User Guide

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Chapter 4: Managing Layers
ayers are the components you use to build a composition. Any item you add to a
composition—such as a still image, moving image file, audio file, lights and cameras,
or even another composition—becomes a new layer. Without layers, a composition
consists only of an empty frame.
Using layers, you can work with specific footage items in a composition without affecting
any other footage. For example, you can move, rotate, and draw masks for one layer
without disturbing any other layers in the composition, or you can use the same footage
in more than one layer and use it differently in each instance. For more information on
masks, see “Working with masks” on page 238.
Three layers as viewed in the Timeline window (left) and the Composition window (right)
Adding layers to compositions
When you add an item to a composition, you create a new layer for that composition. You
can duplicate layers within a composition or even copy and paste layers from one compo-
sition to another. Use as many layers as necessary to create your composition.
A composition layer can be any of the following:
• Any footage item in the Project window list (including audio)
• Another composition in the project
• A solid, camera, or light you create
• An After Effects adjustment layer, which modifies all layers below it
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UG.book Page 125 Wednesday, February 21, 2001 12:05 PM