Basic Editing

General Concepts

Adobe After Effects is an advanced compositing application.

• Understanding the interface
• Use basic editing tools to modify media
• Move media to the Timeline
• Understand the basics of 3-point editing

The Interface

In order to work with After Effect efficiently, you must first become familiar with the layout of the basic working windows. These windows can be moved about, but most of the time they will be in this general layout.

1. Project: This is where your media is stored.
2. Composition: This is where you can view your composition and make some changes.
3. Tools & Palettes: This is where your media is stored.
4. Timeline: This is where your edited work lives, and where most of the editing takes place.

The Tools

Once you have material in the Timeline, there is still a great deal you can do with it. This section is going to briefly go over each of the tools in the tool palette. These basic tools are:

Selection (V) - Selects, moves, and resizes layers, masks, and controls. Rotation (W) - Allows rotaion of layers in the Composition window. Pen (G) - Edits Bezier masks, motion paths, and Value graphs. Rectangle Mask (Q) - Draws a rectangular or elliptical mask in the Layer window; double-click to reset the mask. Orbit Camera (C) - Orbit, Track XY, and Track Z. Pan Behind (Y) - Moves a layer behind a mask, or moves the anchor point without moving the layer. Hand (H) - Let you move around the Timeline. Zoom (Z) - Can be used for zooming in and out. To zoom out hold down the Option key on a Mac or the Control Key in Windows while using this tool. Local, World & View Axis Mode - Advanced Feature.

Most of the tools have sub tools that are available by clicking and holding on the main tool itself. These sub tools provide modifications to the basic tool.