How To Set Thumbnail In After Effects

1. Later Effects User Guide
   
2. Beta releases
   1. Beta Program Overview
   2. After Furnishings Beta Home
   3. Features in Beta
      1. Properties panel (Beta)
3. Getting started
   1. Become started with After Effects
   2. What's new in After Furnishings
   3. Release Notes | Afterwards Effects
   4. Later on Effects system requirements
   5. Keyboard shortcuts in After Furnishings
   6. Supported File formats | After Effects
   7. Hardware recommendations
   8. Subsequently Effects for Apple silicon
   9. Planning and setup
   10. Setup and installation
4. Workspaces
   1. General user interface items
   2. Get to know After Furnishings interface
   3. Workflows
   4. Workspaces, panels, and viewers
5. Projects and compositions
   1. Projects
   2. Composition nuts
   3. Precomposing, nesting, and pre-rendering
   4. View detailed performance information with the Composition Profiler
   5. Movie house 4D Composition Renderer
6. Importing footage
   1. Preparing and importing still images
   2. Importing from Later Effects and Adobe Premiere Pro
   3. Importing and interpreting video and audio
   4. Preparing and importing 3D image files
   5. Importing and interpreting footage items
   6. Working with footage items
   7. Discover edit points using Scene Edit Detection
   8. XMP metadata
7. Text and Graphics
   1. Text
      1. Formatting characters and the Character panel
      2. Text effects
      3. Creating and editing text layers
      4. Formatting paragraphs and the Paragraph panel
      5. Extruding text and shape layers
      6. Animating text
      7. Examples and resource for text animation
      8. Live Text Templates
   2. Motion Graphics
      1. Work with Motion Graphics templates in After Furnishings
      2. Use expressions to create drop-down lists in Motion Graphics templates
      3. Work with Essential Properties to create Motion Graphics templates
      4. Replace images and videos in Motion Graphics templates and Essential Properties
8. Drawing, Painting, and Paths
   1. Overview of shape layers, paths, and vector graphics
   2. Paint tools: Castor, Clone Postage stamp, and Eraser
   3. How to taper shape strokes
   4. Shape attributes, pigment operations, and path operations for shape layers
   5. Utilise Starting time Paths shape consequence to alter shapes
   6. Creating shapes
   7. Create masks
   8. Remove objects from your videos with the Content-Aware Fill panel
   9. Roto Brush and Refine Matte
9. Layers, Markers, and Camera
   1. Selecting and arranging layers
   2. Blending modes and layer styles
   3. 3D layers
   4. Layer properties
   5. Creating layers
   6. Managing layers
   7. Layer markers and composition markers
   8. Cameras, lights, and points of interest
10. Animation, Keyframes, Motility Tracking, and Keying
    1. Animation
       1. Animation basics
       2. Animating with Puppet tools
       3. Managing and animating shape paths and masks
       4. Animative Sketch and Capture shapes using Later Effects
       5. Contrasted blitheness tools
       6. Work with Data-driven blitheness
    2. Keyframe
       1. Keyframe interpolation
       2. Setting, selecting, and deleting keyframes
       3. Editing, moving, and copying keyframes
    3. Motion tracking
       1. Tracking and stabilizing motion
       2. Face Tracking
       3. Mask Tracking
       4. Mask Reference
       5. Speed
       6. Time-stretching and time-remapping
       7. Timecode and fourth dimension display units
    4. Keying
       1. Keying
       2. Keying effects
11. Transparency and Compositing
    1. Compositing and transparency overview and resources
    2. Alpha channels, masks, and mattes
12. Adjusting color
    1. Color basics
    2. Use the Adobe Colour Themes extension
    3. Color management
    4. Color Correction furnishings
13. Effects and Animation Presets
    1. Furnishings and blitheness presets overview
    2. Effect list
    3. Simulation effects
    4. Stylize effects
    5. Audio effects
    6. Distort furnishings
    7. Perspective effects
    8. Aqueduct furnishings
    9. Generate effects
    10. Transition effects
    11. The Rolling Shutter Repair upshot
    12. Blur and Sharpen effects
    13. 3D Channel effects
    14. Utility effects
    15. Matte effects
    16. Racket and Grain effects
        
    17. Detail-preserving Upscale effect
    18. Obsolete effects
14. Expressions and Automation
    1. Expression
       1. Expression basics
       2. Understanding the expression linguistic communication
       3. Using expression controls
       4. Syntax differences betwixt the JavaScript and Legacy ExtendScript expression engines
       5. Editing expressions
       6. Expression errors
       7. Using the Expressions editor
       8. Use expressions to edit and admission text properties
       9. Expression language reference
       10. Expression examples
    2. Automation
       1. Automation
       2. Scripts
15. Immersive video, VR, and 3D
    1. Construct VR environments in Later on Effects
    2. Employ immersive video effects
    3. Compositing tools for VR/360 videos
    4. Tracking 3D camera move
    5. Work in 3D Pattern Space
    6. 3D Transform Gizmos
    7. Do more with 3D animation
    8. Preview changes to 3D designs real time with the Real-Time Engine
    9. Add together responsive pattern to your graphics
16. Views and Previews
    1. Previewing
    2. Video preview with Mercury Transmit
    3. Modifying and using views
17. Rendering and Exporting
    1. Basics of rendering and exporting
    2. Consign an Later on Furnishings projection equally an Adobe Premiere Pro project
    3. Converting movies
    4. Multi-frame rendering
    5. Automated rendering and network rendering
    6. Rendering and exporting still images and nevertheless-prototype sequences
    7. Using the GoPro CineForm codec in After Effects
18. Working with other applications
    1. Dynamic Link and After Effects
    2. Working with After Effects and other applications
    3. Sync Settings in After Effects
    4. Artistic Deject Libraries in Afterwards Effects
    5. Plug-ins
    6. Cinema 4D and Cineware
19. Collaboration: Frame.io, and Squad Projects
    1. Collaboration in Premiere Pro and After Effects
    2. Frame.io
       1. Install and activate Frame.io
       2. Use Frame.io with Premiere Pro and After Effects
       3. Frequently asked questions
    3. Squad Projects
       1. Get Started with Team Projects
       2. Create a Team Project
       3. Collaborate with Team Projects
20. Memory, storage, functioning
    1. Retentiveness and storage
    2. Improve performance
    3. Preferences
    4. GPU and GPU driver requirements for After Effects

Use this document to larn the Composition nuts in After Effects. Create one or multiple compositions, acquire more than near time panel.

Composition basics

A composition is the framework for a motion-picture show. Each composition has its own timeline. A typical composition includes multiple layers that stand for components such as video and audio footage items, animated text and vector graphics, even so images, and lights. You add together a footage particular to a limerick by creating a layer for which the footage item is the source. You lot and then arrange layers inside a limerick in space and time, and composite using transparency features to decide which parts of underlying layers show through the layers stacked on top of them. (Meet Layers and backdrop and Transparency and compositing.)

A limerick in After Effects is similar to a movie clip in Flash Professional or a sequence in Premiere Pro.

Y'all render a composition to create the frames of a final output movie, which is encoded and exported to whatever number of formats. (See Basics of rendering and exporting.)

Elementary projects may include only one composition; complex projects may include hundreds of compositions to organize big amounts of footage or many effects.

In some places in the After Effects user interface, composition is abbreviated as comp.

Each composition has an entry in the Project panel. Double-click a composition entry in the Project console to open the limerick in its own Timeline panel. To select a composition in the Projection panel, correct-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac Os) in the Composition panel or Timeline panel for the composition and cull Reveal Composition In Project from the context card.

Use the Composition panel to preview a composition and change its contents manually. The Composition panel contains the composition frame and a pasteboard expanse outside the frame that you can use to move layers into and out of the composition frame. The offstage extents of layers—the portions non in the composition frame—are shown as rectangular outlines. Simply the area within the composition frame is rendered for previews and terminal output.

The limerick frame in the Composition panel in Later on Effects is similar to the Stage in Flash Professional.

When working with a complex project, you may find information technology easiest to organize the project past nesting compositions—putting 1 or more compositions into another composition. You tin can create a composition from whatsoever number of layers by precomposing them. After modifying some layers of your limerick, you can precompose those layers and then pre-render the precomposition, replacing it with a rendered film. (Come across Precomposing, nesting, and pre-rendering.)

You can navigate within a hierarchy of nested compositions using the Composition Navigator and Composition Mini-Flowchart. (See Opening and navigating nested compositions.)

Use the Flowchart panel to run into the structure of a complex composition or network of compositions.

Timeline push

 Click this button at the bottom of the Limerick panel to activate the Timeline panel for the current composition.

Press the backslash (\) key to switch activation betwixt the Limerick console and Timeline panel for the current composition.

Comp button

 Click this button in the upper-right corner of the Timeline panel to activate the Composition panel for the current composition.

Flowchart button

 Click this button at the bottom of the Composition panel to activate the Flowchart panel for the electric current limerick.

Create a composition

Yous can modify composition settings at whatever time. Nonetheless, it's best to specify settings such as frame aspect ratio and frame size when y'all create the composition, with your final output in listen. Considering After Furnishings bases sure calculations on these composition settings, irresolute them late in your workflow can affect your concluding output.

When you create a composition without changing settings in the Composition Settings dialog box, the new composition uses the settings from the previous fourth dimension that limerick settings were set.

New compositions do not inherit the previous Preserve Frame Charge per unit When Nested Or In Return Queue and Preserve Resolution When Nested settings.

Jeff Almasol provides a script on his redefinery website that creates and saves a new project for each selected composition in the current projection. If a folder is selected in the Project panel when you create a new limerick, the new composition is placed in the selected binder.

Create a composition and manually set composition settings

Choose Composition > New Composition, or press Ctrl+North (Windows) or Command+N (Mac Bone).

Drag the footage item to the Create A New Composition button at the lesser of the Projection panel or choose File > New Comp From Choice.

Composition settings, including frame size (width and height) and pixel attribute ratio, are automatically set to match the characteristics of the footage item.

Select footage items in the Projection panel.

Drag the selected footage items to the Create A New Limerick button at the bottom of the Project panel, or choose File > New Comp From Selection.

Select Single Composition and other settings in the New Composition From Selection dialog box:

Utilize Dimensions From

Choose the footage item from which the new composition gets composition settings, including frame size (width and acme) and pixel aspect ratio.

Still Duration

The duration for the still images being added.

Add together To Render Queue

Add the new composition to the return queue.

Sequence Layers, Overlap, Duration, and Transition

Adapt the layers in a sequence, optionally overlap them in time, set the elapsing of the transitions, and choose a transition type.

Select footage items in the Projection panel.

Drag the selected footage items to the Create A New Composition push at the bottom of the Project panel, or cull File > New Comp From Choice.

Select Multiple Compositions and other settings in the New Limerick From Selection dialog box:

Even so Elapsing

The duration of the compositions created from notwithstanding images.

Add To Render Queue

Add together the new compositions to the render queue.

If you lot select multiple footage items, the New Composition From Selection dialog is displayed. You can choose whether to create a single composition with all footage items or multiple compositions for each individual footage item.

Duplicate a limerick

Select the composition in the Project panel.

Choose Edit > Indistinguishable or press Ctrl+D (Windows) or Command+D (Mac OS).

Timeline console

Each composition has its own Timeline panel. Y'all utilise the Timeline panel to perform many tasks, such as animating layer properties, arranging layers in time, and setting blending modes. The layers at the lesser of the layer stacking order in the Timeline console are rendered get-go and—in the case of 2nd prototype layers— announced farthest back in the Composition panel and in the terminal composite.

To cycle forward through Timeline panels, press Alt+Shift+period (.) (Windows) or Pick+Shift+menses (.) (Mac OS). To cycle backward through Timeline panels, press Alt+Shift+comma (,) (Windows) or Option+Shift+comma (,) (Mac Os).

The current fourth dimension for a composition is indicated by the current-time indicator (CTI), the vertical blood-red line in the time graph. The current time for a composition also appears in the current fourth dimension display in the upper-left corner of the Timeline panel. For more data on moving the electric current-time indicator, meet Move the current-time indicator.

The left side of the Timeline panel consists of columns of controls for layers. The correct side of the Timeline panel—the time graph—contains a time ruler, markers, keyframes, expressions, duration bars for layers (in layer bar mode), and the Graph Editor (in Graph Editor mode).

Press the backslash (\) primal to switch activation between the Composition panel and Timeline panel for the current limerick.

Composition settings

You can enter composition settings manually, or you lot can use composition settings presets to automatically gear up frame size (width and height), pixel aspect ratio, and frame charge per unit for many mutual output formats. Y'all can also create and save your own custom limerick settings presets for later use. Resolution, Start Timecode (or Starting time Frame), Duration, and Advanced composition settings are not saved with composition settings presets.

The limit for composition duration is three hours. You can use footage items longer than 3 hours, merely fourth dimension subsequently iii hours does not display correctly. The maximum limerick size is xxx,000x30,000 pixels. A 30,000x30,000 8-bpc image requires approximately iii.v GB; your maximum limerick size may be less, depending on your operating arrangement and bachelor RAM.

Working with limerick settings

• To open the Composition Settings dialog box to alter composition settings, do one of the following:

  • Select a composition in the Project panel or actuate the Timeline or Composition panel for a composition, and choose Composition > Limerick Settings, or press Ctrl+K (Windows) or Control+One thousand (Mac OS).

  • Right-click (Windows) or Command-click (Mac OS) a composition in the Projection console or Composition panel (not on a layer), and choose Composition Settings from the context menu.

• To salve a custom limerick settings preset, set Width, Height, Pixel Aspect Ratio, and Frame Charge per unit values in the Composition Settings dialog box, then click the Salvage button .

• To delete a composition settings preset, choose it from the Preset carte in the Limerick Settings dialog box, and click the Delete button .

• To restore default composition settings presets, Alt-click (Windows) or Option-click (Mac Bone) the Delete push or the Relieve push button in the Composition Settings dialog box.

You cannot move custom composition settings presets from 1 arrangement to another, every bit they are embedded into the preferences file.

• To calibration an entire composition, choose File > Scripts > Calibration Composition.jsx.
  

Ensure that all layers are unlocked in the selected composition or the script fails.

Jeff Almasol provides a script on his redefinery website to set the frame rate and duration of the current composition and all compositions nested within it.

Christopher Light-green provides a script (Selected_Comps_Changer.jsx) on his website with which you tin change the limerick settings for compositions selected in the Project panel.

Basic limerick settings

Start Timecode or Start Frame

Timecode or frame number assigned to the kickoff frame of the composition. This value does not affect rendering; it but specifies where to start counting from.

Background Colour

Use the colour swatch or eyedropper to pick a composition background colour. (See Select a color or edit a slope.)

note: When you add i limerick to another (nesting), the background color of the containing composition is preserved, and the background of the nested composition becomes transparent. To preserve the background color of the nested limerick, create a solid-color layer to use every bit a groundwork layer in the nested composition.

For information on specific Bones composition settings not listed here, see the related sections:

Advanced composition settings

Ballast

Click an arrow button to ballast layers to a corner or edge of the limerick as it is resized.

Preserve resolution when nested and Preserve frame rate when nested or in render queue

For a composition to retain its own resolution or frame rate, and not inherit those settings from the containing composition. For example, if you have deliberately used a low frame rate in a composition to create a jerky, hand-animated result, you lot must preserve the frame rate for that limerick when it is nested. Similarly, the results of rotoscoping may await wrong when converted to a different frame rate or resolution. Use this setting instead of the Posterize Time upshot, which is less efficient.

Motion Mistiness settings

• Shutter bending: The shutter bending is measured in degrees, simulating the exposure immune by a rotating shutter. The shutter angle uses the footage frame charge per unit to determine the simulated exposure, which affects the corporeality of movement blur. For example, entering 90° (25% of 360°) for 24-fps footage creates an effective exposure of 1/96 of a 2d (25% of ane/24 of a 2nd). Inbound one° applies almost no motility mistiness, and entering 720° applies a large corporeality of blur.
• Shutter phase: The shutter stage is also measured in degrees. Information technology defines an starting time that determines when the shutter opens relative to the beginning of a frame. Adjusting this value tin can help if an object with motion mistiness practical appears to lag behind the position of the object without movement mistiness applied.
• Samples per frame: The minimum number of samples. This minimum is the number of samples used for frames for which Later Effects is not able to determine an adaptive sampling rate based on layer movement. This sample rate is used for 3D layers and shape layers.
• Adaptive sample limit: The maximum number of samples.
  

For information on specific Advanced composition settings not listed here, run across the related sections:

3D renderer settings

You lot can use the options in the 3D renderer tab to choose the right 3D renderer for your composition. You can choose from the post-obit renderers in the Renderer menu:

• Archetype 3D
  
• Movie theatre 4D
  
• Ray-traced 3D

The 3D functionality of the CINEMA 4D Limerick Renderer and the Ray-traced 3D renderer is almost identical with the extrusion of 3D text and shape layers and bending of other 3D layers (solids, footage, and so on) into curved planes. All the same, the rendered results can exist unlike because they generate results using different renderers and back up different sets of features. For example, there are differences in the 3D layer fabric options and other layer behaviors.

The CINEMA 4D Composition Renderer renders 3D layers including extruded text and shapes and curved 2D planes to brand the process of animative 3D text and logos from scratch easier. The performance of the Movie house 4D renderer is much faster than the CPU-only performance of the Ray-traced 3D renderer.

3D renderer tab

Archetype 3D renderer

Archetype 3D is the traditional, default renderer. Layers are positioned every bit planes in 3D space.

CINEMA 4D Composition Renderer options

Quality: The Quality level that you attack the slider affects the parameters that decide how the CINEMA 4D Composition Renderer draws the 3D layers. You tin see the resultant renderer parameters in the Options, Anti-aliasing, and Reflectance boxes. The unmarried Quality setting makes information technology easy for you lot to cull a balanced combination of rendering speed and acceptable 3D rendering quality without understanding and modifying the various rendering quality parameters.

The post-obit parameters are modified when yous adjust the Quality slider:

• Ray Threshold: This value helps to optimize render fourth dimension.
• Ray Depth: The Ray Depth determines how many transparent objects (or areas made invisible using the blastoff channel) can be penetrated by the renderer.
• Reflection Depth: When a ray is sent into the scene, it can be reflected by cogitating surfaces. The higher the Reflection Depth, the further rays are followed into the scene and the results rendered.
• Shadow Depth: Shadow Depth behaves coordinating to the Reflection Depth. The Shadow Depth setting defines the shadow depth with which visible shadow rays are calculated.

Anti-Aliasing: Geometry is the default anti-aliasing setting that smooths all object edges (automatically with 16x16 sub-pixels).

Reflectance: Layer sampling is the default Reflectance setting that defines the quality of matte reflections.

When you select CINEMA 4D in the Renderer drop-downward box, the Enabled column displays the 3D options that are enabled and the Disabled column displays the 3D options that are not bachelor.

Movie theatre 4D Render options

To choose a quality level for your 3D rendering, click the Options button after selecting Movie theatre 4D equally the renderer and set the quality level using the Quality slider. The values of Ray Threshold, Ray Depth, Reflection Depth, Shadow Depth, Anti-Aliasing, and Reflectance modify acccordingly.

Afterward Effects installs a default Renderer on your auto. You can alter the Renderer to a full retail version of CINEMA 4D, if you have information technology installed.

The default Editor is the latest installed version of CINEMA 4D or Movie theatre 4D Lite.

To select another CINEMA 4D installation, click Choose Installation and select the path to the installer in the Rendering and Editing boxes.

Cull Cinema 4D Installation

Ray-traced 3D render options

Click the Options button to launch the Ray-traced 3D Renderer Options dialog box. Yous can too Ctrl-click (Windows) or Command-click (Mac OS) the Current Renderer Indicator button in the upper-correct of the Limerick panel to launch the dialog box.

Hither yous can choose:

• Ray-tracing quality: Click the Ray-tracing quality setting to change it according to your workflow.
  • Higher values for ray-tracing quality decrease dissonance merely greatly increase render time.
    Ray-tracing quality controls the number of rays fired per pixel (for example, a value of 4 fires 16 or 4x4 rays, and 8 fires 64 rays).
  • A larger number produces a more accurate pixel at the expense of computation fourth dimension.
  • A value of 1 provides improve performance, but there won't be any reflection blur (for example, information technology is e'er sharp), soft shadow, depth of field, or motion blur.

Increasing the Ray-tracing Quality value does non increase the sharpness. Instead it decreases the noise inherent in point sampling. Use the lowest value that produces an acceptable amount of noise or no racket.

• Anti-aliasing Filter: Controls the method of averaging the fired rays for a pixel. None fires all rays within the bounds of a pixel, whereas the others spread the grid of fired rays partially across adjacent pixels to produce a ameliorate boilerplate. Box, Tent, and Cubic (which is not bicubic) are listed in the order of better quality.
  • None
  • Box
  • Tent
  • Cubic

The anti-aliasing filter controls the amount of blurriness. None gives the sharpest result but the edges of the projection catcher may look aliased, with Box blur, Triangle, and Cubic giving blurrier results.

Ray-traced 3D layers use Ray-tracing Quality to control the advent of move blur.

Depth of field calculations in Ray-traced 3D are more than accurate than they are in Classic 3D (and previously in Advanced 3D).

With the improved composition console toolbar, work faster and without distraction when creating and designing 3D scenes within After Effects. The UI and placement are the same as the default composition toolbar at the lesser of the Composition panel when you work with 2D avails. Once yous add 3D content to your scene, the composition console containing the 3D menu is displayed. After Effects adds more than 3D controls to the limerick console toolbar, and controls that are not needed for your current workflow move out into the Composition carte. For more information, see the 3D Design space.

Placement of controls

• The almost used controls are reorganized and are on the left side of the toolbar.
• 3D controls are on the correct side of the toolbar and simply appear when there is at to the lowest degree ane 3D layer in the comp.
• Controls with depression usage such as Adobe Immersive Environment, Show Timeline, and Testify Composition Flowchart are removed.

New 3D controls

• In that location are the post-obit 3D controls in the improved composition console toolbar:
  • Draft 3D
  • Footing Plane
• You can enable/disbale these past clicking the buttons assigned for each of these controls.

Streamlined controls

• The Select View Layout menu has been streamlined.
• The Fast Previews is streamlined. Fast Draft is named Draft 3D and is controlled by the button on the right side of the toolbar. Typhoon mode is removed and is no longer applicable. The Renderer Options command is in the 3D Renderer menu on the right side of the toolbar.

Controls enabled past default

• 3D Reference Axes are enabled past default. You can disable them from the Grids and Guides Options bill of fare, on the left side of the toolbar.
• Pixel Aspect Ratio correction is enabled by default.

Placement of controls

• You tin open the Timeline and Flowchart panels from the Window menu, if not currently open in your workspace.
• Controls that don't need to exist within easy attain accept been moved to commands in the Composition panel's card (the three-bar carte du jour button on the panel's tab): Always Preview This View, Principal Viewer, and Pixel Attribute Ratio Correction.

Composition thumbnail images

You can choose which frame of a limerick to show equally a thumbnail epitome (poster frame) for the composition in the Project panel. Past default, the thumbnail image is the first frame of the composition, with transparent portions shown as blackness.

• To set the thumbnail image for a composition, move the electric current-fourth dimension indicator to the desired frame of the composition in the Timeline panel, and choose Limerick > Prepare Poster Time.
• To add a transparency grid to the thumbnail view, choose Thumbnail Transparency Grid from the Project console carte.
• To hide the thumbnail images in the Project panel, choose Edit > Preferences > Display (Windows) or Subsequently Effects > Preferences > Display (Mac OS) and select Disable Thumbnails In Project Panel.

Source: https://helpx.adobe.com/after-effects/using/composition-basics.html

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