In this lesson you will learn about layer properties in After Effects.
What You'll Need
If you want to follow along with this layer properties lesson open up the layer properties.aep file and you will have a very similar composition to this that will open up.
The only thing that you won't have is this footage file right here called HYPERLAPSE LOUVRE.mov. If you want this file, you can download it from Envato Elements.
If you haven't done that yet, no problem. You can just drag any footage file that you may have on your computer into your project and then pull it down into your composition, and put it in the bottom of the layer stack here and you should be able to follow along just fine.
So in this composition, we have five different types of layers. Each layer has unique layer properties associated with them. Now you can see what properties are on any Layer by clicking on this little triangle here to open the layer options.
For example, you can see for this footage layer here, the only thing that is available is the Transform properties which are Anchor Point, Position, Scale, Rotation, and Opacity.
You can adjust the values of each of these to change the look of your layer.
If you want to reset any of your adjustments back to the default values, simply hit the Reset button, which is also available if you right click the layer and select Transform > Reset.
So most of these transform layer properties are pretty self explanatory. The only one which may be a little bit confusing is the Anchor Point.
Now if we start to adjust the Anchor Point values you'll notice that the anchor point itself doesn't seem to be moving. Rather the contents of the layer is moving relative to the anchor point.
If you want to move the anchor point itself, you actually need to adjust the position but that adjusts everything (both the anchor point and the position).
So let's show you another way. If you grab the anchor point tool, and you make an adjustment to where this anchor point is, you'll notice under the Transform properties, that both the anchor point and the position are being adjusted at the same time.
It moves the anchor point, but the layer doesn't actually move.
This next layer here is a solid layer. By default, it will just have the transform properties, the same as a footage layer.
That is until you add things like masks and effects. Then you have some other options.
Because there's a mask on this layer, I have mask properties that I can adjust.
And I also have an effect on this layer, which is actually filling it with blue and I have all of the properties for that effect available down here as well.
Now anytime you're looking at Effects properties, you can also access them up here in the Effects Controls Panel.
Next, is the composition layer. This is actually a pre-comp.
If you double-click on it, it will open up and you'll see on this layer, it's a text layer and on this text layer, we have transform properties, we have effect properties and we have text properties.
But if we look at what's happening back on the composition layer, we only have effects. Because there's another effect on here, it's actually two effects.
A bevel alpha and a drop shadow, and we have transform properties available as well.
The last two layers are the shape layer here and the text layer, these will have properties available in them that are specific to shape layers and text layers.
So in this shape layer here I have properties for two rectangle shapes where I can control things in the rectangle path, the stroke and the fill. There is also a Transform: Rectangle 2 option which only effects one of the shapes in this shape layer.
You'll find the same options in the Rectangle 1 shape.
And then I have another transform. This affects everything on this layer, but it'll be a little bit confusing until you jump in and kind of move things around on your own and you see exactly how it works.
Finally, we have the text layer. You'll find options here that are only specific to text.
So we have source text here which you can apply expressions to.
You have flyout here which you can animate, all kinds of crazy things that are only specific to text layers. These are pro-character animation things that you can explore.
And then there's something that we haven't seen on a layer before and this is layer styles. Layer styles are very similar to what you'll find in Photoshop. These include things like drop shadows or bevel and emboss or outer glow etc. All of those layer styles are available on every single layer in After Effects.
If I turn on the transparency grid here with that layer, soloed. You can see that this is a text layer and it has a basic drop shadow. And I have all of the properties associated with that Drop Shadow, available right here in the layer properties.
They're available nowhere else, and they don't show up in the Effects Control's because it's not an effect. It's a layer style and you have to adjust that down here in the properties.
Congratulations
Congratulations! And that's how to use After Effects Layer Properties. Now that you've learned the basics, check out some of the other tutorials we have on Adobe After Effects below.
I hope you've found this tutorial useful and I'll see you next time on Envato Tuts+!
