Using Help | Contents | Index Back - Adobe AFTER EFFECTS 5.5 Help Manual

Adobe After Effects Help
Using Help | Contents
Previewing 3D
You can reduce the amount of data displayed in a 3D layer to facilitate faster renders
and screen redraws when you are animating them using Wireframe Interactions or Draft
3D mode.
Using Wireframe Interactions
Clicking the Wireframe Interactions button disables After Effects' real-time update in the
Composition window of layers being transformed. Instead, the layers are replaced with
wireframe representations of the layer. The layer is updated in the Composition window
only after you stop moving it. You can choose when Wireframe Interactions is enabled or
disabled.
To enable or disable Wireframe Interactions mode:
Do one of the following:
Click the Wireframe Interactions button ( ) in the Timeline Window.
•
Choose Edit > Preferences > Previews and select an option from the either Use
•
Wireframe Interactions While Alt Key (Windows) or Use Wireframe Interactions While
Option Key (Mac OS) menu. Select Up to enable Wireframe Interactions. Select Down to
enable Wireframe Interactions only when you hold down the Alt (Windows) or Option
(MacOS) keys while moving a layer.
To temporarily disable or enable Wireframe Interactions mode:
Hold down Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) as you move a layer.
Working in Draft 3D mode
Clicking the Draft 3D mode button disables all lights and shadows that fall on 3D layers. It
also disables the camera's depth-of-field blur.
To enable or disable Draft 3D mode:
Click the Draft 3D mode button ( ) in the Timeline Window.
3D rendering
Compositing the 3D information in After Effects requires different algorithms than those
needed for rendering 2D information. After Effects provides a 3D renderer that computes
the motion blur, lighting, shadow, and depth-of-field information unique to 3D.
The 3D rendering order differs from that of 2D. In the standard rendering order, After
Effects renders layers according to their Timeline order, from the bottom layer to the top
layer. In contrast, the 3D renderer calculates 3D layers according to their spatial order in
the Composition window, from the most distant layer, or the one with the highest Z
coordinate value, to the closest layer, or the one with the lowest Z coordinate value. If
compositions contain both 2D and 3D layers, then the rendering order becomes more
complex. See "Rendering compositions containing both 2D and 3D layers" on page 243 for
more information on how After Effects handles rendering such compositions.
Using Help | Contents
| Index
| Index
3D Compositing
Back 242
Back 242