Adobe AFTER EFFECTS 5.5 Help Manual page 62

Adobe After Effects Help
Using Help | Contents
Items added to a composition begin at the time indicated on the current-time marker in
the Timeline window. For example, if the current time box displays 0:00:04:00 (4 seconds),
when you place the item in the Composition window, the item begins its first frame at 4
seconds. By changing the location of the current-time marker (Timeline window) or the
time displayed in the Current Time button (Composition window), you can add a layer at
any point in the composition.
In the Composition window, layers are visible only if they are active at the time currently
displayed. For example, if you have three layers in a composition, with two of the layers
starting at the beginning of the composition and one layer starting at 6 seconds, only two
of the layers appear in the Composition window when the current-time marker is set to
the beginning of the composition.
For more information on adjusting the duration or speed of a layer, see "Understanding
trimming" on page 81 and "Time-stretching a layer" on page 139. For more information on
setting and adjusting the current time, see "Viewing and setting the current time" on
page 69.
To add a footage item to a composition:
1 Activate the Timeline window for the composition to which you want to add an item.
2 To set the current-time marker, click the current-time display, specify a new time, and
then click OK.
3 Drag the name of the footage item, the footage-item thumbnail, or a folder from the
Project window to one of three places:
The Composition window.
•
The Timeline window. When you drag the item into the Timeline window, a highlight
•
bar indicates where the layer will appear when you release the mouse button. If you
drag the item over the time graphic area, a time marker indicates where the layer's In
point will be when you release the mouse button.
While dragging an item into the Timeline window, you can specify the layer order and In point.
The composition name or icon in the Project window.
•
You can also add a footage item to a composition by selecting the name of the
footage item in the Project window and pressing Ctrl+/ (Windows) or Command+/
(Mac OS).
To add several footage items to a composition at the same time:
1 Do any of the following:
Select multiple footage items. To select a contiguous range of items, press Shift as you
•
click the footage items in the Project window. To select a discontiguous set of items,
press Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac OS) as you select the footage item names.
Using Help | Contents
| Index
| Index
Building a Composition
Back 62
Back 62