Adobe AFTER EFFECTS 5.5 Help Manual page 61

Adobe After Effects Help
Using Help | Contents
For information on adjusting the shutter angle and shutter phase for motion blur, see
"Adjusting the shutter angle for motion blur" on page 91.
Setting the anchor
When you change the frame size of a composition, by default the layers are centered
within the new dimensions. Use the Anchor control to anchor the layers to a corner or
edge of the composition as it is resized. Set the anchor by clicking the arrow button in the
Anchor diagram (in the Advanced panel of the Composition Settings dialog box) to
indicate where to position the existing layers.
Setting nesting options
The Advanced panel of the Composition Settings dialog box includes two nesting options.
If the Preserve Resolution When Nested option is selected, the nested composition retains
its resolution setting. If this option is not selected, the containing composition's resolution
overrides the nested composition's resolution.
When selected, the Preserve Frame Rate When Nested option locks a composition to a
specific frame rate, which should improve performance in many cases as well as eliminate
the need to use Posterize Time in creating reduced frame rate effects. If this option is not
selected, the containing composition's frame rate overrides the nested composition's
frame rate.
Setting the rendering plug-in
You can animate layers inside a 3D space. This 3D environment includes shadows, specular
highlights, rack focus, and an automatic method of compositing layers based on depth.
The default 3D renderer is Standard. However, you can use the Advanced panel of the
Composition Settings dialog box to specify other rendering plug-ins for rendering 3D
compositions as they become available.
Adding footage items to a composition
Once you have created a new composition and imported footage into the project, you can
add footage items or another composition to it. To do this, drag footage items or folders
from the Project window to a Timeline window, a Composition window, or a composition
name or icon in the Project window. You can use individual items in the Project window
any number of times in one or more compositions.
Note: Although you cannot directly add a composition to itself, you can duplicate a
composition and add the copy to the original.
When you drag a footage item to the Timeline window, you can specify a precise layer
order and start time for the item. If you add multiple footage items to a composition, the
items appear in the order in which they were selected in the Project window. If you drag a
footage item into the Composition window, the layer appears where you drop it. If you
drag a footage item onto a composition in the Project window, the layer snaps to the
center of the Composition window. After you add a layer, you can move it to any position
within the Composition window. When you add multiple footage items, they appear in the
composition in the order selected.
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