What It Does
Trigger lets you control when animations play inside nested compositions by using named layer markers instead of manually shifting keyframes. Place a marker on a Trigger null inside your precomp to define an animation’s start point, then add a matching marker on the precomp layer in your parent comp to play it at that moment. The plugin handles the timing math through expressions, turning a linear timeline into an event-based system.
Key Features
Retime Tool. Select any nested comp layer and press ‘Retime’ to automatically create a Trigger null inside it. This null becomes the control point for all marker-based triggering.
Multiple marker placement methods. Add markers at the current time indicator, automatically place them at layer in-points (named to match each layer), or generate them from selected keyframes on position, scale, rotation, or opacity properties.
Generate Triggers on Comp Layer option. When enabled, adding a marker inside the Trigger comp automatically creates a matching marker on every instance of that precomp in parent compositions, saving manual duplication.
Non-destructive retiming. Move markers on your global comp layer to change when animations start without touching the original animation keyframes. Test different timing sequences by shifting a few markers instead of reorganizing layers.
Encapsulated animation events. Each animation block lives between two differently named markers. This creates clear start and end points, so you can sequence multiple animation events in one precomp without overlap.
Who It’s For
Motion designers building modular animations where the same precomp needs to trigger at different times across multiple parent comps. Editors working on templated projects who need to retime complex sequences without breaking nested structures. Anyone tired of duplicating precomps or manually offsetting time-remapping keyframes when client revisions change the timing of every section.
Works best when you’re animating in precomps and assembling them in a main timeline, like title sequences, lower thirds systems, or presentation templates with repeating elements.
Pricing
Single-user license for $59.99. A free trial is available to test the workflow before purchase.
Technical Notes
If you delete the Trigger null by accident, select the precomp layer and press ‘Retime’ again to regenerate it and fix any expression errors. Duplicate marker names inside a Trigger comp will cause the expression to fail, so each marker must have a unique name. The comp will play from a triggered marker until it hits the next marker or reaches the end of the composition, which is why encapsulating animations between start and end markers is recommended.