Can you....

[Clay]

Is there a way in After Effects to make a animated object repeat without having to key it through out the whole animation sequence? Like a blinking light etc. seems like I saw something on this once before:-/ but basically make two keyframes..like on then off, can you just make that repeat without keying it all the way through?

[DjVoyager]

Yup. You'd have to enter an expression to that attribute. Let's say you need the opacity to loop 10 times. Add the first keyframes to the opacity, select the opacity attribute, and go to Animate > Add Expression. In the field, type in this command:

loop_out("cycle", 10)

Btw, make sure that the layer is exactly the same size as the timeline.

If it's a sequence, then in the Project window select the sequence, go to File > Interpret Footage, and at the bottom you will see the loop field. Enter the amount you want.

Hope this helps.

[Clay]

Hmmm..couldn't get it to work:-( what I have is a lens flare, so brightness 0% on the 1st keyframe, then 100% on the 2nd or I could use opacity too, but it just comes on then stays on the rest of the sequence. Sorry am a bit new to the whole expressions thing lol:-O am using 6.5 product bundle.

[DjVoyager]

I'm on 6.5 too. When you add expression to the brightness attribute, it puts a default command in the expression field. You have to replace it with loop_out("cycle",10)...10 being the amount of loops.
Here's a screenshot.

[Clay]

thx will try that, have to go out for a bit but will be back, thx so much Dj:-)

[Clay]

cool cool!! got it to work, thx for your helpDj:-)

[DjVoyager]

You're welcome :)