1 Topic by heidi (edited by heidi 2015-01-20 15:37:15)

  • Registered: 2015-01-19
  • Posts: 12

Topic: turning a layer off

I have figured out how to make a layer appear and disappear via setting the opacity to "0"  but is there some way to adjust the fact that it fades away vs just clicking off?  I want an instant disappear ...


I have also tried to do this by creating an identical layer, situating it over the first, setting one to zero opacity and then creating a keyframe that would send the visible layer to the bottom below the invisible layer, but there doesn't seem to be a way to animate the top/bottom setting of a layer ... (if you know how to do this, then it would solve my problem, i think ....)

  • Toni
  • Toni
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  • From: Austin
  • Registered: 2014-02-27
  • Posts: 16

Re: turning a layer off

Have you tried setting the keyframe with "0" opacity really close to the previous one? There's a line under the slide preview where all your keyframes are shown, and you can drag the sliders to put two keyframes really close to each other, so there's just a small part of a second between them.

  • Registered: 2015-01-19
  • Posts: 12

Re: turning a layer off

Toni,

That works for the initial "turn on" (and only if i am starting out with the layer totally opaque), but if i want to turn on the layer (by setting the opacity to "0") later on in the timeline, or anytime i want to turn it off, it still fades out, vs just clicking off.

  • From: Vancouver
  • Registered: 2014-02-26
  • Posts: 28

Re: turning a layer off

Hi Heidi, how many keyframes do you have for this layer? It looks like you only have two of them now. I guess you just need another one.
Let's say you want your photo to disappear at second 5, and you want it to disappear immediately rather than fade out gradually. You need three keyframes for that:
keyframe 1 which is always at the beginning of the slide by default, you cannot move it (layer opaque)
keyframe 2 around second 4.9 (layer opaque, identical to keyframe 1)
keyframe 3 at second 5 (layer transparent)
Hope this helps!

  • Registered: 2015-01-19
  • Posts: 12

Re: turning a layer off

Yes! Cindy! That was the trick!  I only had the two keyframes ... one opaque and one transparent .. adding the third clicked it right off without fade out!  BRILLIANT!

heidi

  • From: Vancouver
  • Registered: 2014-02-26
  • Posts: 28

Re: turning a layer off

Good to hear that it worked Heidi! You often have to add a dozen of keyframes to achieve exactly what you want and when you want it. And it gets more and more tricky with multiple layers. Personally, I learned keyframes by opening Smartshow collages in the slide editor and looking how they were build. Sure you'll learn it too soon!