How to separate position dimensions in After Effects
In After Effects, the position property can be a single property or separated into different dimensions: X Position, Y Position, (and sometimes Z Position).
Separating position dimensions in After Effects is preferred by many motion designers. It unlocks the value graph for your position keyframes and it makes it easier to understand your animation keyframes at a glance.
You can make this the default setting for any new layer in Preferences > General > Default Position Properties to Separated Dimensions. But even if this is the default, you’ll still probably encounter times where you need to manually separate dimensions (i.e. opening existing .aep files, using Overlord, etc).
You can separate position dimensions manually by right clicking on the position property and selecting Separate Dimensions. However this has a few drawbacks:
- You can only change one layer at a time. And you have to twirl down to the position property.
- All keyframe easing and labels are lost.
- Unnecessary keyframes are added.
That’s why I made Xplode. It’s a free script that lets you separate dimension properties in After Effects better than After Effects.
Xplode lets you convert all your selected layers at once with a single click. All keyframe easing and labels are retained. And any unnecessary keyframes are omitted. For example if you are only animating the X position, no Y keyframes will be added.
It’s available as a Script UI or a script to use with Kbar.
