From the course: After Effects CS5 Essential Training

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Setting up parent layers

Setting up parent layers

In this chapter, we're going to look at powerful ways to create relationships between layers. In this video, we're going to look at a feature called parenting, which allows one layer or a set of layers to control other layers. So, we have this knight character here and here are the layers that we're seeing right now. There are actually several more that are currently not soloed. I want to keep them shy for right now, and we're going to animate the right arm here. Now there are several pieces. There's the right mid-arm. There is the right shoulder. There is the sword. There is the right hand, and there is the right forearm. They are all separate layers right now. If I were to, for example, select the right shoulder layer, hit R for Rotation, and rotate this as if I wanted to move his arm, it would rotate that right shoulder only. So, what I need to do is to create a relationship between the right shoulder and the rest of the arm. I also want the sword to be part of that relationship so…

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