Looping The Clip; Specifying When A Video Clip Begins Playing In The Session - Adobe 25510629 - After Effects CS3 Professional User Manual

To return the In Point setting to zero or the Out Point setting to the end of the clip, click
the Reset button for the appropriate control.
If you know the desired timecode, you can also type it directly into the field. In this case,
do not click the Set button because it applies the current time.
The trim controls are locked when the active layer is the background for a VirtualTrak
set, which is a special type of animated clip.

Looping the clip

You can set a video clip assigned to any layer to play in a loop for as long as the session runs.
By default, all of the layers except the input clip are set to loop.
If the layer to which the video clip is assigned is not already the active layer, click its
1.
thumbnail to activate it.
Select Loop Source on the Input tab.
2.
For a looped source to appear reasonably natural, the beginning and end must be such
that the viewer will not notice when the clip restarts. If trimming the start or end point will
help achieve this result, then the In Point and Out Point controls may be of use.
You will rarely, if ever, want to loop the input clip, because it's normally the longest
source in the session. If you do encounter a situation where you want to loop the input
clip, this option is also available for that layer. Looping the input clip will create an infinite
loop. Ultra sets the end of a session by the longest nonlooping source to avoid an
endless cycle.
Specifying when a video clip begins playing in the
session
The Offset Into Scene setting delays the start of a video clip by the specified time after the
beginning of the session. Although you can delay the start time for any video clip in any layer
of any type of virtual set, you will usually want to do this only in a session that uses a
VirtualTrak effect. Achieving the correct timing for three points in the video is the most
important task in setting up a VirtualTrak clip. Most VirtualTrak effects open with a virtual
camera movement that takes several seconds to track, pan, or zoom to the plane where the
input clip is displayed. You typically want to wait at least until the Virtual Trak effect brings
that plane before having the input clip begin playing, and you may prefer to delay its start
until the effect ends.
Achieving the correct timing for video clips 105