In a chaotic world, at least layers can be in sync
Enter a BPM or tap a tempo to create a series of beat keyframes for aligning elements to a rhythm.
When it comes to starting a shot before finalizing the music or fitting a musical phrase within social limits, Beatgrid is the backbone.
Available for free 😚
Timing layers and keyframes to a BPM should be easy, and now it is.
Dial in your tempo and create a new layer with keyframes to snap to.
Tip: hold shift as you drag elements in the timeline to snap to visible keyframes. Like the one's you just created.
Tempo
Enter the BPM of a know track or tap it in by clicking the Tap button. After a few seconds the Tap tempo will time out, so if you need to start over, just wait and it will reset.
Pro tip: After clicking Tap for the first time, it will respond to the space bar press.
Time signature
Most pop music is written in 4/4 but 3/4 is included to create 3 quarter notes before restarting with the 1 beat.
Notes
Clicking the Quarter note button will create the Beatgrid layer with 4 keyframes (or 3 if you have 3/4 enabled) before starting over at the 1 beat
Clicking the Eighth note button will create the Beatgrid layer with 8 keyframes (or 6 if you have 3/4 enabled) before starting over at the 1 beat
Metronome
A Beatgrid layer comes with an audible metronome built from a Tone effect and expressions.
To mute this, click the 🔈 switch on the layer. It’s in with the visibility and solo switches. [👁️🔈⚪️🔒]
Snap to frames
Depending on your BPM, these beat keyframes might fall between keyframes in After Effects. Enable this checkbox to force beats onto the nearest frame.
