Adobe AFTER EFFECTS 5.5 Help Manual page 20

Adobe After Effects Help
Using Help | Contents
Viewing color and alpha channels
You can preview the red, green, blue, and alpha channels of a still image or movie in a
Footage window, Layer window, or Composition window. When you view a color channel,
areas with that color are displayed according to the color value of each pixel. For example,
if you view the red channel, areas with high red values are displayed as white.
To see the color values in a color channel displayed in the channel's own color instead
of white, hold down Shift and click the desired color channel icon.
When you preview the alpha channel, After Effects displays transparent and opaque areas
as black and white to make identification easier. Degrees of opacity appear as shades of
gray.
To view a color channel or alpha channel:
1 Open the Composition, Layer, or Footage window to view a channel for a composition,
layer, or footage item, respectively.
2 At the bottom of the window, click the icon that corresponds to the channel you want
to display.
A. Red channel B. Green channel C. Blue channel D. Alpha channel
Taking and viewing a window snapshot
When you want to compare one view to another in the Composition, Layer, or Footage
window, take a snapshot of one view and temporarily replace the window image with the
snapshot. For example, you might want to compare two frames in different locations in a
movie. You can instantly show and hide the snapshot to identify differences between the
views. If you have a sound card installed, you hear a sound when you take a snapshot.
When working with snapshots, here are some tips to keep in mind:
Snapshots taken in one kind of window can be displayed in another kind. For example,
•
you can take a snapshot of a Layer window and display the snapshot in the Compo-
sition or Footage window.
Displaying a snapshot does not replace the content of the window.
•
If the snapshot has a different size or aspect ratio than the window in which you display
•
it, the snapshot is resized to fit the window.
Choose Edit > Purge > Snapshot to free up memory used by your snapshots.
•
Snapshots are for reference only and do not become part of the layer, composition, or
•
rendered movie.
To take a snapshot:
Click the take-snapshot icon at the bottom of the window, or press Shift+F5.
To view a snapshot:
Click and hold the display-snapshot icon at the bottom of the window, or press F5.
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