Now, let's add the background layer to our comp.…We're going to use Landscape.mov.…I notice if I add it to the composition and drop it, it will snap to the edges,…but it will also appear as layer 1, upskewing the title.…Of course, this is easy to fix.…I can just drag it below the title in the Timeline and now it appears as the…background layer. But let me show you how to do this directly.…I'll delete the layer, and this time I'll drag Landscape.mov directly to the…left-hand side of the Timeline panel.…
When we use this method a layer will begin at zero and will also automatically…be centered in the comp.…And I'd like to reduce the opacity of this layer so the top is not quite so dark.…So I'll press T for Opacity and then scrub the value, let's say 50%. That should work.…Another thing I'd like to do with the background is turn on Lock switch.…That means that I can't accidentally select the background when I want to select the title.…It also means I can't edit any of the values.…So if you want to edit it again, just turn off the Lock switch, edit, and turn it back on again.…
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 more layers