Adding keyframes in CapCut on Windows

A keyframe is a marker you place on your video timeline that tells CapCut to remember a specific state—like the position, size, rotation, or opacity of a clip at that exact moment. When you place two keyframes with different settings, CapCut automatically creates a smooth transition between them. This is how you animate text sliding across the screen, zoom into a subject, fade audio in and out, or make any element change over time.

To add a keyframe in CapCut on PC, you select the clip or element you want to animate, find the property you want to change (like Scale or Position), and click the keyframe button next to that property. The button looks like a small diamond. Once you've placed your first keyframe, you move the playhead forward in the timeline, change the property to a new value, and click the keyframe button again. CapCut fills in all the frames in between.

Key Takeaways

  • Keyframes mark specific moments in your timeline where you want a property like position, size, or opacity to have a particular value.
  • The keyframe button appears as a small diamond icon next to each animatable property in the Effects or Inspector panel.
  • You must place at least two keyframes with different values to create an animation; CapCut interpolates the frames between them.
  • You can adjust keyframe timing by dragging them left or right on the timeline, or delete them by right-clicking and selecting remove.

Where to find the keyframe button in CapCut

Open your project in CapCut and select the clip or text element you want to animate. On the right side of the screen, you'll see the Inspector panel (or Effects panel, depending on what you've selected). This panel shows all the properties you can change: Position, Scale, Rotation, Opacity, and others.

Next to each property name, you'll see a small diamond-shaped icon. That's the keyframe button. When the diamond is hollow (unfilled), no keyframe exists at the current playhead position for that property. When it's filled in solid, a keyframe already exists there. Click the diamond to add or remove a keyframe at the current timeline position.

The step-by-step process for animating a clip

Start by placing your playhead at the beginning of the timeline where you want the animation to start. Select the clip or element. In the Inspector panel, find the property you want to animate—for example, Position if you want to move something across the screen. Click the keyframe button (diamond) next to Position. This locks in the current position as your starting point.

Now drag the playhead forward to the moment where you want the animation to end. This might be one second later, three seconds later, or whenever the movement should finish. With the same clip still selected, change the Position value by dragging the element on the canvas or typing new numbers into the Position fields. As soon as you change the value, click the keyframe button again. CapCut now has two keyframes: one at the start with the original position, and one at the end with the new position. The animation plays automatically between them.

If you want to adjust the timing or smoothness, you can drag the keyframes left or right on the timeline to move when they occur, or right-click a keyframe and choose options to change how CapCut interpolates between them (linear, ease-in, ease-out, and others).

Common properties you can keyframe

Position moves an element horizontally or vertically across the screen. Scale makes it larger or smaller. Rotation spins it. Opacity fades it in or out. Blur, Brightness, and Contrast are also keyframeable if you've applied those effects to the clip.

For text and stickers, you can keyframe all of these. For video clips, you can keyframe the same properties. For audio, you can keyframe Volume and Pan (left-right balance). The principle is always the same: set a keyframe at the start state, move the playhead, change the value, and set a second keyframe at the end state.

Deleting or adjusting keyframes

If you place a keyframe by mistake, right-click it on the timeline and select the remove or delete option. The keyframe disappears, and if it was the only keyframe for that property, the animation stops. You can also click the keyframe button (diamond) again while the playhead is on that keyframe to remove it.

To move a keyframe to a different time, click and drag it left or right on the timeline. This changes when the animation reaches that state without changing the state itself. If you want to change what value the keyframe holds, move the playhead to that keyframe, adjust the property in the Inspector panel, and the keyframe updates automatically.

Easing and keyframe interpolation

By default, CapCut moves smoothly from one keyframe value to the next—this is called linear interpolation. But you can make animations feel more natural by adding easing, which means the movement starts slow and speeds up, or speeds up and then slows down at the end. Right-click a keyframe on the timeline and look for options like "Ease In," "Ease Out," or "Ease In-Out." These change how the animation behaves between that keyframe and the next one.

Ease In makes the animation start slow and accelerate. Ease Out makes it decelerate as it approaches the next keyframe. Ease In-Out does both. Experiment with these to see which feels right for your video. A straightforward position change often looks better with easing than with a constant speed.

Keyframing multiple properties at once

You can animate more than one property on the same clip at the same time. For example, you might want text to slide in from the left (Position keyframes) while also fading in (Opacity keyframes). Set your first keyframe for Position, then click the keyframe button for Opacity at the same timeline position. Move the playhead forward, change both the Position and Opacity values, and click both keyframe buttons again. CapCut now has two separate animation tracks running in parallel.

This is useful for creating polished transitions and effects. Just remember that each property has its own set of keyframes, so you can adjust them independently if needed.

Frequently Asked Questions

What's the difference between a keyframe and a transition?

A transition is a preset effect that plays between two clips—like a fade or slide. A keyframe is a manual marker you place to animate a single property over time. Transitions are quick to explore; keyframes give you precise control over exactly how and when something changes.

Can I copy keyframes from one clip to another?

CapCut does not have a built-in copy-keyframes feature on PC. You can recreate the same animation on another clip by placing keyframes at the same timeline positions with the same values, or you can duplicate the clip and modify it. Some users export the clip as a template or sticker if they plan to reuse the animation.

Why is my animation jerky or not smooth?

This usually means your keyframes are too close together or the values are changing too drastically. Try moving the second keyframe further down the timeline to give the animation more time to play out. You can also explore easing to make the motion feel more natural instead of robotic.

Can I keyframe effects like blur or color correction?

Yes. explore the effect to your clip first, then look for the keyframe button next to the effect's intensity slider in the Inspector panel. Set keyframes the same way you would for Position or Scale. This lets you fade effects in and out or change their strength over time.

How do I make an element stay still after an animation ends?

Place your final keyframe at the moment the animation should stop. After that keyframe, the element will hold whatever state it reached. If you want it to move again later, place a new keyframe further down the timeline with a different value.