Hello there, welcome to this video! I am going to show you the full basics
for
Please, leave any feedback in case you find mistakes in pronunciation to help us.
Check the video description for the index of what is explained here.
Before starting, keep in mind that After Effects, since the CS6 edition,
on 64-bit Operative Systems
After Effects
private and in business too. What differs between this and
approach:
Its workspace is composed by three main parts: the
you see how the project in progress is; the
and collect pieces of media used in your project; and the
operate and edit your project. While working, you will open and close other windows.
You can always find all the windows, and open the closed ones by going on the
bar above, to
Let's start with a new project. Go to
have a new project opened by default. First thing to do, is
are going to use here
all called
computer and drag them in the
selecting more than one file at once. You can select more files by
Just some notices. The
quick link to them
After Effects
italic
to
file in its new location and then go to
Then save the project. Go to
for your project.
Remember to save often in the future
crashes.
To work on, we need to understand the structure of the files. A project in After
Effects is a collection of
a frame icon. A project is composed by one composition at least, and this is created
in the moment you drag the first file inside the
the name of the file put. Then each composition collects other files inside,
which can be any piece of media
like a simple file, with the difference that it
Remember that the order or suborders you can have in the
nothing on what you actually have in the project itself.
What counts for the project and the aspect of the final video
the timeline
whose preview is shown through the
Very important is to
you need to work with many comps, and if you give a proper name to them, you
can manage them much better. Just select the comp in the
and go to R
The
on it. This will be shown in a new opened window, with the title containing the name
of the file. There are three files you can see here. The C
the overall files put together inside such comp. Then the
single files opened from the
files opened from your
the one shown in your timeline. In fact, the
full structure of the composition with the name shown in the top left corner.
To open a comp, just double-click on it, and this will be shown in the
and its structure in the
and files or comps inside such can be used in other comps independently.
Let's come back to the
mouse wheel. The current time location is indicated by the second grey slot at the
bottom.
Very important are the
processor,
quality
just 1 out of 4 pixels rendered per time. When projects are complex, and the
preview is being rendered, an orange bar will tell you how much time it takes to render.
To play your comp opened, just
to stop. It will be played the file that has been selected. If it's selected the preview
window, that will be played, otherwise the timeline, if the timeline is selected. A
selected window is recognized through a thin orange stroke on them.
Let's focus on the
that the opened comp has. Click on the
Click on the
or video layers. Click on the
muted. Enable the
edit it in any way. Each layer then has its own color and name. Click on the coloured
icon to change its color. Right-click on the name of the layer and go to
change it. By default, the name of the layer is the name of the file imported in brackets.
Each layer has its
of visibility
higher number. Click and drag a layer to change the related positions.
During each comp, you will work inside the timeline. Once
layers are set, they are shown through coloured rows, all with the same height.
You can choose to have the timeline in
to
or
Zoom in and out the timeline
You can move a layer in time by clicking and dragging it on the left or right. Pay
attention to the length.
Just approach its edges and drag them left or right. Songs and videos have a
beginning and an end, and so you can just shorten their length dragging the edges.
If you want to make these loop, just select the related file in the
and right-click on it. Go to
you find a value that tells you how many times it is looped. Just put an integer value
higher than one.
If you use long footages in your comp, its length may be too much short.
This means that you are not able to see where the file does end, and, at a
certain point, you can't go on the right any further. In this case,
enlong the comp
go to
the comp. Change the value in
Below the timeline, you have the
Work Area
such area won't be rendered.
You can cut, copy or paste a layer, by selecting it, and pressing
and
On top, you have the
For example use the
The comp can be modified through the
the right layer to edit, you can choose to select it through the
list on the left of the timeline. Visible layers, when selected, show
edges. Drag them to
Tool
Each layer has its own properties, that can be shown clicking on the
to the layer color. Visible layers have the
position, scaling and rotation angle related to the layer, seen through the
window
numbers. Use
Layers that have sound, such as videos or music, have the
shows you how the sound is in time. Use
If you want to learn how to put effects with
in this show.
Let's now see how to save and render your project. To save it anytime just press
CTRL+S
placement in the timeline and in the Preview window, effects and settings.
These projects can be used as footages in other projects
the
To render the project, so to get the final video, open the
that you can find in
Open the comp interested in the timeline and go to
Render Queue
all the footages.
Each comp in the queue is described with name, status and time remaining. When
status says
missing, so you must add them through the options at the bottom. To set the
just click on the arrow next to
Watch the video in this show, to know how to
Go to
will need to choose .mp3 if you want to render just audio parts.
Always check if audio render is enabled, below Crop section.
Then go to
rendered. Then just click on
Mind that
You won't obtain an unique overall video.
inside the Work Area set.
Very well, these are the very basics for
in this show to know how to
Thanks for watching!