User Guide

35
Chapter 1: Working with
Projects, Windows, and Palettes
dobe After Effects is a powerful tool for 2D and 3D compositing, animation, and
visual effects. You can composite layers in a variety of ways, apply and combine
sophisticated visual and audio effects, and animate both objects and effects.
In After Effects, every animation starts as a project—a collection of digital video footage,
still images (such as Adobe Illustrator or Adobe Photoshop files), and audio files, which
you arrange in compositions within the project.
Working in a project
An After Effects project is a single file that stores references to all the footage you use in that
project. It also contains information about how you’ve arranged the footage in composi-
tions, including the details of any effects or animation you applied. Inside a project, you
create one or more compositions. After you have imported source footage into the project,
you can add footage items into the compositions.
Where you work with footage items
In a project, you work with footage items using primarily three windows: the Project
window, which lists all the source footage items you import; the Composition window,
which displays images as they relate in space; and the Timeline window, which displays
compositions and animation events in terms of time. Add footage items to a composition
by dragging them from the Project window into either the Composition window or the
Timeline window.
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