When you use After Effects, the program involves an overall project, an [aep] file. You establish the project, give it a name, and save in a folder with connections to source media. As part of that AE project, you will then create what is called a Composition or “Comp.” It’s similar to a Sequence in Premiere, or a Symbol in Animate. This is where you will add layers (images, sequences, movie files), composite the layers and arrange imagery, make modifications like scale, position, rotation, and opacity changes, add effects, and so on.
Depending on the complexity of a project, you can get by with one comp, or numerous ones — comps within comps.
It’s important to note, you should organize one composition to be a “home, “ which has the same dimensions of a final export. For example:
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- HD TV 1080p (high definition standard)
- 1920×1080 pixels
- 24 frames per second
However, AE compositions can be any size or dimensions and duration.
In a typical project, it’s likely to have more than one composition, for various production purposes. And, you will be able to revise dimensions and duration as you proceed; comps are editable.
To adapt a composition, like to change its duration
Referring to the Main Menu, go to Composition > Composition Settings.
To establish Project Settings
Go to File > Project Settings. From there, you should select the following options in the “Time Display Style” section:
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- Choose “Frames”
- Press OK
To set up a Composition
First, go to the Main Menu and choose Composition > New Composition. From there, give it a “Composition Name.” Then, referring to the “Basic” settings, select the following:
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- Composition Name: Give the composition an appropriate name
Under Preset, choose:
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- HDTV 1080 24 (1920 x 1080
- Alternatively, you could choose HDV/HDTV 720 (1280 x 720) but it would be better to work with the 1080p setting.
For Width & Height, Frame Rate, and the like, choose the appropriate dimensions, but they will also come with the presets:
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- 1920 (w) x 1080 (h)
- Pixel Aspect Ratio: Square Pixels
- Frame Rate: 24
- Resolution: Full
- Start Frame: 0000
- Duration: Enter a value of “x” frames @ 24 fps
- Background Colour: Select a colour that you would like to use
Once you have selected all of the necessary options, click OK.
To nest Compositions
This is a way to gather layers and make them in to a new Comp.
In the Timeline, click and the select the various layers you intend to nest. Then go to the Main Menu > Layer > Pre-compose. From the Pre-compose Window, give the New Composition a name and click on “Move all attributes into the new composition.”