Exponential scale in After Effects

Max Kravchenko

Motion Designer & Tutor

How often you want to achieve the exponential scale. You’ve probably tried to do that with graph editor, but it’s almost impossible. In that case, we’ve prepared the two ways how to do it quickly.

Right-click on selected keyframes, go to keyframe assistant, and choose an exponential scale. That’s it!

Another way is to use the expression

s=Math.exp((time-inPoint)*2);
[s,s] + value;

Which way do you like better? Leave the answer in the comments!

How to scale an expression in Adobe After Effects

To scale an expression in Adobe After Effects, you can use the “value” property along with the “*” (multiply) operator. Here’s an example of how you can scale an expression:

1. Select the layer or property you want to apply the expression to.
2. Press the “S” key on your keyboard to reveal the Scale property.
3. Alt-click (Windows) or Option-click (Mac) on the stopwatch icon next to the Scale property to open the expression editor.

Now, let’s say you want to scale the layer to 200% of its original size. In the expression editor, enter the following expression:

value * 2

This expression multiplies the current value of the property (the default value is “[100, 100]“) by 2, effectively scaling it to 200%. You can adjust the factor as per your requirement.

You can also use other expressions to dynamically scale a layer based on various parameters or animations. For example, if you want to link the scale to the position of another layer, you can use the “thisComp.layer()” function to reference that layer’s position property. Here’s an example:

thisComp.layer("Other Layer").position * 0.5

This expression scales the layer to half the value of the position property of the “Other Layer” in the composition.

Remember to modify the expressions according to your specific needs and the hierarchy of your composition and layers.