depth look at the Timeline, check out the Timelines & Keyvalues tutorial.

Duplicate a Keyvalue

Duplicating a keyvalue is easy.

This step starts at 1:13

1. Select a single keyvalue
2. Copy it (⌘C or Edit > Copy)
3. Move the playhead to another time
4. Paste (⌘V)

There has to be at least 1 keyvalue between the time you copied, and the time at which you pasted.

Duplicate Multiple Keyvalues

Also, very easy.

This step starts at 1:25

1. Select multiple keyvalues
2. Copy them (⌘C or Edit > Copy)
3. Move the playhead to another time
4. Paste (⌘V)

Pasting Happens at the Playhead

Think of the playhead like the caret in a text editor.

This step starts at 1:39

When you paste some text, the first letter of your selection get pasted at the caret’s position. Same thing goes for keyvalue selections… the first keyvalue gets pasted at the playhead, and all the others get pasted relative to the first keyvalue.

Option+Drag Keyvalues

You can option-drag keyvalues as well.

This step starts at 2:13

This is like option-dragging a layer on the stage.

Duplicate a Layer with its Keyvalues

You can duplicate a layer and preserve its animations.

This step starts at 2:55

1. Copy a layer
2. Choose: Paste with Keyvalues, or…
3. Choose: Paste in Place with Keyvalues

A Layer’s Animations into Another Object

You can copy keyvalues from one object to another.

This step starts at 4:00

1. On the stage, select a layer
2. In the timeline, select all of its keyvalues
3. On the stage, select another layer
4. Paste (%V)

When the most recent thing you copied is a keyvalue or group of keyvalues, then these will be pasted “onto” the selected object.

Copy an Entire Track

Copying works as well for multiple keyvalues in a single track.

This step starts at 5:03

1. Select all the keyvalues of a single track.
2. Paste them onto another object.

Copy a Layer Into Another Project

Pasting an entire layer, with its animations, into another project is straightforward.

This step starts at 5:52

1. Select a layer.
2. Copy it.
3. Move to another project.
4. Paste or Paste in Place with Keyvalues.

Copy Keyvalues Into Another Project

You can also copy and paste keyvalues from one project to another.

This step starts at 6:10

1. Select a layer.
2. Select all its keyvalues.
3. Move to another project.
4. Select a target layer.
5. Paste.

So it’s really easy to get objects from one project to another project. It’s easy to paste keyvalues and tracks between objects in the same project, and so on. This is how you do it. Pretty simple right?