Adobe After Effects CS3 User Manual
ADOBE® AFTER EFFECTS® CS3
PROFESSIONAL
USER GUIDE
Copyright
© 2007 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All rights reserved.
Adobe® After Effects® CS3 User Guide for Windows® and Mac OS
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Contents
Chapter 1: Getting started
Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Adobe Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
What’s new . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Chapter 2: User interface
Customizing the user interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Using the After Effects interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Chapter 3: Planning and managing projects
Project basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Project planning and setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Memory, storage, and performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Plug-ins and scripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
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Chapter 4: Importing
Importing and interpreting footage items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Working with footage items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Importing from After Effects and Adobe Premiere Pro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Importing video and audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Importing 3D image files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Importing still images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Introduction to Camera Raw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Navigating, opening, and saving images with Camera Raw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Adjusting color in Camera Raw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Modifying images with Camera Raw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Camera Raw settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Chapter 5: Compositions
Composition basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Nesting, precomposing, and pre-rendering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Chapter 6: Views and previews
Previewing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Modifying and using views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Chapter 7: Layers and properties
Creating layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Selecting and arranging layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Managing layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Modify layer properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
Blending modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
Layer styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
Working with 3D layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Cameras, lights, and points of interest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
Chapter 8: Animation
Animation basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Setting, selecting, and deleting keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Editing, moving, and copying keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
Creating and modifying motion paths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
Assorted animation tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
Interpolation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
Speed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
Time-stretching and time-remapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
Animating with Puppet tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226
Chapter 9: Color
Color basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234
Color management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
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Chapter 10: Masks, transparency, and keying
Transparency overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252
Creating and importing masks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254
Working with masks and mattes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
Animating masks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264
Keying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268
Chapter 11: Text
Creating and editing text layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
Formatting characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278
Formatting paragraphs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283
Animating text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
Examples of text animation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295
Chapter 12: Drawing and painting
Using paint tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302
Shape layers overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312
Creating shapes and masks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318
Managing and editing shapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325
Chapter 13: Motion tracking
Motion tracking overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335
Tracking motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342
Chapter 14: Effects and animation presets
Effects and animation presets overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347
Working with effects and animation presets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350
Chapter 15: Effect reference
Galleries of effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355
3D Channel effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367
Audio effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371
Blur & Sharpen effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375
Channel effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 381
Color Correction effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 387
Distort effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 404
Generate effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 419
Keying effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 440
Matte effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 450
Noise & Grain effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 452
Paint effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 471
Perspective effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 481
Simulation effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 486
Stylize effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 517
Text effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 524
Time effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 531
Transition effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 536
Utility effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 542
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Chapter 16: Expressions
Working with expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 547
The expression language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 556
After Effects expression elements reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 559
Expression examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 582
Chapter 17: Rendering and exporting
Basics of rendering and exporting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 587
Rendering and exporting to Flash formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602
Rendering and exporting still images and still-image sequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 606
Exporting project information to other Adobe applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 608
Encoding and compression options for movies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 612
Automated rendering and network rendering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .622
Converting movies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 630
Reviewing movies with Clip Notes comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 634
Chapter 18: Keyboard shortcuts
Using and modifying keyboard shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 638
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 657
Chapter 1: Getting started
Installation
Requirements
❖ To review complete system requirements and recommendations for your Adobe® software, see the Read Me file
on the installation disc.
Install the software
1 Close any other Adobe applications open on your computer.
2 Insert the installation disc into your DVD drive, and follow the on-screen instructions.
For each licensed copy of Adobe® After Effects® software, you can activate and use one copy of the full version of the
application on one computer. You can also install additional copies on additional computers to use as After Effects
render engines, which assist with network rendering. You install render engines in the same manner as the full
version of the application, but you do not activate them. You run the render engine using the Adobe After Effects
Render Engine shortcut in the Adobe After Effects CS3 folder.
1
Note: Formoreinformation,seetheReadMefileontheinstallationDVDorvisittheAdobeAfterEffectssupportwebsite
at www.adobe.com/go/learn_ae_support.
See also
“Network rendering with watch folders” on page 625
Activate the software
Ifyouhaveasingle-userretaillicenseforyourAdobesoftware,youwillbeaskedtoactivateyoursoftware;thisisa
simple, anonymous process that you must complete within 30 days of starting the software.
For more informationon productactivation, see the ReadMe file on your installation disc, or visitthe Adobe website
at www.adobe.com/go/activation.
1 If the Activation dialog box isn’t already open, choose Help > Activate.
2 Follow the on-screen instructions.
Note: If you want to install the software on a different computer, you must first deactivate it on your computer. Choose
Help > Deactivate.
Register
Register your product to receive complimentary installation support, notifications of updates, and other services.
❖ To register, follow the on-screen instructions in the Registration dialog box, which appears after you install and
activate the software.
If you postpone registration, you can register at any time by choosing Help > Registration.
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User Guide
Read Me
The installation disc contains the Read Me file for your software. (This file is also copied to the application folder
during product installation.) Open the file to read important information about topics such as the following:
• System requirements
• Installation (including uninstalling the software)
• Activation and registration
• Font installation
• Troubleshooting
• Customer support
• Legal notices
Adobe Help
Adobe Help resources
Documentation for your Adobe software is available in a variety of formats.
2
In-product and LiveDocs Help
In-product Help provides access to all documentation and instructional content available at the time the software
ships. It is available through the Help menu in your Adobe software.
LiveDocs Help includes all the content from in-product Help, plus updates and links to additional instructional
content available on the web. For some products, you can also add comments to the topics in LiveDocs Help. Find
LiveDocs Help for your product in the Adobe Help Resource Center, at www.adobe.com/go/documentation.
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Most versions of in-product and LiveDocs Help let you search across the Help systems of multiple products. Topics
may also contain links to relevant content on the web or to topics in the Help of another product.
Think of Help, both in the product and on the web, as a hub for accessing additional content and communities of
users. The most complete and up-to-date version of Help is always on the web.
Adobe PDF documentation
The in-product Help is also available as a PDF that is optimized for printing. Other documents, such as installation
guides and white papers, may also be provided as PDFs.
All PDF documentation is available through the Adobe Help Resource Center, at www.adobe.com/go/documen-
tation.Tosee the PDF documentationincluded with your software, look inthe Documents folder on the installation
or content DVD.
Printed documentation
Printed editions of the in-product Help are available for purchase in the Adobe Store, at www.adobe.com/go/store.
You can also find books published by Adobe publishing partners in the Adobe Store.
A printed workflow guide is included with all Adobe Creative Suite® 3 products, and stand-alone Adobe products
may include a printed getting started guide.
3
Using Help in the product
In-productHelpisavailablethroughtheHelpmenu.AfteryoustarttheAdobeHelpViewer,clickBrowsetoseeHelp
for additional Adobe products installed on your computer.
These Help features facilitate cross-product learning:
• Topics may contain links to the Help systems of other Adobe products or to additional content on the web.
• Some topics are shared across two or more products. For instance, if you see a Help topic with an Adobe
Photoshop® CS3 icon and an Adobe After Effects® CS3 icon, you knowthat the topic either describes functionality
that is similar in the two products or describes cross-product workflows.
• You can search across the Help systems of multiple products.
If you search for a phrase, such as “shape tool,” enclose it in quotation marks to see only those topics that include all
the words in the phrase.
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A
C
D
B
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Adobe Help
A. Back/Forwardbuttons(previouslyvisited links) B. Expandablesubtopics C. Icons indicating shared topic D. Previous/Next buttons (topics
in sequential order)
Accessibility features
Adobe Help content is accessible to people with disabilities—such as mobility impairments, blindness, and low
vision. In-product Help supports these standard accessibility features:
• The user can change text size with standard context menu commands.
• Links are underlined for easy recognition.
• If link text doesn’t match the title of the destination, the title is referenced in the Title attribute of the Anchor tag.
For example, the Previous and Next links include the titles of the previous and next topics.
• Content supports high-contrast mode.
• Graphics without captions include alternate text.
• Each frame has a title to indicate its purpose.
• Standard HTML tags define content structure for screen reading or text-to-speech tools.
• Style sheets control formatting, so there are no embedded fonts.
Keyboard shortcuts for Help toolbar controls (Windows)
Back button Alt+Left Arrow
Forward button Alt+Right Arrow
Print Ctrl+P
About button Ctrl+I
Browse menu Alt+Down Arrow or Alt+Up Arrow to view Help for another application
Search box Ctrl+S to place the insertion point in the Search box
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Keyboard shortcuts for Help navigation (Windows)
• To move between panes, press Ctrl+Tab (forward) and Shift+Ctrl+Tab (backward).
• To move through and outline links in a pane, press Tab (forward) or Shift+Tab (backward).
• To activate an outlined link, press Enter.
• To make text bigger, press Ctrl+equal sign.
• To make text smaller, press Ctrl+hyphen.
Resources
Adobe Video Workshop
The Adobe Creative Suite 3 Video Workshop offers over 200 training videos covering a wide range of subjects for
print, web, and video professionals.
YoucanusetheAdobeVideoWorkshoptolearnaboutanyCreativeSuite3product.Manyvideosshowyouhowto
use Adobe applications together.
5
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When you start the Adobe Video Workshop, you choose the products you want to learn and the subjects you want
to view. You can see details about each video to focus and direct your learning.
6
Community of presenters
With this release, Adobe Systems invited the community of its users to share their expertise and insights. Adobe and
lynda.com present tutorials, tips, and tricks from leading designers and developers such as Joseph Lowery, Katrin
Eismann, and Chris Georgenes. You can see and hear Adobe experts such as Lynn Grillo, Greg Rewis, and Russell
Brown. In all, over 30 product experts share their knowledge.
Tutorials and source files
The Adobe Video Workshop includes training for novices and experienced users. You’ll also find videos on new
features and key techniques. Each video covers a single subject and typically runs about 3-5 minutes. Most videos
come with an illustrated tutorial and source files, so you can print detailed steps and try the tutorial on your own.
Using Adobe Video Workshop
YoucanaccessAdobeVideoWorkshopusingtheDVDincludedwithyourCreativeSuite3product.It’salsoavailable
online at www.adobe.com/go/learn_videotutorials. Adobe will regularly add new videos to the online Video
Workshop, so check in to see what’s new.
After Effects CS3 videos
Adobe Video Workshop covers a wide range of subjects for Adobe After Effects® CS3, including these:
• Animating shape layers
• Applying effects
• Working with keyframes and the timeline
• Rendering and exporting
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Videos also show you how to use After Effects CS3 with other Adobe products:
• Importing Photoshop files
• Using Dynamic Link
• Sending work for review using Clip Notes
To access Adobe Creative Suite 3 video tutorials, visit Adobe Video Workshop at
www.adobe.com/go/learn_videotutorials.
Extras
You have access to a wide variety of resources that will help you make the most of your Adobe software. Some of
these resources are installed on your computer during the setup process; additional helpful samples and documents
are included on the installation or content disc. Unique extras are also offered online by the Adobe Exchange
community, at www.adobe.com/go/exchange.
Installed resources
During software installation, anumber ofresources are placed in your application folder. Toview those files, navigate
to the application folder on your computer.
• Windows®: [startup drive]\Program Files\Adobe\[Adobe application]
• Mac OS®: [startup drive]/Applications/[Adobe application]
7
The application folder may contain the following resources:
Plug-ins Plug-in modules are small software programs that extend or add features to your software. Once installed,
plug-in modules appear as options in the Import or Export menu; as file formats in the Open, Save As, and Export
Original dialog boxes; or as filters in the Filter submenus. For example, a number of special effects plug-ins are
automatically installed in the Plug-ins folder inside the Photoshop CS3 folder.
Presets Presets include a wide variety of useful tools, preferences, effects, and images. Product presets include
brushes, swatches, color groups, symbols, custom shapes, graphic and layer styles, patterns, textures, actions,
workspaces, and more. Preset content can be found throughout the user interface. Some presets (for example,
Photoshop Brush libraries) become available only when you selectthe correspondingtool. If you don’t want to create
an effect or image from scratch, go to the preset libraries for inspiration.
Templates Template files can be opened and viewed from Adobe Bridge CS3, opened from the Welcome Screen, or
opened directly from the File menu. Depending on the product, template files range from letterheads, newsletters,
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User Guide
and websites to DVD menus and video buttons. Each template file is professionally constructed and represents a
best-use example of product features. Templates can be a valuable resource when you need to jump-start a project.
8
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Samples Sample files include more complicated designs and are a great way tosee new featuresin action. These files
demonstrate the range of creative possibilities available to you.
Fonts Several OpenType® fonts and font families are included with your Creative Suite product. Fonts are copied to
your computer during installation:
• Windows: [startup drive]\Windows\Fonts
• Mac OS X: [startup drive]/Library/Fonts
For information about installing fonts, see the Read Me file on the installation DVD.
DVD content
The installation or content DVD included with your product contains additional resources for use with your
software. The Goodies folder contains product-specific files such astemplates, images, presets, actions, plug-ins, and
effects, along with subfolders for Fonts and Stock Photography. The Documentation folder contains a PDF version
of the Help, technical information, and other documents such as specimen sheets, reference guides, and specialized
feature information.
Adobe Exchange
For more free content, visit www.adobe.com/go/exchange, an online community where users download and share
thousands of free actions, extensions, plug-ins, and other content for use with Adobe products.
Bridge Home
Bridge Home, a new destination in Adobe Bridge CS3, provides up-to-date information on all your Adobe Creative
Suite 3 software in one convenient location. Start Adobe Bridge, then click the Bridge Home icon at the top of the
Favorites panel to access the latest tips, news, and resources for your Creative Suite tools.
Note: Bridge Home may not be available in all languages.
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9
Adobe Design Center
Adobe Design Center offers articles, inspiration, and instruction from industry experts, top designers, and Adobe
publishing partners. New content is added monthly.
You can find hundreds of tutorials for design products and learn tips and techniques through videos, HTML
tutorials, and sample book chapters.
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New ideas are the heart of Think Tank, Dialog Box, and Gallery:
• ThinkTankarticlesconsiderhowtoday’sdesignersengagewithtechnologyandwhattheirexperiencesmeanfor
design, design tools, and society.
• In Dialog Box, experts share new ideas in motion graphics and digital design.
• The Gallery showcases how artists communicate design in motion.
Visit Adobe Design Center at www.adobe.com/designcenter.
Adobe Developer Center
Adobe Developer Center provides samples, tutorials, articles, and community resources for developers who build
rich Internet applications, websites, mobile content, and other projects using Adobe products. The Developer Center
also contains resources for developers who develop plug-ins for Adobe products.
10
In addition to sample code and tutorials, you'll find RSS feeds, online seminars, SDKs, scripting guides, and other
technical resources.
Visit Adobe Developer Center at www.adobe.com/go/developer.
Customer support
VisittheAdobeSupportwebsite,atwww.adobe.com/support, to find troubleshooting information for your product
and to learn about free and paid technical support options. Click the Training link for access to Adobe Press books,
a variety of training resources, Adobe software certification programs, and more.
Downloads
Visit www.adobe.com/go/downloads to find free updates, tryouts, and other useful software. In addition, the Adobe
Store (at www.adobe.com/go/store) provides access to thousands of plug-ins from third-party developers, helping
you to automate tasks, customize workflows, create specialized professional effects, and more.
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Adobe Labs
Adobe Labs gives you the opportunity to experience andevaluate new andemerging technologies and products from
Adobe.
At Adobe Labs, you have access to resources such as these:
• Prerelease software and technologies
• Code samples and best practices to accelerate your learning
• Early versions of product and technical documentation
• Forums, wiki-based content, and other collaborative resources to help you interact with like-minded developers
Adobe Labs fosters a collaborative software development process. In this environment, customers quickly become
productive with new products and technologies. Adobe Labs is also a forum for early feedback, which the Adobe
development teams use to create software that meets the needs and expectations of the community.
Visit Adobe Labs at www.adobe.com/go/labs.
User communities
User communities feature forums, blogs, and other avenues for users to share technologies, tools, and information.
Users can ask questions and find out how others are getting the most out of their software. User-to-user forums are
available in English, French, German, and Japanese; blogs are posted in a wide range of languages.
11
To participate in forums or blogs, visit www.adobe.com/communities.
What’s new
New features
Shape layers
Use new shape drawing tools to create and animate vector graphics. Strokes andfills—including editable gradients—
can be added to shapes, and these properties can be animated. After Effects also includes shape layer operations
based on Adobe® Illustrator® vector effects. See “About shapes and shape layers” on page 314.
To see a video tutorial introducing shape layers, go to the Adobe website at www.adobe.com/go/vid0224. To see a
video tutorial on animating shape layers, go to the Adobe website at www.adobe.com/go/vid0225.
Puppet tools
Use Puppet tools to easily distort any image with natural, life-like motion. See “Animating with Puppet tools” on
page 226.
Photoshop layer styles and video layers
Layer styles and video layers are preserved when you import a Photoshop file. You can also add and animate layer
styles within After Effects and use advanced blending options. See “Layer styles” on page 168 and “Working with
Photoshop and After Effects” on page 32.
To see a video tutorial on importing Photoshop files, go to the Adobe website at www.adobe.com/go/vid0252.
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Flash integration
You can export FLV files with cue points that you create as markers within After Effects. Now, when you import a
SWF file, the alpha channel is preserved, and graphics are continuously rasterized, so they stay sharp as you scale
them up. See “Working withFlash and After Effects” on page 33 and “Rendering and exporting to Flash formats” on
page 602.
To see a video tutorial on exporting to FLV files, go to the Adobe website at www.adobe.com/go/vid0262. To see a
video tutorial on exporting markers as cue points, go to the Adobe website at www.adobe.com/go/vid0255.
Per-character 3D properties for text animation
Move or rotate individual characters or words in 3D space. See “Work with per-character 3D text properties” on
page 293.
To see a video tutorial on animating text, go to the Adobe website at www.adobe.com/go/vid0226.
Brainstorm
Use Brainstorm to experiment with properties and see the results side by side. Choose the variants that you like and
use as is or as input to further experimentation. See “Use Brainstorm to experiment and explore settings” on
page 160.
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Improved, simpler color management
You can now control the color for each footage item and each output item, all with a robust and simple interface, so
colors look right on any output device. See “Color management” on page 241.
Clip Notes
Add queries to reviewers as markers and then export your composition as a PDF file. Reviewers can use Adobe
Acrobat® or Adobe Reader® to make comments and then return the comments to you by e-mail or FTP. Comments
are imported as markers, which you can see in the Timeline panel. See “Reviewing movies with Clip Notes
comments” on page 634.
Performance improvements
You can use multiple CPUs or multiple processors on one CPU to render multiple frames simultaneously. You can
also use hardware acceleration of previews to move processing to the GPU, freeing up your CPU and providing
greater performance. See “Memory, storage, and performance” on page 37.
Export and preview video for mobile devices
New export presets in the Export Settings dialog box make it easier to export movies suitable for playback on mobile
devices, such as mobile phones and the Apple® iPod®. You can view some output types using Adobe Device Central,
which emulates many mobile devices. See “Preview a movie on a virtual mobile device using After Effects” on
page 618.
Chapter 2: User interface
Customizing the user interface
About workspaces
Adobe video and audio applications provide a consistent, customizable workspace.Although each application has its
own set of panels (such as Tools, Properties, Timeline,and so on), you move and group panelsin the same wayacross
products.
The main window of a program is the application window. Panels are organized in this window in an arrangement
called a workspace. The default workspace contains groups of panels as well as panels that stand alone.
You customize a workspace by arranging panels in the layout that best suits your working style. You can create and
save several custom workspaces for different tasks—for example, one for editing and one for previewing.
You can drag panels to new locations, move panels into or out of a group, place panels alongside each other, and
undock a panel so that it floats in a new window above the application window. As you rearrange panels, the other
panels resize automatically to fit the window.
13
YoucanusefloatingwindowstocreateaworkspacemorelikethoseinpreviousversionsofAdobeapplications,orto
place panels on multiple monitors.
BC
A
Example workspace
A. Application window B. Grouped panels C. Individual panel
For a video about the Adobe workspace, see www.adobe.com/go/vid0249.
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Choose a workspace
Each Adobe video and audio application includes several predefined workspaces that optimize the layout of panels
for specific tasks. When you choose one of these workspaces, or any custom workspaces you’ve saved, the current
workspace is redrawn accordingly.
❖ Open the project you want to work on, choose Window > Workspace, and select the desired workspace.
Dock, group, or float panels
You can dock panels together, move panels into or out of a group, and undock a panel so that it floats in a new
window above the application window. Asyou drag a panel, drop zones—areas onto which you can move the panel—
become highlighted. The drop zone you choose determines where the panel is inserted, and whether it docks or
groups with other panels.
Docking zones
Docking zones exist along the edges of a panel, group, or window. Docking a panel places it adjacent to the existing
group, resizing all groups to accommodate the new panel.
14
A
B
C
Dragging panel (A) onto docking zone (B) to dock it (C)
Grouping zones
Groupingzonesexistinthemiddleofapanelorgroup,andalongthetabareaofpanels.Groupingapanelstacksit
with other panels.
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B
C
Dragging panel (A) onto grouping zone (B) to group it with existing panels (C)
Dock or group panels
1
If the panel you want to dock or group is not visible, choose it from the Window menu.
2 Do one of the following:
•
To move an individualpanel, drag the gripper area in the upper-left corner of a panel’s tab onto the desired drop zone.
User Guide
15
Drag panel gripper to move one panel
• To move an entire group, drag the group gripper at the upper-right corner onto the desired drop zone.
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Drag group gripper to move entire group
The application docks or groups the panel, according to the type of drop zone.
Undock a panel in a floating window
When you undock a panel in a floating window, you can add panels to the window orotherwise modify it, as you do
the application window. You can use floating windows to make use of a secondary monitor, or to create a workspace
like those in earlier versions of Adobe applications.
❖ Select the panel you want to undock (if it’s not visible, choose it from the Window menu), and then do one of the
following:
• Choose Undock Panel or Undock Frame from the panel menu. Undock Frame undocks the panel group.
• Hold down Ctrl (Windows®) or Command (Mac OS®), and drag the panel or group from its current location.
When you release the mouse button, the panel or group appears in a new floating window.
• Drag the panel or group outside the application window. (If the application window is maximized, drag the panel
to the Windows task bar.)
16
Resize panel groups
When you position the pointer over dividers between panel groups, resize icons appear. When you drag these icons,
all groups that share the divider are resized. For example, suppose your workspace contains three panel groups
stacked vertically. If you drag the divider between the bottom two groups, they are resized, but the topmost group
doesn’t change.
To quickly maximize a panel beneaththe pointer, press the tilde (~) key. (Do not pressShift.) Press the tilde key again
to return the panel to its original size.
1 Do either of the following:
• To resize either horizontally or vertically, position the pointer between two panel groups. The pointer becomes a
double-arrow .
• To resize in both directions at once, position the pointer at the intersection between three or more panel groups.
The pointer becomes a four-way arrow .
2 Hold down the mouse button, and drag to resize the panel groups.
A
B
Dragging divider between panel groups to resize them horizontally
A. Original group with resize icon B. Resized groups
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Open and close panels and windows
Even if a panel is open, it may be out of sight, beneath other panels. Choosing a panel from the Window menu opens
it and brings it to the front.
Whenyoucloseapanelgroupintheapplicationwindow,theothergroupsresizetomakeuseofthenewlyavailable
space. When you close a floating window, the panels within it close, too.
• To open or close a panel, choose the panel from the Window menu.
• To close a panel or window, click its Close button .
Working with multiple monitors
To increase the available screen space, use multiple monitors. When you work with multiple monitors, the application window appears on the main monitor, and you place floating windows on the second monitor. Monitor
configurations are stored in the workspace.
See also
“Dock, group, or float panels” on page 14
Save a custom workspace
As you customize aworkspace, the application tracksyour changes,storing the most recent layout. To store aspecific
layout more permanently, save a custom workspace. Saved custom workspaces appear in the Workspace menu,
where you can return to and reset them.
❖ Arrange the frames and panels as desired, then choose Window > Workspace > New Workspace. Type a name for
the workspace, and click OK.
Note: If a project saved with a custom workspace is opened on another system, theapplication looks fora workspace with
a matching name. If it can’t find a match (or the monitor configuration doesn’t match), it uses the current local
workspace.
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Reset a workspace
Reset a workspace to return to its original, saved layout of panels.
❖ With the workspace you want to reset active, choose Window > Workspace > Reset workspace name.
Delete a workspace
1 Choose Window > Workspace > Delete Workspace.
2 Choose the workspace you want to delete, and then click OK.
Note: You cannot delete the currently active workspace.
Brighten or darken the interface
Changing the brightness preference affects panels, windows, and dialog boxes.
1 Choose Edit > Preferences > User Interface Colors (Windows) or After Effects > Preferences > User Interface
Colors (Mac OS).
2 Drag the User Interface Brightness slider to the left or right. Click Default to restore the default brightness level.
18
Using the After Effects interface
Work with columns
The Project, Timeline, and Render Queue panels contain columns.
• To show or hide columns, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) a column heading (or choose
Columns from the panel menu), and select the columns that you want to show or hide. A check mark indicates
that the column is shown.
• To reorder columns, select a column name and drag it to a new location.
• Toresizecolumns,dragthebartotherightofacolumnname.Draglefttomakethecolumnsmallerandrightto
make it larger. Some columns—such as the Duration column in the Project panel—cannot be resized.
Scroll or zoom with the mouse wheel
You can use the mouse wheel to zoom in the Timeline, Composition, Layer, and Footage panels, and scroll in the
Timeline, Project, Render Queue, Flowchart, Effect Controls, and Effects & Presets panels.
• To zoom into the center of the panel, or into the feature region when tracking, roll the mouse wheel forward.
• To zoom out of the center of the panel, or out of the feature region when tracking, roll the mouse wheel backward.
• To zoom into the area under the pointer, hold down Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) as you roll the mouse
wheel forward.
• To zoom out of the area under the pointer, hold down Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) as you roll the mouse
wheel backward.
• To scroll vertically, roll the mouse wheel forward or backward.
• To scroll horizontally, hold down Shift as you roll the mouse wheel backward or forward. When you are in the
Timeline panel, rolling backward moves you forward in time and vice versa.
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You can scroll in a panel even if it is not currently active, as long as you move the pointer over it. For instance, you
can scroll in the Composition panel even if the Effect Controls panel is currently active.
Open panel, viewer, and context menus
Panel menus provide commands relative to the active panel or frame. Viewer menus provide a list of compositions,
layers, or footage items that can be shown in the viewer, as well as commands for closing items and locking the
viewer. Context menus provide commands relative to the active tool or selected item.
A B
A. Triangle for opening viewer menu B. Triangle for opening panel menu
• To open a panel menu, click the triangle in the upper-right corner of the panel.
• To open a viewer menu, click the name of the active composition, layer, or footage item in the viewer tab.
• To open a context menu, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS).
Work with viewers
A viewer is a panel that can contain multiple compositions, layers, or footage items, or multiple views of one such
item. The Composition, Layer, Footage, Flowchart, and Effect Controls panels are viewers.
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Locking a viewer prevents the currently displayed item from being replaced when you open or select a new item.
Instead, when a viewer is locked and a new item is opened or selected, After Effects creates a new viewer panel for
that item.
Instead of housing multiple items in a single viewer and using the menu to switch between them, you can choose to
open a separate viewer for each open composition, layer, or footage item. When you have multiple viewers open, you
can arrange them by docking or grouping them together, just as with any other panels.
For example, you can create one Composition viewer each for different 3D views (Top, Bottom, Back, Front) so that
you can maximize each of the views with the ` (accent grave) keyboard command, which maximizes or restores the
panel under the pointer.
To create a custom workspace with multiple viewers, ensure that all viewers are unlocked before you save the workspace.
Locked viewers are associated with a specific project context and are therefore not saved in the preferences file.
• To create a new viewer, choose New from the viewer menu.
• To lock or unlock a viewer, choose Locked from the viewer menu, or click the Toggle Viewer Lock button.
• To lock the current viewer, split the current frame, and create a new viewer of the same type in the new frame,
press Ctrl+Alt+Shift+N (Windows) or Command+Option+Shift+N (Mac OS).
• To cycle forward or backward through the items in the viewer menu list for the active viewer, press Shift+period
or Shift+comma.
See also
“Choose a viewer to always preview” on page 124
“Shortcuts for panels, viewers, workspaces, and windows” on page 639
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Activate a tool
The Tools panel can be displayed as a toolbar (as shown here) or as a normal panel.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N
Tools panel
A. Selection B. Hand C. Zoom D. Rotation E. Orbit Camera, Track XY Camera, Track Z Camera F. Pan Behind G. Mask and shape tools
H. Pen tools I. Type too ls J. Brush K. Clone Stamp L. Eraser M. Puppet tools N. Controls related to active tool
Note: Controls related to some tools appear only when the tool is active.
• Click the tool’s button. If the button has a small triangle at its lower-right corner, hold down the mouse button to
view the hidden tools. Then, click the tool you want to select.
• Press the tool’s keyboard shortcut. (Positioning the pointer over a tool button displays a tool tip with the tool’s
name and keyboard shortcut.)
• To cycle through hidden tools, repeatedly press the tool’s keyboard shortcut.
• To momentarily change from one tool to another tool, hold down the shortcut key for the desired tool; release the
shortcut key to return to the previous tool. (This technique does not work with all tools.)
• To view panels most relevant to the active tool, click the panel button if available. For example, clicking this
button when a paint tool is active opens the Paint and Brush Tips panels.
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See also
“Shortcuts for activating tools” on page 640
Tips for working with the After Effects user interface
• Use ClearType text anti-aliasing on Windows. ClearType makes the outlines of system text, such as menus and
dialog boxes, easier to read. See Windows Help for information on how to enable ClearType text anti-aliasing.
• Toshow tooltips, select the Show ToolTips preference(Edit > Preferences > General(Windows) or After Effects >
Preferences > General (Mac OS)).
• Toassignakeyboardshortcuttothecurrentworkspace,chooseWindow>AssignShortcutTo[Workspace Name]
Wo rk s p ac e .
• Ifaframecontainsmoregroupedpanelsthancanbeshownatonce,dragthesliderbarthatappearsabovethetabs.
Slider bar for showing other tabs
• Use keyboard shortcuts.
Note: On Mac OS, some keyboard commands for interacting with the operating system conflict with keyboard
commands for interacting with After Effects. Select Use System Shortcut Keys in the General preferences category to
override the After Effects keyboard command in cases in which there's a conflict with the Mac OS keyboard command.
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See also
“Using and modifying keyboard shortcuts” on page 638
Work with preferences
• To open the Preferences dialog box, choose Edit > Preferences > [category name] (Windows) or After Effects >
Preferences > [category name] (Mac OS).
• To open the Preferences dialog box to the General category, press Ctrl+Alt+; (semicolon) (Windows) or
Command+Option+; (Mac OS).
• To restore default preference settings, hold Ctrl+Alt+Shift (Windows) or Command+Option+Shift while the
application is starting. To also restore default keyboard shortcuts, Alt-click (Windows) or Option-click (Mac OS)
the OK button.
Preference reference
This section provides links to pages in which the various preferences—those that aren’t self-explanatory—are
explained.
General
• Levels Of Undo: “Undo changes” on page 25
• Show Tool Tips: “Tips for working with the After Effects user interface” on page 20
• Create Layers At Composition Start Time: “About layers” on page 133
• Switches Affect Nested Comps: “About nesting and precomposing” on page 113
• Default Spatial Interpolation To Linear: “Controlling change with interpolation” on page 204
• Preserve Constant Vertex Count When Editing Masks: “Designate the first vertex for a Bezier path” on page 325
• Synchronize Time Of All Related Items: “About nesting and precomposing” on page 113
• Expression Pick Whip Writes Compact English: “Add, edit, and remove expressions” on page 549
• Create Split Layers Above Original Layer: “Split a layer” on page 146
• Allow Scripts To Write Files And Access Network: “Work with scripts” on page 45
• Enable JavaScript Debugger: After Effects CS3 Professional Scripting Guide (PDF)
• Use System Color Picker: “Select a color or edit a gradient” on page 236
• Create New Layers At Best Quality: “Layer image quality” on page 150
• Preserve Clipboard Data For Other Applications: “Copy between After Effects and Adobe Premiere Pro” on
page 65
• Use System Shortcut Keys (Mac OS only): “Tips for working with the After Effects user interface” on page 20
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Previews
• Adaptive Resolution Limit: “Preview modes” on page 124
• Enable OpenGL: “Render with OpenGL” on page 593
• Accelerate Effects Using: “Preview modes” on page 124
• Audio Preview Duration: “Preview video and audio” on page 120
Display
• Motion Path: “Work with motion paths” on page 197
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• Disable Thumbnails In Project Panel: “Work with composition thumbnail images” on page 111
• Auto-zoom When Resolution Changes: “Resolution” on page 128
• Show Rendering Progress In Info Panel & Flowchart: “Preview video and audio” on page 120
• Hardware Accelerate Composition, Layer, And Footage Panels: “Improve performance” on page 41
Import
• Still Footage: “Create layers from footage items” on page 135
• Sequence Footage: “Import a single still image or a still-image sequence” on page 81
• Interpret Unlabeled Alpha As: “Specify alpha channel interpretation” on page 52
• Default Drag Import As: “Import footage items” on page 50
Output
• Overflow Volumes, Segment Sequences At, Segment Movie Files At, and Audio Block Duration: “Overflow
volumes and segment settings” on page 629
Grids & Guides
• Safe Margins: “Work with safe zones, grids, guides, and rulers” on page 130
User Guide
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Label Colors and Label Defaults
• Label Colors and Label Defaults: “Work with color labels” on page 149
Memory & Cache
• Maximum Memory Usage, Maximum RAM Cache Size, Enable Disk Cache, and Maximum Disk Cache Size:
“Memory & Cache preferences” on page 39
• Conformed Media Cache and Clean Database & Cache: “Work with the media cache” on page 67
• Prevent DLL Address Space Fragmentation (Windows only): “Memory & Cache preferences” on page 39
Video Previews
• Output Device, Output Mode, Output Quality, Output During, and Scale And Letterbox Output To Fit Video
Monitor: “Preview on an external video monitor” on page 126
User Interface Colors
• Cycle Mask Colors: “Control mask path color” on page 260
• User Interface Brightness: “Brighten or darken the interface” on page 18
Auto-Save
• Automatically Save Projects and Maximum Project Versions: “Save and back up projects” on page 24
Multiprocessing
• Render Multiple Frames Simultaneously: “Render multiple frames simultaneously” on page 40
Audio Hardware and Audio Output Mapping
• Audio Hardware and Audio Output Mapping: “Preview video and audio” on page 120
Chapter 3: Planning and managing projects
Project basics
About project files
An After Effects project isasinglefilethatstorescompositionsandreferencestoallofthefootageitemsthatyouuse
in that project. Compositions are collections of layers. Many layers use footage items as a source, though some
layers—such as shape layers and text layers—contain graphics that you create within After Effects. A project file has
the file-name extension .aep. The name of the current project appears at the top of the application window.
A template project is a file with the file-name extension .aet. You can use the many template projects included with
After Effects—including DVD menu templates—as the basis for your own projects, and you can create new
templates based on your projects.
A great way to see how advanced users use After Effects is to open one of the template projects included with After
Effects, select all of its layers, and press U or UU to reveal only the animated or modified properties. This shows you
what changes the designer of the template project made to create the template. You may need to unlock some layers to
select them.
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Create and open projects
Onlyoneprojectcanbeopenatatime.Ifyoucreateoropenanotherprojectfilewhileaprojectisopen,AfterEffects
promptsyoutosavechangesintheopenproject,andthenclosesit.Afteryoucreateaproject,youcanimportfootage
into the project.
• To create a project, choose File > New > New Project.
• To open a project, choose File > Open Project, locate the project, and then click Open.
• To open the most recently opened project, press Ctrl+Alt+Shift+P (Windows) or Command+Option+Shift+P
(Mac OS).
See also
“Import an After Effects project” on page 63
Work with template projects
When you open a template project, After Effects creates a new, untitled project based on the template. This means
that saving changes to the project does not affect the template project.
Often, the creator of a template project will lock layers that should be left unmodified, and leave layers that should
be modified unlocked. This is a convenient way to reuse material and prevent accidental or inappropriate modifications.
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User Guide
See also
“Lock or unlock a layer” on page 149
Open a template project
• To browse and open template projects using Adobe Bridge, choose File > Browse Template Projects. Double-click
a template project to open it.
• To open a template project, choose File > Open Project. On Windows, choose Adobe After Effects Project
Template from the Files Of Type menu.
Create a template project
• To convert a project to a template project, change the file-name extension from .aep to .aet.
• To save a copy of a project as a template project, choose File > Save A Copy, and then rename the copy with the
file-name extension .aet.
Save and back up projects
• To save a project, choose File > Save.
• To save a copy of the project with a new automatically generated name, choose File > Increment And Save, or press
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+S (Windows) or Command+Option+Shift+S (Mac OS).
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A copy of the current project is saved in the same folder as the original project. The name of the copy is the name of
the original followed by a number. If the name of the original ends with a number, that number is increased by 1.
• To save the project with a different name or to a different location, choose File > Save As.
The open project takes the new name and location; the original file remains unchanged.
• To save a copy of the project with a different name or to a different location, choose File > Save A Copy.
The open project retains itsoriginal name andlocation, and acopy is created with the new settings but isnot opened.
• To automatically save copies of projects at regular intervals, choose Edit > Preferences > Auto-Save (Windows) or
After Effects > Preferences > Auto-Save (Mac OS), and select Automatically Save Projects.
Auto-saved files are saved in the Adobe After Effects Auto-Save folder, which is located in the same folder as the
original project file. Auto-saved file names are based on the project name: After Effects adds “auto-save n”(wheren
is the number of the file in the auto-save series) to the endof the file name. Maximum Project Versions specifies how
many versions of each project file you want to save. When the number of versions saved reaches the maximum you
specify, the Auto-Save feature overwrites them starting with the oldest file.
• To save a copy of the project and copies of assets used in the project, use the Collect Files command. (See “Collect
files in one location” on page 594.)
Work with the Flowchart panel
In each composition’s flowchart, individual boxes (or tiles) represent each composition, footage item, and layer.
Directional arrows represent the relationships between components.
Note: The Flowchart panel shows you only the existing relationships. You cannot use it to change relationships between
project elements.
Nestedcompositions and otherelements that makeup the composition appear when youexpand acomposition tile.
AFTER EFFECTS CS3
User Guide
Mid-gray lines between tiles in the flowchart indicate that the Video or Audio switch for those items is deselected in
the Timeline panel. Black or light gray lines indicate that the switch is selected, depending on the User Interface
Brightness preference setting.
• To open the project’s flowchart, press Ctrl+F11 (Windows) or Command+F11 (Mac OS), or click the Project
Flowchart View button at the top of the vertical scroll bar on the right edge of the Project panel.
• To open a composition’s flowchart, select the composition and choose Composition > Comp Flowchart View, or
click the Comp Flowchart View button at the bottom of the Composition panel.
• To activate (select) an item, click its tile in the Flowchart panel.
When you clicka compositionin the flowchart, it becomes active in the Projectpanel and the Timelinepanel. When
you click a layer, it becomes active in the Timeline panel. When you click a footage item, it becomes active in the
Project panel.
• To customize the appearance of the flowchart, use the Flowchart panel menu and the buttons along the bottom of
the panel.
For tool tips identifying the buttons in the Flowchart panel, let your pointer hover over a button until the tool tip
appears.
• To delete elements, select them and press Delete. If the selected element is a footage item or composition, it is
deleted fromthe project and no longer appears in the Timeline andProject panels. If the selected elementis a layer,
it is deleted from the composition in which it appears.
• To access the context menu for a selected element, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) the icon to
the left of the name in the element tile. The icons have various appearances, depending on the element type, such
as layers and compositions . For example, you can usethe context menu fora layer to work with masks and
effects, or to change switches, apply transformations, and adjust layer image quality.
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Note: When you change element properties in the Flowchart panel, be careful to context-click the icon in the tile, not the
name of the element. The context menu associated with the element icon is different from the one that opens from the
element name.
Undo changes
You can undo only those actions that alter the project; for example, you can undo an edit, but you cannot undo the
scrolling of a panel.
You can sequentially undo as many as 99 of the most recent changes made to the project, depending on the Levels
Of Undo setting (Edit > Preferences > General (Windows) or After Effects > Preferences > General (Mac OS)). The
default is 32.
To avoid wasting time undoing accidental modifications, lock a layer when you want to see it but do not want to
modify it.
• To undo the most recent change, choose Edit > Undo [action].
• To undo a change and all changes after it, choose Edit > History, and select the first change that you want to undo.
• To revert to the last saved version of the project, choose File > Revert. All changes made and footage items
imported since you last saved are lost. You cannot undo this action.
See also
“Lock or unlock a layer” on page 149
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