How to Speed up a Video in After Effects - Full Guide

How to Speed up a Video in After Effects - Full Guide

“I’d like to repurpose my long-form video content to fit the specific duration and timing requirements on social media networks. I’d also like to enhance my videos with fast-motion effects. Can anyone suggest a good tool I could use to speed up my video clips without losing quality?” Yes, we could!

After Effects is one of the best all-encompassing video editing solutions on the market. It allows you to tap into several different speed adjustment modes to change the playback speed, timing, and pacing of your video clips. Today, we’ll delve deeper into how to speed up your footage in After Effects.

Can After Effects Speed Up Videos?

Yes, After Effects can speed up video playback of your footage, allowing you to deliver a more dynamic and engaging viewer experience to your audience.

After Effects offers several methods to help you speed up your videos, change the video’s timing, create fast-motion effects, and adjust the pacing of your footage to fit the strict time restraint requirements on social media and online streaming platforms.

In addition, After Effects can be a powerful creative platform for creating and adding custom-made playback speed alterations and effects to add to your visual storytelling, elevate your content, and boost viewer engagement. With After Effects, you’re only a few clicks away from transforming average footage into a professional-grade masterpiece.

You can use simple, quick, and effective speed adjustment and alteration techniques to boost the excitement by adjusting the playback speed of your video materials, increasing the tempo, and delivering a more dynamic visual experience to your viewers.

How to Speed up a Video in After Effects

Below is our step-by-step guide to using the top three methods to effectively speed up a video in After Effects without lowering quality or altering the original audio pitch.

Using the Time Stretch Tool

The first method is the easiest one on the list, perfect for people new to making speed adjustments in After Effects. Here are the steps to use the Time Stretch tool to adjust the video speed of your footage in After Effects.

Step 1: Launch After Effects on your computer and navigate to File > Import > File to import your video clip;

Step 2: Drag your video to the Composition panel and click the video to select it in the timeline;

Step 3: Now, navigate to Layer > Time > Time Stretch;

Step 4: In the Time Stretch window, define the time you wish to stretch the video. You can double the clip’s playback speed by changing the Stretch Factor from 100% (normal speed) to 200%. Click OK to confirm the speed adjustment and speed up your video.

Using Keyframes

You can also speed up your video by adjusting the keyframes in After Effects. You can adjust the speed of the video in After Effects by moving the keyframe dots. All you need to do is set them apart to increase the playback speed of your clip.

Here’s how:

Step 1: Import your video in After Effects and drag it to the Composition timeline;

Step 2: Hit the P key to access the Position property of your video;

Step 3: Create a new keyframe at the current time indicator using the Stopwatch icon;

Step 4: Set the ending point for your clip by moving the time indicator, then alter the position property setting to create a linear motion effect and speed up your video;

Step 5: Make video playback speed adjustments by positioning the second keyframe closer to the first one.

Using Time Remapping

The last method involves using Time Remapping to speed up your video or a portion of your footage by remapping the playback timing of your clip.

Here’s how to use this built-in feature in After Effects:

Step 1: Import your video and drag it to the timeline;

Step 2: Right-click the clip in the timeline and select Time > Enable Time Remapping;

Step 3: Click Time Remap in the timeline, then navigate to Animation > Add Expression;

Step 4: In the right panel, type Time2 to specify the speed you wish to set (this will double the speed).

Pros and Cons of Speeding up Videos in After Effects

Let’s summarize by outlining the advantages and disadvantages of video playback speed adjustments in After Effects.

An Alternative to Consider: Wondershare Filmora

After Effects is a fantastic video editing program for polishing your content to perfection using advanced video manipulation methods, graphics, features, and tools. However, its cluttered interface, confusing navigation, and rather complex procedures may not sit well with your level of tech-savvy knowledge and video editing skills.

In that case, a more streamlined alternative like Wondershare Filmora might be a more suitable option. Filmora offers a simplified approach to making video playback speed adjustments to empower all users, both professionals and beginners, to transform the visual appeal of their content with powerful speed changes.

With Filmora, you’ll assume full control over your footage’s playback speed, timing, and pace. Aside from making simple speed adjustments, Filmora also lets you experiment with six different speed ramping templates you can custom-tailor according to your requirements.

More importantly, Filmora maintains the original audio pitch and video quality while altering the playback speed of your clips. In addition, Filmora offers a vast selection of top-grade AI-enabled features to help you enhance your video content to perfection.

You can select the matching background music, add filters to enhance the visual storytelling, create smooth transitions, increase the frame rate, upscale resolution, and more.

How to Speed up Videos in Filmora

Download and install Filmora on your computer, then follow the steps below to speed up videos in Filmora.

Step 1: Launch Filmora and navigate to Create Project > New Project;

Step 2: Import the clip you wish to speed up and drag it to the timeline;

Step 3: Select the clip in the timeline, click the Speed icon, and select Uniform Speed;

Step 4: Drag the Speed slider to the right to speed up your clip;

Alternatively, enter the desired playback speed value in the Duration field for a more precise output.

Step 5: Use Speed Ramping to adjust the video playback speed and create dynamic speed changes for more fine-tuned results by setting up custom-made playback speeds for specific sections of your clip.

Go to the Speed menu and click Speed Ramping to access speed adjustment presets – None, Customize, Montage, Hero Moment, Bullet Time, Jumper, Flash In, and Flash Out. Select the preset you prefer and click Customize to adjust the speed of the specific video section. You can also modify the range of the section, add multiple speed points and freeze frames.

Step 6: Preview your changes and select Save as a custom to save the speed ramping settings;

Step 7: Export and save the video on your computer.

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Conclusion

After Effects video playback, speed adjustments can help you transform dull footage into a professional-grade, attention-grabbing, and engaging work of art. If you're still interested in After Effects' other features, such as graph editor, just click and learn more.

You can use time stretching, keyframing, or time remapping to add dramatic effects to your video clips and boost the visual appeal of your social media videos, YouTube clips, Instagram reels, TikTok shorts, etc.

However, as powerful as it is, After Effects isn’t perfect. It’s pretty complex and requires a rather steep learning curve. If you don’t have the time to master the speed alterations in After Effects, perhaps a more user-friendly alternative would be in order.

Wondershar Filmora makes up for all the shortcomings of After Effects. Filmora’s transparent speed adjustment settings, customizable speed ramping presets, and automated interface with streamlined navigation help you make swift speed changes to your videos with a few clicks.

In addition, Filmora offers an extensive range of AI-enabled video editing tools, top-grade effects, royalty-free music libraries, and Filmora Effects (compatible with After Effects( free downloadable templates you can use to enhance your content beyond your expectations.