Join Ian Robinson for an in-depth discussion in this video Defining layers, part of After Effects CS6 Essential Training.
I want to start just off this chapter by clearly defining what layers are in the…context of After Effects.…Even if you have exposure to layers inside of Photoshop, layers in After Effects…are organized in a very interesting fashion.…Compositions are the containers that the layers reside in, but what I rather…find curious about layers is just how different all the various kinds of layers can be.…Some layers are only generated from within the composition.…Those are called synthetic layers, since After Effects is synthesizing their creations.…
So if we look at our kineteco_02 composition right here, you'll see we have a…number of layers in our comp.…Now I'm just going to move up the timeline, so it's a little more dominant in our view.…Now the first layer in layer 1 is actually a shape layer.…Shape layers are rather interesting because they are created within the…composition of After Effects.…If I went up into my Project panel and tried to search for shape layer, it's…not going to find it.…
It will find the Shapes Photoshop document I imported earlier, but it will not…
Author
Ian Robinson
Released
5/7/2012- Setting up the workspace, important preferences, and the cache
- Importing footage and comps
- Relinking missing footage
- Creating type, shape layers, and masks
- Rotoscoping with the Roto Brush
- Adjusting keyframes in the Graph Editor
- Timing animations to audio
- Building backgrounds with effects
- Rendering with the Render Queue and Adobe Media Encoder
- Animating 3D type
- Smoothing shaky footage and retouching footage
- Keying green screen footage
- Working with 3D: extruding shapes, adding ray-traced lighting, and more
Skill Level Beginner
Duration
Views
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Adobe After Effects
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What is After Effects?1m 8s
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Introduction
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Welcome1m 40s
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Using the exercise files1m 13s
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1. Getting Started
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Understanding compositions8m 48s
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Understanding effects3m 26s
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Moving in 3D space7m 41s
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Staying organized5m 15s
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2. Understanding Compositions
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Creating compositions7m 19s
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Introducing renderers3m 15s
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Understanding precomposing7m 16s
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Relinking missing footage4m 15s
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3. Building and Designing with Layers
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Defining layers6m 23s
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Creating type5m 58s
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Building shape layers6m 17s
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Refining with the Roto Brush5m 20s
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4. Animation 101
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Understanding keyframes6m 1s
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Interpolating keyframes8m 5s
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Timing to audio4m 41s
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Trimming and sliding edits5m 31s
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Swapping images4m 1s
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5. Using Effects to Modify Layers
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Layering multiple effects9m 13s
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Creating animated strokes5m 36s
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6. Jumping into 3D
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Introducing cameras10m 3s
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Working with 3D layers6m 37s
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Positioning layers6m 13s
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Using 3D precompositions2m 5s
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Adjusting depth of field5m 56s
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7. Exporting and Rendering
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Caching and prerendering6m 33s
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Using the Render Queue4m 34s
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Archiving finished projects4m 51s
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8. Going in Depth with Type and Shapes
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Creating type animators12m 17s
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Animating type in 3D space6m 35s
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Composing 3D type8m 41s
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Animating shape layers8m 10s
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9. Video in Depth
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Creating stylized video6m 47s
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Retiming video footage9m 31s
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10. Project: Keying Green Screen Footage
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Understanding keying3m 19s
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Creating a garbage mask4m 27s
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11. Integrating External Projects
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Importing Illustrator files4m 25s
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12. Project: Tracking and Advanced 3D
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Tracking footage8m 16s
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Extruding shapes8m 40s
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Bending layers8m 39s
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Adding environment maps4m 58s
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Beginning compositing8m 52s
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Creating render passes10m 17s
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Building a final composite8m 14s
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13. Conclusion
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What's next1m 8s
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Video: Defining layers