Adobe AFTER EFFECTS 5.5 Help Manual page 5

Adobe After Effects Help
Using Help | Contents
Footage windows are useful for viewing and evaluating footage items in their original
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form (see "Viewing imported footage" on page 50).
To view a layer's original source independently of other layers or to trim footage, you
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can open a Layer window (see "Composition, Layer, and Footage window controls" on
page 16).
As you work with effects, you use the Effect Controls window to modify and animate
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the effects (see "Working with effects" on page 170).
When you render your compositions into a movie, you work in the Render Queue window
to select rendering options and queue compositions for rendering (see "Using the Render
Queue window" on page 279).
How you start a project
Starting a project involves two tasks: (1) planning your project based on the formats of the
final output and (2) creating a project file. Once you have planned your project and
learned how to perform some basic tasks related to working in After Effects, you'll be
ready to start importing footage (see "Importing files into a project" on page 28). You then
create a composition and begin working with your source footage (see "Working with
imported footage" on page 50).
Planning your project
Planning your project before you start importing footage makes your work easier. A large
part of planning is simply determining the best settings for your source footage based on
the media for which you will render your finished project. This step is essential to
achieving optimal image quality. Rendering order and nesting may also be part of project
planning (see "Organizing a project using nesting" on page 265).
Choosing the right media
Before you start importing footage items into your project, decide which media you'll use
for your finished movies. Then determine the best settings for your compositions and
source material. For example, if you will be rendering your project to videotape, create
footage at an image size, color bit-depth, and frame rate that will produce the best image
quality on videotape. Likewise, if your project is intended for streaming video on the Web,
the image size, color bit-depth, and frame rate may need to be reduced to work with the
data-rate limits of streaming video on the Web. However, any footage item that can be
imported can be used in any composition.
If you will be rendering a project to more than one media format, always match the
resolution setting for your composition to the highest resolution setting used for your
output. Then set up the Render Queue window to render a separate version of the project
for each format.
Using Help | Contents
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Working with Projects, Windows, and Palettes
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