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Introduction to After Effects

 After Effects workspace

main window  application window .default workspace contains groups of panels

 A. Application window B. Tools panel C. Project panel 

D. Composition panel 

E. Timeline panel F. Time graphG. Grouped panels (Info and Audio)H. Preview panel  I. Effects & Presets panel  

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Project panel

The Project panel lists references to audio and visualfiles, or footage, that you plan to use in your animation.

It also lists compositions, which describe how you want

to use the footage, including its arrangement in time,motion, and effects.

A footage item is the basic unit in an After Effectsproject. You can import many types of footage items,including moving-image files, still-image files, still-image

sequences, audio files, layered files from AdobePhotoshop and Adobe Illustrator, other After Effectsprojects, and projects created in Adobe Premiere Pro. You

can import footage items at any time.

Composition panel

The Composition panel represents the layers of acomposition spatially.The visible area of the Composition panel corresponds to

the frame of the output animation and displays the

composition’s current frame. 

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Timeline panel

The Timeline panel represents the composition as a

graph in which time is measured horizontally.

When a footage item is added to the composition, itbecomes a layer.

The horizontal arrangement of layers indicates each

layer’s place in the time of the composition;  the layers’ vertical arrangement indicates their stacking order.

The Footage panel allows you to view the source

footage listed in the Project panel before it becomes alayer in a composition.

The Layer panel lets you view each layer in acomposition individually, outside the context of theComposition or Timeline panel.

The Effect Controls panel provides separate, roomier,and often more convenient effect controls than thoseavailable in the Timeline panel.

The Flowchart panel lets you see your project’selements in the form of a flowchart.

The Render Queue panel lets you control and monitorthe rendering process.

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The Tools panel, as its name implies, contains anassortment of tools that change the function of themouse pointer. Each tool allows you to performspecialized tasks.

The Info panel displays all kinds of information aboutthe current task, from the cursor’s current position in acomposition to the In and Out points of a layer.

The Preview panel contains controls for playing backand previewing the composition.

The Audio panel lets you monitor and control audiolevels.

The Effects & Presets panel provides a convenient wayto view and apply effects. You can reorganize the list,create and view favorites, and find a particular effect in

the list or on your hard drive.

The Character panel provides convenient text controlsto support After Effects’ direct text creation feature.

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