- Displaying Information in the Project Window
- Finding Items in a Project
- Sorting Footage in the Project Window
- Using Labels
- Organizing Footage in Folders
- Renaming and Removing Items
- Proxies and Placeholders
- Proxies in the Project Window
- Viewing Footage
- Opening Footage in the Original Application
- The Footage Window
- Cueing Motion Footage
- Magnification and Safe Zones
- Video-Safe Zones and Grids
- Rulers and Guides
- Snapshots
- Channels
- Viewing Transparency
- Correcting for Pixel Aspect Ratios
Viewing Footage
As you might expect, items in the Project window can be opened for viewing in a Footage window.
Still images always open in an After Effects Footage window ( Figure 3.53 ). Audio files, on the other hand, always play in a Footage window appropriate to the source, such as a QuickTime Footage window ( Figure 3.54 ). Motion footage can be opened in either a source-type Footage window or an After Effects Footage window ( Figures 3.55 and 3.56 ).
Figure 3.53 Still images always open in an After Effects Footage window.
Figure 3.54 Audio files always open in their own Footage window.
Figure 3.55 You can open motion footage either in its own Footage window…
Figure 3.56 …or in an After Effects Footage window.
The Footage window is primarily for viewing purposes; it offers a variety of controls for viewing footage but no way to edit it. If you decide that you need to make changes to the source files, After Effects provides an easy way to open the footage in the application that created it.
To view a footage item
- In the Project window, double-click a footage item.
Movie footage
By default, movie files open in their own type of Footage window. QuickTime files (.mov) open in a QuickTime Footage window; Video for Windows files (.avi) open in a Video for Windows Footage window. However, you can also open movie files in an After Effects Footage window.
To open a movie file in an After Effects Footage window
- In the Project window, Option-double-click (Mac) or Alt-double-click (Windows) a movie footage item.
The movie file opens in an After Effects Footage window.