Blending Modes - Adobe AFTER EFFECTS CS3 PROFESSIONAL User Manual

You can move back or forward a generation by clicking the arrow buttons on either side of the Brainstorm button at
the bottom of the Brainstorm dialog box. If you move back a generation and then perform another Brainstorm
operation, the later generations are lost.
Note: Press Esc to close the Brainstorm dialog box.
See also
"Work with layer properties in the Timeline panel" on page 155

Blending modes

Apply a blending mode
Blending modes for layers control how each layer blends with or interacts with layers beneath it. Blending modes for
layers in After Effects (formerly referred to as layer modes) are identical to blending modes in Adobe Photoshop.
Most blending modes modify only color values of the source layer, not the alpha channel. The Alpha Add blending
mode affects the alpha channel of the source layer, and the silhouette and stencil blending modes affect the alpha
channels of layers beneath them.
You can't directly animate blending modes by using keyframes. To change a blending mode at a certain time, split
the layer at that time and apply the new blending mode to the part of the layer that continues. You can also use the
Compound Arithmetic effect, the results of which are similar to those for blending modes but can change over time.
You apply a blending mode to the layer above the layers you want it to interact with.
Note: To blend colors with a gamma value of 1, choose File > Project Settings and select Blend Colors Using 1.0 Gamma.
Deselect this option to blend colors in the project's color space. (See "Linearize working space and enable linear blending"
on page 244.)
Blending modes for multiple masks on a single layer are called mask modes.
Some effects include their own blending mode options. For details, see the descriptions of the individual effects.
• To cycle through blending modes for selected layers, hold down the Shift key and press - (hyphen) or = (equals
sign) on the main keyboard.
Note: This is a great way to experiment with the appearance of various blending modes.
• To apply a blending mode to selected layers, choose a blending mode from the menu in the Mode column in the
Timeline panel or from the Layer > Blending Mode menu.
• To show the Modes column in the Timeline panel, choose Columns > Modes from the panel menu, or click the
Expand Or Collapse The Transfer Controls button
See also
"Mask modes" on page 260
"Split a layer" on page 149
"Color" on page 234
at the bottom left of the Timeline panel.
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