Where applied behaviors appear

When you apply a behavior to a layer or group, it appears nested underneath that layer or group in the Layers list and in the Timeline.

Layers list showing behaviors applied to an object

A behavior icon (a gear) also appears to the right of the object (layer or group) name in the Layers list and Timeline. Clicking this icon enables and disables all behaviors applied to that object. The actual parameters that let you adjust the attributes of a behavior appear in the Behaviors Inspector.

New behaviors you apply to an object appear above behaviors applied previously.

When you apply a behavior to an object (or parameter) in your project, a behavior icon (a gear) appears in the row of the affected parameter in the Properties, Behaviors, or Filters Inspector. This icon shows you that a behavior is influencing that parameter. When you apply a behavior to a parameter that has been animated with keyframes, a behavior icon (a gear) appears within a keyframe (diamond) icon.

Inspector showing a behavior icon in a parameter row, a keyframe icon in a parameter row, and a behavior icon within a keyframe icon in a parameter row

Animation paths

When some behaviors are applied to an object, an animation path appears in the Canvas displaying the projected path of the object over time. Consider this path a “preview” of the animation created by the behavior. Unlike animation paths created using keyframes or the path created by the Motion Path behavior, animation paths for behaviors cannot be edited. To show or hide all types of paths, click the View pop-up menu above the Canvas, then choose Animation Path (when the checkmark beside the menu command disappears, animation paths are hidden in the Canvas).

Behavior effects in the keyframe editor

If you open the Keyframe Editor and look at a parameter affected by a behavior, you see a noneditable curve that represents the behavior’s effect on that parameter. The noneditable curve (in this example, opacity channel animation that corresponds to the Fade In/Fade Out behavior) appears in addition to that parameter’s editable curve, which can be used in combination to keyframe that parameter. For more information about the Keyframe Editor, see Display the Keyframe Editor.

Keyframe Editor showing editable and noneditable curves

Note: Use the pop-up menu above the Keyframe Editor to select which parameters are displayed and to create curve sets. For more information on curve sets, see Create a custom curve view.