After Effects Workshop 4

Notes from workshop 4.

Including: auto-orient, switches, layer modes, nesting compositions...


• File > Import > File OR double click in project panel

• Import PSD file as Footage, it will be imported as a single layer image.

• Motion paths - how an object is oriented to the path. For more accuracy..

Select layer > layer menu > transform > auto-orient

Now the object follows the path more strictly, making the motion look much better.

• The spacing between keyframes determines the amount of time/speed between the two points of movement. Adjusting the key frame spacing will change this (only applies to position keyframes)

• To achieve a constant speed: select all keyframes between the first and last > right click on one keyframe > select 'rove against time'

• Spacing between all keyframes is now consistent.

• When working with roving keyframes, you can drag the first or last keyframe and alter the distance between all of them - making the animation faster or slower. (as if you were pressing alt)

Layer switches, and layer modes

Switches also have master control above layers

• Shy switch - To create a shy layer. Enables you to hide a layer that you no longer need to work with in the timeline.

• Star switch (Continually Rasterize option) - This option will appear if you use illustrator files to import into your composition. When you bring an illustrator file in, this column will be available.

When ticked, your illustrator files will still retain their vector quality. So if resized, they will keep their smooth vector edges.

• Quality switch (diagonal line) - Allows you to temporarily lower the quality of some layers, whilst retaining the quality of others. Forward slash is best quality, backward slash is lowest quality (appears when box is clicked twice)

• FX switch - All to do with applying effects to layers. Like in photoshop how you can apply filters to layers, in AE you can also apply things to layers.

Effect menu on top bar, or Effects and Presets panel on the right (where you can use search bar). You can drag an effect onto the composition of a selected layer, or on to the layer itself.

To remove an effect, click on the effect name in the control panel, and press backspace.

Effects are also visible on the layer drop down menu near the timeline

There is also the stopwatch button on effects, to change them over a period of time.

• Video switch - only available when working with a piece of film.

• Motion Blur switch (layered circles)

Make sure motion blue switch is on at the master control (the top)

• Adjustment Layers switch - (applying an adjustment to a single layer, instead of the whole document. Can be edited or removed at any time.) 

• 3D Layer switch - Will allow you to not only work horizontally and vertically, but in terms of depth too (Z axis)

• Nesting Compositions

You can combine compositions - so create a smaller animation in a separate composition, when finished, drag it over into our final comp to assemble the smaller animated parts.