- Getting started
- Importing footage using Adobe Bridge
- Creating a new composition
- Working with imported Illustrator layers
- Applying effects to a layer
- Applying an animation preset
- Precomposing layers for a new animation
- Previewing the effects
- Adding transparency
- Rendering the composition
- Review questions
- Review answers
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Creating a new composition
Following the workflow you learned in Lesson 1, the next step is to create a new composition. You’ll create one, and then add your footage items to it.
Creating an empty composition
First, you’ll create the composition itself, without any layers.
Create a new composition by doing one of the following:
Click the Create A New Composition button (
) at the bottom of the Project panel.Click the New Composition button in the Composition panel.
Choose Composition > New Composition.
Press Ctrl+N (Windows) or Command+N (macOS).
In the Composition Settings dialog box, do the following:
Name the composition Explore Hawaii.
Choose NTSC DV Widescreen from the Preset pop-up menu. NTSC DV Widescreen uses the customary settings for television in the United States and some other countries. This preset automatically sets the width, height, pixel aspect ratio, and frame rate for the composition to NTSC standards.
In the Duration field, type 300 to specify 3 seconds.
Click OK.
After Effects displays an empty composition named Explore Hawaii in the Composition panel and in the Timeline panel. Now, you’ll add the background.
Drag the MauiCoast.jpg footage item from the Project panel to the Timeline panel to add it to the Explore Hawaii composition.
With the MauiCoast layer selected in the Timeline panel, choose Layer > Transform > Fit To Comp to scale the background image to the dimensions of the composition.
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Importing the foreground element
Your background is now in place. The foreground object you’ll use is a layered vector graphic that was created in Illustrator.
Choose File > Import > File.
In the Import File dialog box, select the BlueCrabLogo.ai file in the Lessons/Lesson02/Assets folder. (The file appears as BlueCrabLogo if file extensions are hidden.)
Choose Composition from the Import As menu. (In macOS, you may need to click Options to display the Import As menu.) Then click Import or Open.
The Illustrator file is added to the Project panel as a composition named BlueCrabLogo. A folder named BlueCrabLogo Layers also appears. This folder contains the three individual layers of the Illustrator file. Click the arrow to open the folder and see its contents if you like.
Drag the BlueCrabLogo composition file from the Project panel into the Timeline panel above the MauiCoast layer.
You should now see both the background image and the logo in the Composition panel and in the Timeline panel.
Choose File > Save to save your work so far.
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