State-based Animation

Motion State is built around two visual states for the same clip.

Instead of manually keyframing every property, you set one look as State A and another look as State B. Motion State animates between them automatically.

If you want to build your first animation right away, start with the Quick Start.

State A

State A is one saved set of clip settings.

In the Effect Controls panel, State A settings appear as controls with an A suffix, such as Position A, Scale A, Crop Left A, or Enable Shadow A.

For example, State A might be:

Full frame
Centered
No crop
No stroke

State B

State B is another saved set of clip settings.

State B settings appear next to the matching State A settings with a B suffix. This property-grouped layout keeps each property’s start and end values together.

For example, State B might be:

Scaled down
Moved to one side
Cropped into a rounded or squircle-style frame
Styled with a stroke and glow

For details on the visual controls available in each state, see Transform Controls, Crop and Shape Controls, Stroke Controls, and Shadow Controls.

Animation modes

Motion State can use the two states in several ways:

A to B: animate from State A to State B
B to A: animate from State B to State A
A to B to A: animate out and back to State A, with each motion aligned to the clips ends by default
B to A to B: animate out and back to State B, with each motion aligned to the clips ends by default
Hold A: show State A for the full clip
Hold B: show State B for the full clip
Manual: use Transition Progress to keyframe the transition manually
Continuous: animate from State A at constant per-second rates for the whole clip, with no State B target

Hold modes are useful when you need to keep one Motion State look across multiple clips.

When you choose Hold A, State B controls are hidden. When you choose Hold B, State A controls are hidden. That keeps the panel focused on the state that is actually rendering.

Manual mode lets you keyframe the transition yourself when you need extra control. See Timing and Easing for more on Manual mode.

Continuous mode is one mode that does not use State B at all. State A is still the starting look, and the animation runs from there at a constant speed. See Continuous mode.

Swapping states

Use Swap States to flip State A and State B values.

Swap States is unavailable in Continuous mode, because Continuous never reads State B — swapping would overwrite the State A values the mode actually uses.

Clip-first thinking

Motion State is an effect applied to a clip. It is not a traditional transition between two adjacent clips.

That means you build the animation around the clip itself: where it starts, where it ends, how it should be framed, and how it should be styled during that movement.