Marker-Driven Mode

This is the primary way to use CurveConductor. A layer reads curve names from its timeline markers; the expression maps the named curve between every pair of keyframes after each marker. Two buttons and the Velocity Match dropdown do most of the work.

The two marker buttons

Button	What it does
Add Curve Marker	Adds a marker at the playhead carrying the selected curve's name. All keyframed properties on the layer use that curve from the marker forward.
Add Native Marker	Adds a marker that returns to After Effects' original keyframe interpolation from that point — no curve remapping. Applied to every selected layer.

Applying a curve with a marker

1. Select the property (or properties) you want to drive.
2. Choose a curve in the Curve: dropdown; preview it with the play button.
3. Position the playhead and click Add Curve Marker.
4. The control layer is created if needed, and a marker appears whose name matches the curve's slider. The expression maps that curve between every keyframe pair.
5. To change the look mid-timeline, drop another curve marker (or click a preset with Marker Mode on) at or before the segment you want to affect.

Markers sit at or before their segment

A curve marker affects the segments that follow it. Place it on or before the first keyframe of the span you want it to control.

Velocity Matching

The Velocity Match dropdown blends a curve's incoming and/or outgoing speed with the surrounding motion. It's what lets a curved move hand off seamlessly into a section of native After Effects animation.

Setting	Marker tag	Effect
Off	—	Use the curve's own velocity (default).
Start/End	(VM)	Match velocity at both ends of the segment.
Start	(VMS)	Match the incoming velocity only.
End	(VME)	Match the outgoing velocity only.

Set Velocity Match before clicking the marker button — the choice is written into the marker text (e.g. Smooth Ease (VM)). Re-click the marker button after changing it to update the tag.

Velocity Match modifies every apply

This dropdown also changes how the per-property buttons in Advanced behave (and how Direct to Keys bakes). Leave it on by accident and your next apply may not look anything like you expected.

Native markers

The Marker-driven CurveConductor expressions take their cue from the marker labels applied to the layer containing the target properties. This means that if, for example, you want a curve applied to a specific two-key segment, but not to every subsequent two-key segment, you'll need to drop a new marker at or before those subsequent segments. Otherwise, the expression will assume you want to repeat the same curve across every two-key segment. The marker labeled Native tells the expression to revert to AE's native keyframe animation.

Grey vs. cyan markers

Both colors of marker show up on layers driven by CurveConductor, and they mean different things:

Marker	Source	Role
Grey	After Effects native marker	Drives the expression. The text is the curve name (optionally with a (VM) tag). Marker-Driven mode reads these to decide which curve to apply, and where the property switches between curves or back to native motion.
Cyan	Added by CurveConductor	Labels only. Cyan segment markers show each segment's start, duration, and curve name so you can see your timing at a glance. They don't affect the expression. These marker labels are not meant to be applied to a layer using Marker-driven mode.

Retiming & renaming curves

Because timing and easing are separate, you can drag keyframes freely to retime a move. Just keep each grey curve marker at or before the keyframes it drives.

To line a curve's editing range up with a specific move, select those keyframes, pick the curve, and run Utilities ▸ Fit Curve to Keys. The curve's slider is laid right over the keyframe span, so reshaping it updates the move in real time.

Reusing & renaming curves

Build a library by duplicating curves on the control layer (Ctrl/⌘+D). A freshly duplicated curve isn't referenced yet, so you can rename it directly.

Always use Rename Curves in Marker-Driven mode

Once a curve is referenced by a marker, its name is what the expression looks up. Renaming the slider directly will silently break every marker that points at it. Use Utilities ▸ Rename Curves and CurveConductor updates the slider, every expression, and every marker text together — nothing breaks.