Apple Final Cut Pro 7 - Manual (Page 1113)

• To adjust a keyframe using the Selection tool: Position the pointer so that it’s directly
over a keyframe. When the pointer turns into a crosshair, drag the keyframe up or down.
With the Selection
tool, drag a keyframe
(or segment) to
make adjustments.
Smoothing Keyframes with Bezier Handles
The keyframes of some motion settings and filter controls (but not audio levels) can be
smoothed. When you smooth a keyframe, one or more Bezier handles are “attached” to
the keyframe. These handles define the Bezier curve applied to a parameter’s interpolation
from one keyframe to the next. This allows you to modify the acceleration and deceleration
of the change from one keyframe’s value to the next. The velocity doesn’t cause the effect
to happen faster or slower; the overall speed of an effect is determined solely by the
distance from one keyframe to the next.
For example, if you space keyframes 2 seconds apart in the Rotation parameter, the
resulting rotation lasts 2 seconds. If you apply smoothing to one of the keyframes, the
total duration of the rotation remains 2 seconds, but the rate at which the clip rotates to
full speed and then slows down to a stop is different over the course of those 2 seconds.
If you move the two keyframes closer together, the rotation happens faster; if you move
the two keyframes farther apart, the rotation happens slower.
Two keyframes with
no smoothing
Bezier handle on one
side of a smoothed
keyframe
1113 Chapter 67 Adjusting Parameters for Keyframed Effects