Motion About replicator timing
After you create a replicator, its duration can be as long or short as necessary, regardless of the duration of the original source layers used for the pattern cells. The duration of a replicator is defined by the duration of the replicator timebar in the Timeline track area. Changing the In or Out points of a replicator in the Properties Inspector, Timeline, or mini-Timeline changes the duration of its timebar.
Although the duration of source layers has no affect on the replicator, the duration of each cell affects how long the elements created from that cell are visible in the project. You can change a cell’s duration by dragging its In and Out points in the Timeline. In this way, you can adjust the timing that defines when each cell type appears. For example, to create a pattern in which three types of elements appear at different times in the animation, you can offset the cells in the Timeline. In the following image, the “crosshair” cells appear first. One second later, the “drop” cells appear. One second after that, the “soft circle” cells appear.
Tip: You can animate the opacity of each cell to create a fade-in effect; you do this by keyframing the Opacity parameter in the Replicator or the Replicator Cell Inspector.
For more information on adjusting the timing of layers in the Timeline, see Timeline overview.