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Last updated 12/21/2009
Selecting and arranging layers
Jeff Almasol provides a script on his
combinations of items in time: layer In point, layer Out point, layer source frames, keyframes, and markers.
Trish and Chris Meyer provide an introduction to moving, trimming, reordering, and sequencing layers in a PDF
excerpt from the "Layer Control" chapter of their book
Motion Graphics
Artist.
Select layers
Selected layers that also have properties selected are indicated with a hollow highlight in the Timeline panel. A selected
layer that has no properties selected is indicated with a solid highlight.
Top layer selected, but no properties selected; bottom layer selected with properties selected.
To scroll the topmost selected layer to the top of the Timeline panel, press X.
• To select a layer, click the layer in the Composition panel, click its name or duration bar in the Timeline panel, or
click its name in the Flowchart panel.
• To select a layer that is obscured in the Composition panel, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) over
the layer in the Composition panel, and choose Select > [layer name].
• To select a layer if the layer is open in its own Layer panel, choose the layer name from the Window menu or the
Layer panel viewer menu.
• To select a layer by position number, type the layer number on the numeric keypad. If the layer number has more
than one digit, type the digits quickly so that After Effects can recognize them as one number.
• To select the next layer in the stacking order, press Ctrl+Down Arrow (Windows) or Command+Down Arrow
(Mac OS). To select the previous layer, press Ctrl+Up Arrow (Windows) or Command+Up Arrow (Mac OS).
• To extend the selection to the next layer in the stacking order, press Ctrl+Shift+Down Arrow (Windows) or
Command+Shift+Down Arrow (Mac OS). To extend the selection to the previous layer in the stacking order, press
Ctrl+Shift+Up Arrow (Windows) or Command+Shift+Up Arrow (Mac OS).
• To select all layers, choose Edit > Select All while the Timeline or Composition panel is active. To deselect all layers,
choose Edit > Deselect All. If the composition's Hide Shy Layers switch is selected, using Select All when the
Timeline panel is active doesn't select shy layers. (See
• To deselect any currently selected layers and select all other layers; with at least one layer selected, choose Invert
Selection from the context menu in the Composition or Timeline panel.
• To select all layers that use the same color label, click the color label in the Timeline panel, and choose Select Label
Group, or select a layer with that color label and choose Edit > Label > Select Label Group.
redefinery website
that creates a panel with controls for moving various
After Effects Apprentice: Real-World Skills for the Aspiring
"Show and hide layers in the Timeline
143
USING AFTER EFFECTS CS4
Layers and properties
panel" on page 157.)
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