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415-462-1982

This effect has been used to in movies like Sliding Doors and videos like Enigma's Return to Innocence, not to mention on The Benny Hill Show (though we doubt that they used After Effects on Benny Hill ;-)

When I was first learning After Effects, Trish Meyer helped me with this dilema on the AE-List. Thanks for your help, Trish!

Instructions

1. Place your footage in a new comp (let's call it "reverse comp"). This comp should be the exact length as your video clip.
2. Precompose the layer that contains the clip you want to reverse. To precompose, select your layer, then choose precompose under the layer menu (cmd-shift-c on the Mac. When you precompose, all of the layers selected are moved into a new comp that is embedded in the layer.
3. In the "reverse comp", select the layer that you just precomposed and reverse it using the keyboard shortcut (cmd-shift-r). This reverses your clip in place. If you use Timestretch set at -100% your clip will not stay in place.