Position animation does not work

Symptoms

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

• •Position keyframes exist but the element is stationary
• •The element moves in preview but not where expected
• •Moving the element updates the whole timeline instead of one frame
• •Position animation works until the element is grouped

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

   Record Mode is off.

   Enable it with Ctrl+Alt+R. Without it, moving the element changes its position across the entire timeline rather than creating a keyframe.

2. 2

   The element is attached to a motion path.

   Once attached, position is driven by a single progress value from 0 to 1 rather than X/Y coordinates. Keyframe Progress instead, or detach from the path to return to coordinate animation.

3. 3

   A group transform is cancelling the movement.

   Group and member transforms compose. A member animating one way inside a group animating the other can net to no visible movement. Check both levels.

4. 4

   The property track is hidden or soloed away.

   The eye toggle on a property track suppresses its animation while preserving the keyframes, and soloing another track suspends all others. Check both in the timeline.

5. 5

   The two keyframes have the same value.

   Confirm the X and Y values actually differ between keyframes. Type values directly in the Properties Panel, using a + or - prefix for a relative change.

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