About solid-color layers

Adding a solid-color layer

Applying an effect

You’ve created several keyframed animations in this project. You’ll switch gears now and apply an effect in this next exercise. The effect will animate some radio waves emitting from the Transamerica Pyramid building.

You need to apply the radio wave effect on its own layer, which will be a solidcolor layer.

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 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. Use solid layers to color a background or to create simple graphic images.

1 Make sure the CarRide Timeline panel is open.

2 Choose Layer > New > Solid. In the Solid Settings dialog box, name the layer radio waves, and then click the Make Comp Size button. Then click OK to create the layer.

3 Drag the radio waves layer in the Timeline panel so that it sits directly above the BG layer.

By default, the radio waves layer lasts the duration of the composition. However, it needs to be only a few seconds long, to last the length of the effect. So you’ll change the layer’s duration.

4 Click the Expand Or Collapse The In/Out/Duration/Stretch Panes button () in the lower-left corner of the Timeline panel to view those four columns.

5 Click the orange Duration value for the radio waves layer.

6 In the Time Stretch dialog box, set the New Duration to 8:00. Then click OK.

7 In the time ruler, drag the radio waves layer duration bar (from the center) so that it starts at 6:00. Watch the In value for the layer to see when it’s at 6:00, or you can enter the In value manually.

8 Go to 6:00—the first frame of the radio waves effect.

Дата добавления: 2014-11-20