---
title: "Precomps and their time"
description: "Lesson 7.5 of Creator Terminal's lesson films (Going deeper): Understand a scene's own time, go inside it, and move the whole scene on the main score."
canonical: "https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/precomps/"
last_updated: 2026-10-27
---

# Precomps and their time

> Lesson 7.5 of Creator Terminal's lesson films (Going deeper): Understand a scene's own time, go inside it, and move the whole scene on the main score.

- The film (1:47): https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/media/7.5-precomps/3b52ffe5a45f/7.5-precomps.mp4
- Vertical cut: https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/media/7.5-precomps/59cb7a13413a/7.5-precomps-vertical.mp4
- Captions: https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/media/7.5-precomps/4b494c813ae7/7.5-precomps.vtt
- The page: https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/precomps/

## In this lesson

### A late start (0:08)

Let's see when the scene begins. Press zero, then space. It waits, then moves. Press space to pause. The scene starts one second late.

### Go inside (0:21)

Let's enter this precomp, a composition held in a layer. Click one second on the ruler. Click the circle. Press return to go inside. Over in the rail, it says Circle, in Dot move.

### Two clocks (0:36)

Its own animation starts at zero. Here, that is one second on the main score. Going inside does not reset the main playhead.

### Back out (0:46)

We'll tidy the score before shifting the scene. Press Shift-return to come out, then Escape. Click Circle to fold its keys. Press return to fold the scene into one row.

### Move the scene (0:59)

Let's start the scene earlier. Click the circle. Over in the rail, press Shift-return to select its container. Back at the score, press Escape, zero, then left bracket. The scene starts at the playhead.

### Check the keys (1:14)

Let's check the motion's timing. Click Dot move, then Circle, to unfold them. The keys sit at zero and one second. Their spacing stays the same.

### Keep this rule (1:26)

Let's check the earlier start. Click empty stage. Press zero, then space. It moves immediately. Press space to pause. Shift the container for timing; go inside for motion.