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# Lightworks Keyframes: Animate an Effect Without Losing Track of the Edit
- URL: https://lightworksguide.net/editing/lightworks-keyframes/
- Published: 2026-11-07T09:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-13T15:49:40.000Z
- Author: Lucas Bennett
- Tags: editing

To animate an effect in Lightworks, open its controls in FX Settings, select one parameter, enable its stopwatch and set different values at two different frames. Those points define the change. Start there: adding more nodes will not help if you are adjusting the wrong effect or have never enabled animation for that parameter.

The controls below follow the [LWKS keyframe instructions](https://lwks.com/lightworks-knowledge-base/keyframes-and-animation). Match them to your installed build. The parameter stopwatch and the track's Keyframes button have separate jobs, and the track button also changes the track's Lock state.

## Build one animation with two points

Choose the intended sequence, clip, effect and parameter before changing a value. If several effects are present, read the effect name as well as the parameter name. Scale, position and opacity are different settings; changing one does not mean the others are animated.

For example, take a title effect that already spans the interval you want to animate. Use its opacity parameter to fade from **0** to **100**, as in the [documented title-opacity example](https://lwks.com/lightworks-knowledge-base/keyframes-and-animation). The title must exist across that interval: keyframes change its parameter, while the effect's start and end determine its lifetime. If placement or duration is the problem, use the separate [title range and FX-segment instructions](https://lightworksguide.net/editing/text-titles/) before shaping the fade.

1. Park the playhead at the frame where the fade should begin, within the title effect's lifetime.
2. Enable the stopwatch beside the intended opacity parameter, then set its starting value to 0\. With animation enabled, adjusting the parameter creates a keyframe at the playhead.
3. Move to a later frame where the title should have reached full opacity, then set that same parameter to 100\. Use a different frame, not another adjustment at the original position.
4. Inspect both points and play through the interval, checking the start, the change between the points and the end. Confirm that the title exists throughout the intended fade and that you are watching the correct clip.

For a different effect, use two values that suit the parameter you selected. A zoom may involve scale and position, but each needs its own animation decisions. I'd get one parameter's timing right before adding a second, because with two changing at once it's harder to tell which one caused the result.

**Before using the track Keyframes button, check whether the track should remain locked.** [Turning that button on unlocks the track](https://lwks.com/lightworks-knowledge-base/sequences-and-timelines). The stopwatch used above enables parameter animation; the track control opens timeline graph editing. Keep that distinction in mind when moving from the first two points to the graph.

![The stopwatch beside Position X enables that parameter’s animation; two separate frames define a change.](https://lightworksguide.net/content/images/2026/10/lightworks-keyframes-body1-redo-v1.webp) 

Enable animation with the parameter’s stopwatch, then set values at different frames. The track Keyframes control has a separate job.

## Move the time or value you mean to change

The [Keyframes panel shows parameter tracks and a value graph](https://lwks.com/lightworks-knowledge-base/keyframes-and-animation). Read the selected parameter before editing. A node's horizontal position represents when its value occurs; its vertical position represents the value. If the fade finishes too early, move its timing. Raising or lowering the value answers a different question.

In the panel graph, click to add a node, drag a node to move it, or drag between nodes to move that section. Dragging on empty graph area lassos several nodes. Check the selection before moving a group: you may intend to move one endpoint rather than shift a whole section.

Use the documented Next keyframe and Previous keyframe controls to inspect the existing points. Compare each frame and value with your intended change before adding another node. Two points at the same value do not produce the value change you wanted; two adjustments at one frame do not define a later endpoint.

## Edit on the timeline with the Lock state in view

The [track documentation makes Keyframes and Lock mutually exclusive](https://lwks.com/lightworks-knowledge-base/sequences-and-timelines): enabling track Keyframes unlocks that track, and locking it turns track Keyframes off. I'd decide whether the track may be edited before enabling the graph, since the graph and Lock can't be on together. After your adjustments, restore Lock if that is the intended protection for the edit.

When you intend to edit an unlocked track, turn on Keyframes in that track's header. The segment's text label identifies the effect and parameter being adjusted; click the label to choose the intended parameter. The [documented timeline graph edits the parameter directly on the segment](https://lwks.com/lightworks-knowledge-base/keyframes-and-animation), without a separate keyframe tool.

Graph editing does not protect the rest of the cut. Ordinary clip selection, dragging, trimming and fades remain available; the graph occupies the band around its line and nodes. Check whether you have selected a node or a clip before dragging. Do not rely on the visible graph to prevent a normal edit, and do not expect graph editing and Lock to remain on together.

## Choose a curve after the endpoints are right

Once the start and end frames and values are correct, right-click the intended keyframe or use the segment label menu, then choose [Curve Shape for that node](https://lwks.com/lightworks-knowledge-base/keyframes-and-animation) to control how the value changes between points. The documented choices are Linear, Smooth, Ease In, Ease Out, and Ease In and Out. Curves are set per node, so one graph can contain different shapes.

Linear gives a constant rate. Smooth rounds the movement through a keyframe. The guide describes Ease In as starting slowly and speeding up, Ease Out as starting quickly and slowing to a stop, and Ease In and Out as slower at both ends. Choose the curve that suits the movement or fade you need, then inspect the same interval again. A smoother curve will not correct an endpoint on the wrong frame.

![Linear and Ease In and Out connect the same 0 and 100 endpoints with different progression.](https://lightworksguide.net/content/images/2026/10/lightworks-keyframes-body2-redo-v3.webp)

Set the endpoint frames and values first. A curve changes the progression between them; it does not fix a misplaced endpoint.

## Check effect-relative timing after a trim

The [keyframe trimming mode preserves either an offset or a proportion of the effect](https://lwks.com/lightworks-knowledge-base/keyframes-and-animation). The guide's “preserved absolutely” means the same frame offset from the effect's start: its example says a keyframe three frames in stays three frames in. It does not mean a fixed global sequence timecode.

| Trimming mode         | What is preserved                                  | Educational duration example                                                                                                                    |
| --------------------- | -------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Preserved absolutely  | The keyframe's frame offset from the effect start. | For an effect lengthened from 100 to 200 frames with its start held fixed, a point 25 frames after the start remains 25 frames after the start. |
| Scaled proportionally | The keyframe's fraction of the effect duration.    | In the same example, a point one quarter of the way through moves from a 25-frame offset to a 50-frame offset.                                  |

![Lengthening an effect with its start fixed keeps an absolute node at the same offset or moves a proportional node to the same fraction.](https://lightworksguide.net/content/images/2026/11/lightworks-keyframes-trim-mode-offset-vs-fraction.webp)

With the effect start fixed, absolute timing keeps the frame offset; proportional timing keeps the same fraction of the effect’s duration.

The current guide names a keyframe trimming command and says Lightworks reports the mode you switch to. I'd confirm the reported mode with the command your build offers before relying on either behavior, because the two modes put the same node on different frames after a trim. After changing an effect's length, inspect the first and last points and play the whole affected interval again.

## Choose how animation transfers when pasting

Copying an animated effect to a clip of another length needs a separate timing decision. The [Paste Effects dialog documents these keyframe transfer options](https://lwks.com/lightworks-knowledge-base/effects-overview):

- **Retime To Fit** retimes keyframes proportionally to the destination clip's length.
- **Keep Original Timing** retains the original keyframe timing. Inspect where that animation lands in the destination rather than assuming it fits a different duration.
- **Reset All Parameters** pastes the effects with all keyframed parameters reset. Choose it only when you intend that reset.

Check the destination clip and which effects you are transferring before confirming. Then inspect the destination's selected parameter, endpoints and playback. A successful effect transfer alone does not confirm that the animation starts and finishes where the new edit needs it.

## Diagnose the animation before resetting it

If nothing changes, first recheck the selected clip, effect and parameter, then the parameter's stopwatch state. Confirm that the two points occupy different frames and have different values. If the change is present but badly timed, inspect the node positions, any recent trim mode and the paste option used.

For a comparison, [disabling the whole effect bypasses it while retaining its settings](https://lwks.com/lightworks-knowledge-base/effects-overview). Re-enable it when the comparison is finished. That action is separate from disabling the parameter's stopwatch, which the keyframe guide says returns that parameter to a single static value. Do not confuse either control with the track graph button.

When one point is wrong, select that node and remove it. A broader [parameter reset clears its keyframes and returns it to one static value](https://lwks.com/lightworks-knowledge-base/keyframes-and-animation), so preserve a recoverable project copy before choosing that reset. I'd save a reset for a deliberate restart of that parameter's animation and wouldn't use it as a first response to an unfamiliar graph or the wrong selected effect.

Finish by replaying the affected interval in the full sequence and restoring the intended track Lock state. If you still need to change the underlying clip boundaries, make the [cut and trim decisions](https://lightworksguide.net/editing/cut-trim/) and then recheck the animation's timing against the revised effect duration.