Importing the footage – Animating Layers

You need to import one source item for this lesson.

  1. Double-click an empty area of the Project panel to open the Import File dialog box.
  2. Navigate to the Lessons/Lesson06/Assets folder on your hard disk, and select the marquee.psd file.
  3. Choose Composition – Retain Layer Sizes from the Import As menu, so the dimensions of each layer will match the layer’s content. (In macOS, you may need to click Options to see the Import As menu.)
  4. Click Import or Open.
  1. In the marquee.psd dialog box, make sure Editable Layer Styles is selected in the Layer Options area, and click OK.
    Before continuing, take a moment to study the layers of the file you just imported.
  2. In the Project panel, expand the marquee Layers folder to see the Photoshop layers. Resize the Name column to make it wider and easier to read, if necessary.

Each of the elements you’ll animate in After Effects—such as the starburst—is on a separate layer. In addition, there is one layer representing the initial marquee with plain light bulbs (Unlit marquee) and a second layer that represents the final marquee with the bulbs brightly lit (Lit marquee).

After Effects preserves the layer order, transparency data, and layer styles from the source Photoshop document. It also preserves other features, such as adjustment layers and type, which you don’t happen to be using in this project.

Preparing layered Photoshop files

Before you import a layered Photoshop file, name its layers carefully to reduce preview and rendering time, and to avoid problems importing and updating the layers:

  • Organize and name layers. If you change a layer name in a Photoshop file after you have imported the file into After Effects, After Effects retains the link to the original layer. However, if you delete a layer in a Photoshop file after you have imported the file into After Effects, After Effects will be unable to find the original layer and will list it as missing in the Project panel.
  • To avoid confusion, make sure that each layer has a unique name.

Getting started – Animating Layers

Lesson overview
In this lesson, you’ll learn how to do the following:
• Animate a layered Adobe Photoshop file.
• Create an expression using the pick whip.
• Work with imported Photoshop layer styles.
• Apply a track matte to control the visibility of layers.
• Animate a layer using the Corner Pin effect.
• View layer render times using the Composition Profiler.
• Use time remapping and the Layer panel to dynamically retime footage.
• Edit Time Remap keyframes in the Graph Editor.

This lesson will take about an hour to complete. If you haven’t already done so, download the project files for this lesson from peachpit.com/AfterEffectsCIB2024, following the instructions in the Getting Started section under “Accessing the lesson files and Web Edition.”

PROJECT: THEATER MARQUEE IN A FILM SHORT
Animation is all about making changes over time—changes to an object or image’s position, opacity, scale, and other properties. This lesson provides more practice animating the layers of a Photoshop file, including dynamically remapping time.

Getting started
Adobe After Effects provides several tools and effects that let you simulate motion video using a layered Photoshop file. In this lesson, you will import a layered Photoshop file of a theater marquee, and then animate it to simulate the marquee lighting up and text scrolling across its screen. This is a stylized animation in which the motion is first accelerated, and then reverses and moves forward again.
First, you’ll preview the final movie and set up the project.

  1. Make sure the following files are in the Lessons/Lesson06 folder on your hard disk, or download them from peachpit.com now:
    • In the Assets folder: marquee.psd
    • In the Sample_Movie folder: Lesson06.mp4
  2. Open and play the Lesson06.mp4 in Windows Movies & TV or QuickTime Player to see the final animation you will create in this lesson.
  3. When you’re done, quit Windows Movies & TV or QuickTime Player. You may delete the sample movie from your hard disk if you have limited storage space.
    When you begin the lesson, restore the default application settings for After Effects. See “Restoring default preferences” on page 3.
  4. Start After Effects, and then immediately hold down Ctrl+Alt+Shift (Windows) or Command+Option+Shift (macOS) to restore default preferences settings. In the Startup Repair Options dialog box, click Reset Preferences.
  5. Click New Project in the Home window.
    After Effects opens to display an empty, untitled project.
  6. Choose File > Save As > Save As.
  7. In the Save As dialog box, navigate to the Lessons/Lesson06/Finished_Project folder.
  8. Name the project Lesson06_Finished.aep, and then click Save.

Adding an audio track – Animating a Multimedia Presentation

Give yourself a hand—you’ve done a lot of animating in this project. But you’re not quite done. You’ll add a soundtrack that matches the lighthearted mood of the video, and fade it out. You’ll also shorten the composition, since the last few seconds are static.

  1. Click the Project tab to bring the Project panel forward. Then, double-click an empty area of the Project panel to open the Import File dialog box.
  2. Navigate to the Lessons/Lesson05/Assets folder, and double-click the Soundtrack.wav file.
  3. Drag the Soundtrack.wav item from the Project panel into the Balloon Scene Timeline panel, placing it at the bottom of the layer stack.
  4. Preview the movie. The music changes just as the canvas flies off the balloon.
  5. Go to 18:00, and press N to move the work area end point to the current time.
  6. Choose Composition > Trim Comp to Work Area.
  7. Go to 16:00. Expand the Soundtrack.wav layer and the Audio properties.
  8. Click the stopwatch icon to create an initial keyframe for the Audio Levels value.
  9. Go to 18:00, and change the Audio Levels value to –40 dB.
  10. Preview the animation, and then save it.

Congratulations. You’ve just created a complex animation, practicing all kinds of After Effects techniques and capabilities along the way.

Editing audio files in Adobe Audition

You can make some very simple changes to audio in After Effects. For more substantial edits, use Adobe Audition. Audition is available with a full Adobe Creative Cloud membership.

You can use Audition to change the length of an audio file, alter its pitch, or change its tempo. You can apply effects, record new audio, mix multitrack sessions, and more.

To edit an audio clip you’ve used in After Effects, select the file in the Project panel, and choose Edit > Edit In Adobe Audition. Then, make your changes in Audition, and save the file. The changes you made are automatically reflected in your After Effects project.

Review questions

1 How does After Effects display an animation of the Position property?

2 What is a solid-color layer, and what can you do with it?

3 What types of audio can you import into an After Effects project?

Review answers

1 When you animate the Position property, After Effects displays the movement as a motion path. You can create a motion path for the position of the layer or for the anchor point of a layer. A position motion path appears in the Composition panel; an anchor-point motion path appears in the Layer panel. The motion path appears as a sequence of dots, where each dot marks the position of the layer at each frame. A box in the path marks the position of a keyframe.

2 You can create solid images of any color or size (up to 30,000 x 30,000 pixels) in After Effects. After Effects treats solids as it does any other footage item: You can modify the mask, transform properties, and apply effects to the solid layer. If you change settings for a solid that is used by more than one layer, you can apply the changes to all layers that use the solid or to only the single occurrence of the solid. Use solid layers to color a background or create simple graphic images.

3 You can import any of the following types of audio files into After Effects: Advanced Audio Coding (AAC, M4A), Audio Interchange File Format (AIF, AIFF), MP3 (MP3, MPEG, MPG, MPA, MPE), and Waveform (WAV).

Trimming a layer – Animating a Multimedia Presentation

You don’t need the Wave Warp effect until the canvas flies off the balloon, but even if the values are 0, After Effects will have to calculate the effect for the entire layer. So you’ll trim the layer to speed up the time it takes to render the file.

  1. Go to 9:12.
  2. Press Alt+[ (Windows) or Option+[ (macOS) to set the In point to 9:12.
    Note
    Press [ to move the In point of a clip without changing its duration. Press Alt+[ or Option+[ to trim a clip to a new In point, shortening its duration.
  3. Return to the Balloon Scene Timeline panel.
  4. Press the spacebar to preview the movie. Press the spacebar again to stop the preview.

  1. Save your work so far.

Animating the background
The movie should end with the revelation that the canvas from the balloon has been draped on the clouds. But right now, the canvas flies off and the balloon floats away. You need to animate the sky so that the canvas-covered clouds are centered at the end of the scene.

  1. In the Balloon Scene Timeline panel, go to the beginning of the time ruler (0:00).
  2. Select the Sky layer. In the Properties panel, click the stopwatch icon for the Position property to create an initial keyframe.
  3. Go to 16:00, and drag the Sky layer down and to the left until the wrapped clouds are in the center of the frame. (Our values are –236.4, 566.7.)
  4. Go to 8:00, and move the wrapped clouds completely off the screen, far off to the right.
  5. Right-click or Control-click the first keyframe, and choose Keyframe Assistant > Easy Ease Out.
  6. Right-click the middle keyframe, and choose Keyframe Assistant > Easy Ease, and then right-click the last keyframe, and choose Keyframe Assistant > Easy Ease In.
  7. Move the current-time indicator through the time ruler to see how the departure of the canvas matches up with the appearance of the canvas-covered clouds. The canvas should be completely offscreen before the canvas-covered clouds appear.
  8. Move the middle keyframe forward and backward in the time ruler to adjust the sky animation so that it matches the progress of the canvas and the balloon. The bare balloon should float in front of at least a few of the canvas-covered clouds before it disappears.
  9. Press the spacebar to preview the entire video. Press the spacebar again to stop the preview.
  1. Adjust the motion paths and rotations for the balloon, canvas pieces, or the sky as necessary.
  2. Hide the properties for all layers, and save the project.

Supported audio file formats
You can import any of the following types of audio files into After Effects:
• Advanced Audio Coding (AAC, M4A)
• Audio Interchange File Format (AIF, AIFF)
• MP3 (MP3, MPEG, MPG, MPA, MPE)
• Waveform (WAV)

Animating precomposed layers – Animating a Multimedia Presentation

Earlier, you precomposed the four canvas layers, creating a composition called Canvas. You then positioned the Canvas composition layer to match the balloon, and parented the two. Now, you’ll animate the canvas layers so that they blow off the balloon when the gust of wind occurs.

  1. Double-click the Canvas layer to open the Canvas composition in the Composition panel and the Timeline panel.
  2. Go to 9:10, which is about a second after the wind effect begins.
  3. Shift-select all four layers, and then, in the Properties panel, click the stopwatch icons for the Position and Rotation properties to create initial keyframes for all of the layers.
  1. Go to 9:24.
  2. With all layers still selected, drag a Rotation value until the canvas is nearly horizontal (about 81 degrees). All four canvas layers rotate.
  1. Press F2 or click an empty area in the Timeline panel to deselect all layers so you can adjust their Rotation values separately.
  2. Adjust each Rotation value, using positive and negative numbers so that there is some variation in their appearance. (We used these values: Green +100, Red –74, Blue +113, Yellow –103.)
  3. Go to 10:12.
  4. Move all the canvas layers off the screen to the right. Vary their motion paths to make them more interesting. You can add intermediate rotation and position keyframes (between 10:06 and 10:12), edit Bezier curves, or just drag the canvas layers off the edge. If you edit the Bezier curves, make changes only to the keyframes on the right side of the motion path (at 10:12) so you don’t disturb the original balloon formation.
  1. Move the current-time indicator across the time ruler to preview the animation, and then make any adjustments you want.
  1. Hide the properties for all layers, and save your work.

Adding an adjustment layer
You’ll add a warp effect to the canvas. You can use an adjustment layer to apply an effect to all the layers beneath it at once.

  1. Click an empty area in the Timeline panel to deselect all layers.
  2. Choose Layer > New > Adjustment Layer.
    A new adjustment layer is automatically added to the top of the layer stack.
  3. In the Effects & Presets panel, navigate to the Wave Warp effect in the Distort category, and then double-click the effect.
  4. Go to 9:12.
  1. In the Effect Controls panel, change Wave Height to 0 and Wave Width to 1. Then click the stopwatch icons to create initial keyframes for each of them.
  2. Go to 9:16.
  3. Change the Wave Height value to 90 and the Wave Width value to 478.

Applying the effects – Animating a Multimedia Presentation

You’re ready to apply the effects to the solid layer. The Fractal Noise effect will create the gust of wind. The Directional Blur effect will create a blur in the direction the canvas flies.

  1. In the Effects & Presets panel, search for the Fractal Noise effect; it’s in the Noise & Grain category. Double-click the Fractal Noise effect to apply it.
  2. In the Effect Controls panel, do the following:

• Choose Smeary for the Fractal Type.
• Choose Soft Linear for the Noise Type.
• Set the Contrast to 700.
• Set the Brightness to 59.
• Expand the Transform properties, and set the Scale to 800.

  1. Click the stopwatch icon next to Offset Turbulence to create an initial keyframe at the beginning of the time ruler.
  2. Go to 2:00, and change the x value for Offset Turbulence to 20,000.
  3. Hide the Fractal Noise properties in the Effect Controls panel.
  4. In the Effects & Presets panel, search for the Directional Blur effect, and then double-click it to apply it.
  5. In the Effect Controls panel, set the Direction to 90 degrees and the Blur Length to 236.

You’ve created a sense of motion. Now you need to add the Wind composition to the Balloon Scene composition.

  1. Switch to the Balloon Scene Timeline panel.
  2. Click the Project tab, and then drag the Wind composition from the Project window into the Balloon Scene Timeline above all the other layers.
  3. Go to 8:10, and then press the left bracket key ([) so that the Wind layer starts at 8:10.
    Finally, you’ll apply a blending mode and adjust the opacity to make the effect of the wind more subtle.
  4. Click Toggle Switches/Modes at the bottom of the Timeline panel to view the Mode column.
  5. Choose Screen from the Wind layer’s Mode pop-up menu.
  6. With the Wind layer selected, click the stopwatch icon for the Opacity property in the Properties panel to create a keyframe at the beginning of the layer (8:10).
  1. Go to 8:20, and change the opacity to 35%.
  2. Go to 10:20, and change the opacity to 0%.
  3. Hide the Opacity property in the Timeline panel, and then save your work so far.

Positioning and duplicating a video – Animating a Multimedia Presentation

When the character tugs the cord, flame should emerge from the burner. You’ll use the four-second Fire.mov video to represent the flame each time the cord is tugged.

  1. Go to 3:10.
  2. Drag the Fire.mov video in the Timeline panel so that it starts at 3:10.
  3. Select the Fire.mov layer, and choose Edit > Duplicate.
  4. Go to 7:10.
  5. Press the left bracket key ([) on your keyboard to move the In point of the duplicate Fire.mov layer to 7:10.

Applying an effect

Now that the balloon and character are taken care of, you’ll create the gust of wind that blows the canvas off the balloon. The Fractal Noise and Directional Blur effects will work well.

Adding a solid-color layer

You need to apply the effects on their own layer, which will be a solid-color layer. You’ll create a new composition for the layer.

  1. Press Ctrl+N (Windows) or Command+N (macOS) to create a new composition.
  2. In the Composition Settings dialog box, do the following:
    • Name the composition Wind.
    • Change the width to 1920 px.
    • Change the height to 1080 px.
    • Change the duration to 20 seconds.
    • Change the Frame Rate to 25 fps to match the Balloon Scene composition.
    • Click OK.

    3.Right-click or Control-click in the Timeline panel, and choose New > Solid.

    About solid-color layers

    Use solid layers to color a background or to create simple graphic images. You can create solid layers of any color or size (up to 30,000 x 30,000 pixels) in After Effects. After Effects treats solids as it does any other footage item: You can modify the mask, transform properties, and apply effects to a solid layer. If you change settings for a solid that is used by more than one layer, you can apply the changes to all layers that use the solid or to only the single occurrence of the solid.

    4.In the Solid Settings dialog box, do the following:

    • Name the layer Wind.
    • Select black for the color.
    • Click the Make Comp Size button.
    • Click OK.

    Duplicating keyframes to repeat an animation – Animating a Multimedia Presentation

    Now that you’ve labeled the initial keyframes, you can easily repeat them at different times in the timeline. You’ll duplicate the tugging arm, and then create corresponding head and eye movements.

    1. Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (macOS) one of the keyframes in the Forearm layer, and choose Select Keyframe Label Group > On Selected Layers to select all its keyframes.
    2. Press Ctrl+C (Windows) or Command+C (macOS) to copy the keyframes.
    3. Go to 7:10, the point at which the character tugs the cord again.
    4. Press Ctrl+V (Windows) or Command+V (macOS) to paste the keyframes.
    5. Repeat steps 1–4 to copy the Upper arm Rotation property keyframes.
    1. Hide the properties for all layers.
    2. Go to 3:08. Select the Head layer, and click the stopwatch icon for the Rotation property in the Properties panel to create an initial keyframe.
    3. Go to 3:17, and change the Rotation property to –10.3.
    4. Go to 4:23, and click the Add Or Remove Keyframe At Current Time icon to add a keyframe at the current value.
    5. Go to 5:06, and change the Rotation property to 0.
    6. In the Timeline panel, select the Rotation property to select all of its keyframes. Right-click or Control-click a selected keyframe, and choose Label > Blue.
      Now the character tilts his head up when he tugs the cord. You’ll also animate the position of his eyes to create a subtle change when he tilts his head.
    7. Select the Eyes layer.
    8. Go to 3:08, and click the stopwatch icon for the Position property in the Properties panel to create an initial keyframe at the current value (62, 55).

    14.Go to 3:17, and change the Position value to 62.4, 53.

    1. Go to 4:23, and create a keyframe at the current value.
    2. Go to 5:06, and change the Position value to 62, 55.
    3. In the Timeline panel, select the Position property to select all its keyframes, and then right-click or Control-click one, and choose Label > Blue.
    4. Right-click or Control-click a Rotation keyframe in the Head layer, choose Select Keyframe Label Group > On Selected Layers, and then press Ctrl+C (Windows) or Command+C (macOS) to copy the keyframes.
    5. Go to 7:10, and paste the keyframes.
    6. Repeat steps 18-19 for the Position property in the Eyes layer.
    7. Hide all layer properties, and then deselect all layers.
    8. Choose Fit from the Magnification Ratio pop-up menu in the Composition window so that you can see the entire scene. Then preview the animation.

    23.Save your work.

    Animating additional elements – Animating a Multimedia Presentation

    The balloon swoops and swirls through the sky, and its child layers go with it. But the character is currently static in his balloon. You’ll animate his arm tugging on the cord to ignite the burner.

    1. Go to 3:08.
    2. Choose 100% from the Magnification Ratio pop-up menu in the Composition window so that you can see the character clearly. Use the Hand tool to adjust the image in the Composition window if you need to.
    3. Shift-select the Forearm/Balloon.ai layer and the Upper arm/Balloon.ai layer.
    4. In the Properties panel, click the stopwatch icon next to the Rotation property to create an initial keyframe for each layer.

    After Effects displays the Rotation property and initial keyframe for each layer in the Timeline panel.

    1. Go to 3:17, the point at which the character will tug the cord to ignite the burner.
    2. Deselect the layers.
    3. In the Timeline panel, change the Rotation property for the Forearm layer to –35 and the Rotation property for the Upper arm layer to 46.
      The character tugs the cord down. You may need to deselect the layers so you can see the action clearly in the Composition window.
    4. Go to 4:23, and change the Rotation property for the Forearm layer to –32.8.

    9.Click the Add Or Remove Keyframe At Current Time button (Add or remove Keyframe at current time button icon) to the left of the Rotation property for the Upper arm layer.

    10.Go to 5:06, and change the Rotation value for both layers to 0.

    1. Deselect both layers, and then manually preview from 3:00 to 5:07 to see the character tug the cord. You may need to zoom out to see the animation.

    Adding color labels to keyframes
    In a complex composition, you may have to create hundreds of keyframes. Assigning color labels to keyframes lets you organize, identify, and quickly select components of your work. You’ll assign colors to the keyframes you just created to make it easier to identify and duplicate them.

    1. Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (macOS) one of the keyframes you just created.
    2. Choose Label > Red.
      The keyframe is now red. You can add labels individually, but since you want to label all the keyframes currently in the layer, it will be faster to assign the label to them all at once.
    3. Select the Rotation property for the Forearm/Balloon layer to select all four of its keyframes.
    4. Shift-select the Rotation property for the Upper arm/Balloon layer to also select its keyframes.
    5. Right-click or Control-click a selected keyframe, and choose Label > Red.
    6. Press F2 or click an empty area in the Timeline panel to deselect all layers.