User Guide

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ADOBE AFTER EFFECTS 5.0
User Guide
E. Red, green, blue, and alpha channel icons Click one of the first three icons to view the
composition’s red, green, or blue channel. Areas with high values of that channel’s color
are displayed as white. Click the fourth icon to view the composition’s alpha channel.
Transparent and opaque areas are displayed as black and white, and degrees of opacity
appear as shades of gray. See “Viewing color and alpha channels” on page 57.
F. Region of interest Used to narrow the composition area for previewing. See “Changing
the region of interest” on page 115.
G. Composition window menu Used to display the Composition Settings dialog box,
enable frame blending and motion blur, and display effect layer controls such as handles
and paths.
H. Comp family button Displays the Timeline window for this composition.
Arranging a footage item in a composition by dragging
You can change the spatial position of a layer in a composition by selecting and dragging
the layer in the Composition window. When you want to move a layer into or out of the
frame, you can position it completely or partially outside the frame.
When you arrange a layer in the Composition window, you determine the position of the
layer at the current time, indicated by the current-time marker in the Timeline window. If
no keyframes are set for a layer, the position values you set will apply for the duration of
the layer. The layer remains in position until you set up a change over time in the Timeline
window; see “Understanding keyframes” on page 160. For information about changing
the order of layers, see “Changing the layer stacking order” on page 130.
To arrange a layer in a composition by dragging:
1 Select the selection tool from the Tools palette.
2 Click a layer in the Composition window to select it or, if the layer is obscured by
another layer, select the layer name in the Timeline window.
You can select layers behind other layers in a Composition window. Using the selection
tool, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) the top layer, choose Select, and
then choose a layer name.
UG.book Page 113 Wednesday, February 21, 2001 12:05 PM