Opacity animation does not fade objects

Symptoms

If one or more of these match what you are seeing, you are on the right page.

• •The opacity track animates but the element stays visible
• •Only part of the element fades
• •The fade works until the element is grouped
• •The element fades on the canvas but not in the export

Causes and fixes

Ordered from most to least likely. Work down the list — each cause is paired with what to do about it.

1. 1

   A fill layer opacity is animated instead of element opacity.

   Fill layer opacity affects one layer of the material stack. Keyframe element opacity for a fade of the whole element including stroke and shadow.

2. 2

   Another opacity control is fixed at a low value.

   The three controls multiply. A fade from 100% to 0% on element opacity is invisible if a fill layer beneath is already at 0%, and vice versa.

3. 3

   A group blend mode is isolating the composite.

   A group with any blend mode other than Pass-through composites internally before blending as a unit. Set it to Pass-through, or animate the group opacity instead of the member.

4. 4

   The keyframes are Hold type.

   Hold keyframes jump rather than interpolate, producing a hard cut instead of a fade. Right-click and toggle them to standard keyframes.

5. 5

   Record Mode is off.

   Enable it with Ctrl+Alt+R, or click the diamond next to the opacity field in the Properties Panel to keyframe that one property directly.

Related pages