Merging layers and uniting paths

In this movie, we'll combine the branches along with…the leaves on an independent layer in two different ways.…The first method will result in static path outlines…and the second will result in a dynamic compound shape.…I think you will find the difference…between the two to be extremely illuminating.…So let's imagine that I want to keep my original…branches and my leaves, I don't want to lose those.…So what I want to do is take these two layers, duplicate them, and…then merge them together. And here's how that works.…I'll go ahead and click on the Branches Layer, Shift-click on…the Foliage Layer here inside the Layers panel, and I'll duplicate them.…

And this works even with a Locked Layer by going out to the Flyout Menu icon and…choosing Duplicate Selection, and then we'll end up with…two new layers that end in the word copy.…I just want one new layer, so I'll click on one, Shift-click on the other.…Then go back to the Flyout Menu and choose Merge Selected.…That merges the layers, by the way, not the contents of the layer.…