Key Combinations

⌨️ ⌘/Ctrl + click applies the last settings without UI

Options

  • Mode: How the delay is built. The tool picks a mode from your selection and you can change it
    • "Follow a Leader": the layers copy one layer's animation, each one delay later than the one before
    • "Stagger Own Animation": each layer keeps its own keys, shifted in time
  • Leader: The layer whose animation the others copy. Shown in "Follow a Leader" only
  • Delay: The gap between one layer and the next, in frames
  • Offset from Own Value: Followers keep their own value and add the leader's movement, so with Position they stay where they are. When off, they copy the leader's value. Shown in "Follow a Leader" only

Order

Click one of the four buttons to apply the delay in that order.

  • Ascending: Top layer moves first, then down the stack
  • Descending: Bottom layer moves first, then up the stack
  • Random: Layers move in a random order. Click it again for another order
  • Selected: Layers move in the order you selected them

Delayer effect

The tool adds a Delayer effect to the leader, or to the top selected layer in "Stagger Own Animation". Everything stays live, so you can change it there afterwards.

[side-left]

  • Enable: Turns the delay on or off
  • Delay (Frames): Adjusts the delay between the layers in frames
  • Order: Sets the order the layers move in: "Selection", "Reversed" or "Random"
  • Random Seed: Changes the random order

‍

https://media.motionape.com/docs/mobar/images/animation-delayer-options.png

Each layer also gets a Delay Index slider that holds its place in the order.

How to use

  1. Animate one layer for the others to follow, or animate the same property on every layer
  2. Select two or more layers. To delay one property, select that property. With only layers selected, the tool uses every animated Position, Scale, Rotation and Opacity
  3. Run the tool. With one animated layer it opens in "Follow a Leader", with more than one in "Stagger Own Animation"
  4. Set the delay in frames. The line at the bottom of the window says what will happen
  5. Click one of the four order buttons to apply
  6. Fine-tune the result on the Delayer effect

Note

💡 At least one of the selected layers needs keyframes