At the end of the last movie, we were previewing our sources in the Footage panel.…So here again is where you can look at your footage without actually using …them in an animation.…You'll notice the Footage panel docks in the same frame as the Composition panel.…Since I don't want you to get confused, go ahead and close the Footage panel,…leaving just the Composition panel open.…To add layers to a composition, an easy way is to learn this shortcut:…File > Add Footage to Comp.…The shortcut is Command+Slash on Mac, Ctrl+Slash on Windows.…
The advantage to using this shortcut is that it adds the layer to the center of our composition.…But let me undo, and I'll show you another way to do that.…If you drag your source to a composition before you release the mouse, you'll…notice that it has a tendency to snap to the center of the comp.…It also wants to snap to all of the edges.…So if you want it centered, just find that snappy behavior and then release the mouse.…However, once you release the mouse, it no longer will snap to the center or the edges.…
Updated
11/7/2016Released
1/25/2011After Effects Apprentice is created by Trish and Chris Meyer and designed to be used on their own and as a companion to their book After Effects Apprentice.
- Starting a project from scratch
- Building a composition
- Arranging and transforming layers interactively and numerically
- Animating parameters including motion paths
- Applying and re-using effects
- Creating variations and rendering the final movie
- Importing layered Photoshop files
- Understanding alpha channels
- Avoiding common mistakes
Skill Level Beginner
Duration
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Q: This course was updated on 11/09/2012. What changed?
A: We added new movies on using the exercise files that come with this course, and working with the Global Performance Cache in After Effects CS6. We have also added exercise files designed for After Effects CS6.
Q: This course was updated on 11/07/2016. What changed?
A: We updated eight movies to stay up to date with the latest changes in After Effects CC.
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Video: Adding a layer to a comp