This is an extension of a previous thread of mine dealing with keyframes. Threads get a bit messy after a while, so I'm going to summarise the previous thread, and offer a challenge. The thread dealt with my suggestion of a "Set Keyframes" button, and most respondents thought it a dubious idea. That's fine – but no one could back up their arguments with concrete reasons why such a button would be undesirable. All seemed keen to keep with their existing workflow. That's fine too. The only reason I posted was to gain a bit more understanding about keyframes. I couldn't see the problem with such a button – and still don't.
So, I issue a challenge and a way to back up your arguments against a "Set Keyframes" button.
THE CHALLENGE
I have set up a simple animation in Premiere using a square. The animations are called Square Animation 01 and Square Animation 02 and can be downloaded in a zip file here (140 kB). A detailed description of how I set up the animations is contained in a PDF within the zip file. The animation is described below and uses the three parameters of Motion (Position, Scale, Rotation). Time is indicated as T00-02, meaning from 0 to 2 seconds.
- T00-02: Square in centre of frame.
- T02-04: Scale to 50% in situ.
- T04-06: Move left.
- T06-08: Move right.
- T08-10: Leave in place and rotate 45º.
- T10-12: Lock in place.
- T12-14: Snap to original at 12 seconds and lock.
Square Animation 1 uses the technique that seems to be favoured by all the people who responded to my last post, whereas Square Animation 2 simulates the use of a "Set Keyframes" button. In my case, the former took me about 10 minutes to set up and get working; I had to look ahead at each waypoint and work out how to lock in the present state. The latter took me about 3 minutes, and all I did was go to each waypoint, set up the square, then lock-in by setting all keyframes. The only slight difficulty was with the snap change at 0.12.
I'd like to know what experienced users think of the two methods. Open the files; run them to see what they do; check out the keyframe setup; then delete the keyframes for both animations and set up the animation yourself using both methods.
I'm not trying to prove anything here. I want to gain an in-depth understanding of keyframes, and the best way for me to learn is by engaging with experienced users and asking for their feedback. Once I start using Premiere, I expect to be using keyframes a lot, so I want a thorough understanding of it. If you see anything that could be problematic with the "Set Keyframes" method, I want to know. But please be concrete. Talk about actual, specific examples, preferably using the animations I have provided.