Easy Ease Keyframe Shortcut in Adobe After Effects

This article covers the essential Easy Ease keyframe shortcut in Adobe After Effects and explains the mechanics behind how it softens animation transitions. By moving from default linear interpolation to gradual acceleration and deceleration, animators can instantly elevate their motion design from rigid and robotic to fluid and natural.

The Easy Ease Keyboard Shortcut

To apply Easy Ease to any keyframe in Adobe After Effects, select the keyframe(s) on your timeline and press:

  • Windows: F9
  • Mac: F9 (or Fn + F9 depending on your keyboard configuration)

After Effects also provides directional easing shortcuts for more control:

  • Easy Ease In (smoothly decelerates into the keyframe): Shift + F9 (Windows) or Shift + Fn + F9 (Mac)
  • Easy Ease Out (smoothly accelerates out of the keyframe): Ctrl + Shift + F9 (Windows) or Cmd + Shift + F9 (Mac)

Once applied, the keyframe icons on the timeline change from standard diamonds (linear) into hourglasses (Bezier).

How Easy Ease Softens Transitions

By default, After Effects creates animations using linear keyframes. Linear interpolation moves an object between two points at a static, unchanging rate of speed. This causes abrupt starts, rigid movement, and jarring stops that look unnatural because real-world objects have mass and require time to gain or lose momentum.

Easy Ease changes the temporal interpolation of your keyframes from linear to Bezier interpolation. Instead of an instantaneous start and stop, it alters the velocity of the property:

  1. Deceleration (Cushioning In): As the playhead approaches the keyframe, the rate of change gradually decreases toward zero.
  2. Acceleration (Cushioning Out): As the playhead leaves the keyframe, the rate of change starts near zero and smoothly ramps up to the required speed.

Visualizing the Change in the Graph Editor

When viewed inside the Graph Editor using the Speed Graph, the difference becomes immediately clear:

  • Linear Keyframes: Appear as flat, horizontal lines connected by harsh 90-degree angles, representing instantaneous jumps in speed.
  • Easy Ease Keyframes: Form smooth, curved arcs. The speed drops to 0 units per second at the exact point of the keyframe and arcs upward between them.

This parabolic speed curve mirrors real-world physics, eliminating visual stutter and giving layers a sense of natural weight and momentum.

Customizing the Ease

While pressing F9 applies After Effects' default 33.33% influence to both sides of the keyframe, animators can further refine the softness in the Graph Editor. By pulling the yellow Bezier handles outward, you can increase the influence (up to 100%), creating dynamic ramps where movement lingers before snapping quickly into the next position.