Datasheet

14 chapter 1 ■ Setting Up a Composite

as a single unit. This assumes that the ﬁles follow the following naming convention:

name.#.extension. Extension is the three-letter ﬁle format code, such as tga. The program

also requires a consistent number of numeric placeholders within the sequence. For example,

if a sequence has 200 frames, there must be three placeholders, as with

name.###.ext. When

footage is imported, it’s placed in the Project panel.

By default, an imported image sequence or movie is assumed to be a particular frame

rate, such as 30 fps. To change the frame rate interpretation, select the footage name in the

Project panel, RMB+click, and choose Interpret

→ Main from the menu. In the Interpret

Footage dialog box, change the Assume This Frame Rate value to a number of your choice

and click OK.

Tips & Tricks: Missing Files and Assumed Frames Rates

If you open a project ﬁle and ﬁnd that the footage is missing due to an incorrect ﬁle path, you

can retrieve it by selecting the footage name in the Project panel, RMB+clicking, and choosing

Replace Footage

→ File.

You can change the default frame rate interpretation for all imported footage by choosing

Edit

→ Preferences → Import and changing the Frames Per Second cell.

Using the Layer Outline

To add imported footage to a composition as a layer, LMB+drag the footage name from the

Project panel and drop it on top of the layer outline of a composition tab in the Timeline

panel. (For a review of the After Effects interface, see the Introduction.)

The layer outline occupies the left side of the Timeline panel. Each composition

receives its own tab and its own layer outline (see Figure 1.11). Once a layer exists in a layer

outline, it can be selected with the Selection tool. If multiple layers exist in a composition,

you can change their order by selecting a layer and LMB+dragging it up or down the layer

stack.

Figure 1.11 (Left) Three compositions, and the Render Queue, receive tabs in the

Timeline panel. (Right) The Selection tool

The layer outline functions in a similar fashion to the Layers panel within Photoshop.

By default, higher layers occlude lower layers, except where the upper layers are transpar-

ent due to alpha channels. The way in which a layer is blended with the layer directly below

it is controlled by a blending mode. Blending modes are set by RMB+clicking the upper

layer name and choosing Blending Mode

→ mode. You can also set the blending mode by

clicking the Toggle Switches/Modes button at the bottom left of the Timeline panel, which

reveals Mode menu buttons beside each layer name in the layer outline.

The layer outline carries a number of additional composition switches, layer switches,

and menus (see Figure 1.12).

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