To Arrange Layers As A Sequence - Adobe AFTER EFFECTS 7.0 Manual

After you start dragging a layer, hold down Shift to constrain the dragging to horizontal or vertical movements, or
hold down Ctrl+Shift (Windows) or Command+Shift (Mac OS) to snap to the frame edges or center.
See also
"To change the layer stacking order" on page 153
"About the Composition panel" on page 116
"About keyframes" on page 192

To arrange layers as a sequence

Use the Sequence Layers keyframe assistant to automatically arrange layers in a sequence. When you apply the
keyframe assistant, the first layer you select remains in its initial time position, and the other selected layers move to
new positions in the Timeline panel based on the order in which you select them.
Layers selected in Timeline panel (left). Layers arranged in sequence after applying the Sequence Layers Keyframe Assistant (right).
You can specify whether the layers overlap or are arranged end to end. For overlapping layers, you determine how
long the layers overlap and whether they cut or cross-dissolve from one to the next. If you specify a cross-dissolve,
After Effects creates opacity keyframes that control how the layers dissolve into each other.
Overlapping layers can have opacity keyframes set automatically to create a cross-dissolve.
For a layer to be sequenced, its duration must be less than the length of the composition so that it leaves time for
other layers. If you've already imported still images that are the length of the composition, you can trim all of them
at once by selecting all of the still image layers, positioning the current-time indicator to set the duration you want
them to have, and pressing Alt+] (Windows) or Option+] (Mac OS).
In the Timeline panel, hold down Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac OS) and select layers in sequential order,
1
beginning with the layer you want to appear first.
Choose Animation > Keyframe Assistant > Sequence Layers.
2
In the Sequence Layers dialog box, do one of the following, and then click OK:
3
•
To arrange the layers end to end, leave the Overlap option unselected.
•
To overlap ends of layers, select the Overlap option and type a duration in timecode for how long the layers should
overlap.
ADOBE AFTER EFFECTS 7.0
156
User Guide