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A key frame in animation and filmmaking is a drawing that defines the starting and ending points of any smooth transition. They are called "frames" because their position in time is measured in frames on a strip of film. A sequence of keyframes defines which movement the spectator will see, whereas the position of the keyframes on the film, video or animation defines the timing of the movement. Because only two or three keyframes over the span of a second does not create the illusion of movement, the remaining frames are filled with inbetweens.

Source: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In other words, you can now position and animate your videos and images anywhere on the screen. While you're at it, you can still have masks and transitions, and they are also interpolated into the key-frame animation!

There is a new "Clip Properties" screen, which you can access by right clicking on a clip and choosing "Properties". On this screen, there is a tab which let's you set a variety of key-frame related settings for the "Start" and "End" of a clip. The rest is simply magic.

[Key-frame screen in OpenShot. Just right click on a clip, and choose "Properties"]

Still don't understand? Hopefully the pictures and video below will help demonstrate the power of key-frame animation.

• Set 'Start' and 'End' key-frame properties of a clip
• ...Height
• ...Width
• ...X
  
• ...Y
• ...Alpha (i.e. transparency)
• Ability to layer many videos together on the screen (Brady Bunch style):
  
  
  
• Animate clips moving across the screen
• Grow & shrink clips
• Combine with the razor tool (i.e. multiple cut points), you can create a very advanced animation
• Supports any # of transitions
• Supports masks
• Supports alpha channel for compositing

[Set both the "Start" and "End" key-frames of a clip to create an animation]

[Here is the timeline for the demo video]