Adobe 12040118 Tutorial - Page 130

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Note:

Overlay Edit

Ripple Insert Edit

Layer.

To open the source composition of a precomposition layer in the Composition panel, double-click the layer, or select the layer and choose

Layer > Open Composition.

To open the source footage item of a layer, Alt-double-click (Windows) or Option-double-click (Mac OS) the layer, or select the layer and

choose Layer > Open Layer Source.

If you right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) a layer, you can choose Open Footage or Open Composition to open the layer’s source

item.

To open a precomposition layer in the Layer panel, Alt-double-click (Windows) or Option-double-click (Mac OS) the layer, or select the layer

and choose Layer > Open Layer.

Create layers from footage items or change layer source

You can create a layer from any footage item in the Project panel, including another composition. After you add a footage item to a composition,

you can modify and animate the resulting layer.

When you add a composition to another composition, you create a layer that uses the composition that you added as its source. (See

Precomposing, nesting, and pre-rendering

.)

The Still Footage preference setting (Preferences > Import) controls the default duration of layers that use still footage items as their sources. By

default, when you create a layer with a still image as its source, the duration of the layer is the duration of the composition. You can change the

duration of the layer after it’s created by trimming the layer.

By default, new layers begin at the beginning of the composition duration. You can instead choose to have new layers begin at the current

time by deselecting the Create Layers At Composition Start Time preference (Edit > Preferences > General (Windows) or After Effects >

Preferences > General (Mac OS)).

Often, the next step after adding a layer to a composition is scaling and positioning the layer to fit in the frame. (See

Scale or flip a layer

.)

Create layers from one or more footage items

When you create layers from multiple footage items, the layers appear in the layer stacking order in the Timeline panel in the order in which they

were selected in the Project panel.

1. Select one or more footage items and folders in the Project panel.

2. Do one of the following:

Drag the selected footage items to the Composition panel.

Hold Shift while dragging to snap the layer to the center or edges of the composition.

Drag the selected footage items to the Timeline panel. When you drag the item into the layer outline, a highlight bar indicates where the

layer will appear when you release the mouse button. If you drag the item over the time graph area, a time marker indicates where the In

point of the layer will be when you release the mouse button.

Hold Shift while dragging to snap the In point to the current-time indicator.

Drag the selected footage items to the composition name or icon in the Project panel, or press Ctrl+/ (Windows) or Command+/ (Mac

OS). New layers are created at the top of the layer stack and at the center of the composition.

Create a layer from a trimmed footage item

You can trim a moving-image footage item in the Footage panel before inserting a layer based on that footage item into a composition.

1. Double-click a footage item in the Project panel to open it in the Footage panel. (See

View footage items in the Footage panel

.)

2. Move the current-time indicator in the Footage panel to the frame that you want to use as the In point of the layer, and click the Set In Point

button

at the bottom of the Footage panel.

3. Move the current-time indicator in the Footage panel to the frame that you want to use as the Out point of the layer, and click the Set Out

Point button

at the bottom of the Footage panel.

4. To create a layer based on this trimmed footage item, click an Edit button at the bottom of the Footage panel:

Creates the new layer at the top of the layer stacking order, with the In point set at the current time in the Timeline panel.

Also creates the new layer at the top of the layer stacking order, with the In point set at the current time in the Timeline panel, but splits all

Section	Page
What's New	2
What's new in CS6	3
What’s new in After Effects CS5.5	8
What’s new in After Effects CS5	9
After Effects getting started tutorials	15
Learn After Effects CS5 and CS5.5	16
Planning and setup	18
Setup and installation	22
Workflows	24
Workspace and workflow	27
Setup and installation	28
Workflows	30
Planning and setup	33
Working with After Effects and other applications	37
Dynamic Link and After Effects	43
Workspaces, panels, and viewers	46
General user interface items	51
Keyboard shortcuts reference	54
Modify keyboard shortcuts	72
Preferences	73
Projects and compositions	76
Projects	77
Timecode and time display units	80
Composition basics	82
Precomposing, nesting, and pre-rendering	87
Importing footage	92
Importing and interpreting video and audio	93
Working with footage items	98
Importing from After Effects and Adobe Premiere Pro	103
Importing and interpreting footage items	107
Preparing and importing 3D image files	118
Preparing and importing still images	121
Layers and properties	128
Creating layers	129
Selecting and arranging layers	133
Managing layers	141
Layer properties	145
Blending modes and layer styles	153
3D layers	158
Cameras, lights, and points of interest	163
Views and previews	171
Previewing	172
Modifying and using views	181
Animation and Keyframes	185
Animation basics	186
Setting, selecting, and deleting keyframes	189
Editing, moving, and copying keyframes	192
Assorted animation tools	196
Keyframe interpolation	202
Speed	207
Tracking and stabilizing motion	213
Tracking 3D Camera Movement (CS6)	225
Animating with Puppet tools	228
Time-stretching and time-remapping	234
Color	241
Color basics	242
Color management	250
Drawing, painting, and paths	258
Paint tools: Brush, Clone Stamp, and Eraser	259
Overview of shape layers, paths, and vector graphics	266
Creating shapes and masks	271
Managing and animating shape paths and masks	279
Shape attributes, paint operations, and path operations for shape layers	287
Text	293
Creating and editing text layers	294
Formatting characters and the Character panel	299
Formatting paragraphs and the Paragraph panel	304
Animating text	306
Extruding text and shape layers (CS6)	315
Examples and resources for text animation	320
Transparency and compositing	325
Compositing and transparency overview and resources	326
Alpha channels, masks, and mattes	328
Keying	337
Roto Brush and Refine Matte	340
Effects and animation presets	345
Effects and animation presets overview	346
Effect list	368
3D Channel effects	376
Audio effects	381
Blur & Sharpen effects	384
Channel effects	390
The rolling shutter repair effect (CS6)	395
Color Correction effects	396
Distort effects	408
Generate effects	421
Keying effects	435
Matte effects	443
Noise & Grain effects	445
Obsolete effects	459
Perspective effects	463
Simulation effects	467
Stylize effects	488
Text effects	497
Time effects	499
Transition effects	504
Utility effects	510
Markers	514
Layer markers and composition markers	515
XMP metadata	519
Memory, storage, performance	524
Memory and storage (CS5.5, and earlier)	525
Improve performance	531
GPU (CUDA, OpenGL) features in After Effects CS6	534
Memory and storage (CS6)	536
Expressions and automation	544
Plug-ins	545
Scripts	547
Automation	549
Expression basics	550
Expression language reference	561
Expression examples	578
Rendering and Exporting	582
Basics of rendering and exporting	583
Rendering and exporting for Flash Professional and Flash Player	596
Rendering and exporting still images and still-image sequences	602
Automated rendering and network rendering	604
Converting movies	610

Adobe 12040118 Tutorial - Page 130

Create layers from footage items or change layer source, Create layers from one or more footage items

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