Adobe AFTER EFFECTS 5.5 Help Manual page 89

Adobe After Effects Help
Using Help | Contents
In the Timeline window, click the Effect switch icon for a layer to toggle between
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showing and hiding effects.
Select a layer, choose Layer > Switches, and make sure that the Effect command is
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selected (to show effects) or deselected (to hide effects).
You can temporarily turn on or off an individual effect applied to a layer. For more infor-
mation, see "Applying and controlling effects" on page 170.
Enhancing time-altered motion by blending frames
When you time-stretch (see "Time-stretching a layer" on page 139) or time-remap (see
"About time-remapping" on page 142) footage to a slower frame rate or to a rate lower
than that of its composition, movement can appear jerky. This jerky appearance results
because the layer now has fewer frames per second than the composition. By default,
After Effects fills in the missing frames in slow-motion footage by repeating the last frame
shown. After Effects can create a more gradual transition between frames by interpolating
new frames between existing ones.
When you time-stretch or time-remap footage to a frame rate that is faster than the
original or higher than that of its composition, After Effects skips many of the original
frames to achieve the new rate and, consequently, movement can appear jerky. Frame
blending combines the remaining original frames to create smoother fast motion.
Using frame blending
Use the Frame Blending switch when motion already exists in the source footage for a
layer, such as live-action video. You can apply frame blending to a sequence of still images,
but not to a single still image. If you are animating a layer—for example, moving a layer of
type across the screen—use the motion blur switch. For more information, see "About
motion blur" on page 90.
Frame blending slows previewing and rendering. To speed things up, you can apply frame
blending without using it to redraw or render. The Quality setting you select also affects
frame blending. When the layer is set to Best quality, frame blending results in smoother
motion but may take longer to render than when set to Draft quality. You can also enable
frame blending for all compositions when you render a movie. For more information, see
"Changing render settings" on page 281.
To apply frame blending to a layer:
Select the layer in the Timeline window and choose Layer > Switches > Frame Blending.
A check mark by the Frame Blending command indicates that it is applied to the selected
layer. Also, the Frame Blending switch ( ) appears in the Timeline window Switches panel
for the layer. Remove frame blending either by clicking the Frame Blending switch or by
choosing the Frame Blending command again.
To enable or disable Frame Blending for redraw and rendering:
Select Enable Frame Blending from the Timeline window menu, or click the Enable Frame
Blending button ( ) at the top of the Timeline window.
Using three dimensions
Use the 3D switch ( ) to turn a layer into a 3D item that you can manipulate. When you use
the 3D switch for a layer, you can add camera and light layers to take full advantage of the
additional dimension.
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Managing Layers
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