Cut to the Beat Pro

Auto-detect beats in any audio layer, then snap your edits, animations, and effects to the resulting comp markers. Replaces ten minutes of manual tap-tempo with one click.

Step-by-step

1. Drag your music or audio file into the comp's timeline.
2. Open the Audio tab.
3. Tune Threshold and Min Spacing for your track:
   • Pop / EDM with strong kicks → Threshold ~0.4, Spacing ~0.15s
   • Slower / acoustic → Threshold ~0.25, Spacing ~0.4s
   • Drum & bass / fast → Threshold ~0.5, Spacing ~0.08s
4. Click Detect Beats. Comp markers labeled "Beat" appear at every detected hit.
5. Verify visually by playing back the comp — markers should land on the kicks/snares you hear.

Snap edits to markers

With AE's snap enabled (View → Snap to Edges & Markers), dragging a layer's in-point or out-point will snap to the nearest beat marker. Use this to cut clips to the music.

Trigger effects on the beat

Combine beat markers with MotionLab's shakes and flashes for an automatic music-reactive treatment:

1. Detect beats on your music track.
2. Move the playhead to each marker (use J / K to navigate marker-to-marker).
3. At each beat, apply a Shake or Flash — they automatically land at the playhead-anchored visible start.

Animate to the beat

Set keyframes on opacity, scale, or position at each beat marker. Pair with the Curves tab to ease the in/out shape — same easing applied to every beat-driven animation for a coherent rhythmic feel.

Cleanup

If detection caught false positives or missed beats:

• Add a marker manually — move the playhead and press * (asterisk) to drop a comp marker.
• Delete a marker — right-click the marker on the timeline and choose Delete.
• Re-detect entirely — click Clear Beat Markers in the Audio tab, adjust threshold/spacing, click Detect Beats again.