User Guide

CHAPTER 8
276
Applying Effects
To position an effect exactly where you want it:
1 Select Effect Controls from the Composition window menu to make the effect points
visible.
2 Zoom in on the layer in the Composition window. The more you zoom in, the more
accurate you can be. Effect points for effects are interpolated throughout the area of the
image.
Note: A layer must be set to Best quality to take advantage of subpixel accuracy. However, for
faster editing you can keep layers at Draft quality until you render a finished movie.
Applying an effect to several layers with an adjustment
layer
You apply and edit effects to an adjustment layer just as you do to any other layer. However,
when you apply an effect to an adjustment layer, the effect is applied to all layers below it
in the Timeline window. For more information, see “Creating an adjustment layer” on
page 128.
Changing rendering order
When you apply more than one effect to a layer, the final result may depend on the order
in which those effects are applied. To change the order in which effects are applied, drag
the effect name to a new position in the Effect Controls window or the Timeline window.
The order in which After Effects renders masks, effects, and transform properties, called
the rendering order, may affect the final result of an applied effect. To achieve certain
effects, change the default rendering order so that a transform property is rendered before
an effect in a layer, instead of after the effect. For information on changing the rendering
order, see “Understanding default rendering order” on page 343.
Using audio effects
Any audio effect can be customized to radically change the sound of the original audio.
For more impact, you can duplicate a layer that contains audio effects, add additional
audio effects to the duplicate layer, and then turn off the original layer’s effects to hear only
the processed audio.
UG.book Page 276 Wednesday, February 21, 2001 12:05 PM