After Effects Common Mistakes and Solutions Part 2 Video Tutorial
Here's part two of our series on Common Mistakes in After Effects and how to fix them! We'll be editing masks, toggling switches, and reloading footage in this video from Noble Desktop! We all make mistakes, but let's learn how to fix them!
Going Inside Layers
1. To go inside a piece of footage, a Precomp, or a regular layer, double-click on the layer within the layer stack.
2. To go back to the main composition, click on the main composition's name in the Project Panel window or on top of the layer stack.
Toggle Switches/Modes
1. To locate Layer Modes and associated settings, click on Toggle Switches/Modes at the bottom of the layer stack.
2. To locate Switches, repeat step 1.
Columns & Panes
1. If any of the layers stack's columns are missing, they may have been accidentally removed. To fix that, right-click on any of the column names.
2. Select any column to have it appear again in the layer stack.
3. To reorder columns, click and drag any column to the right or left.
Shy Switch
1. If an object is visible within the composition window but invisible within the layer stack, check to see if the Sky switch is activated. The switch looks like a person's face peeking over a fence. It's located at the top of the layer stack to the right of the cube icon.
2. If the Shy switch is active, it will hide any layers with their own Shy switches activated. To reverse this, click the master Shy switch on top of the layer stack.
3. To turn off a layer's Shy switch, click on the smaller Shy switch to the right of the layer's name within the stack.
Broken File Links
1. If an object in the composition window or Project panel appears corrupted, it's almost certainly due to a missing file link. To remedy this, right-click on the affected footage within the Project panel.
2. Navigate to Reload Missing Footage.
3. Locate where the appropriate file within the computer.
4. Select the file.
5. Hit OK. Doing this will reconnect the file location with the project, making the object load correctly.
Mask & Effect Order
1. Depending on how they're ordered, masks and Effects applied to a layer influence each other. If a layer has multiple Fill effects, the topmost one will be the only one visible.
2. To rearrange Effects and Masks, toggle open the layer options.
3. Grab and drag the Effects and Masks to reorder them. The topmost Effect or Mask will cover the rest below them. If the Effect or Mask is transparent or doesn't cover the layer completely, the underlying effects will still show through.
Slow Performance
1. If After Effects lags, it might be due to too many assets. Deleting unnecessary assets can help reduce the strain on the program and machine.
2. Another option is to ensure the Motion Blur switch is turned on at the end.
3. Alternatively, go into Edit -- Preferences -- Media & Disk Cache.
4. Click on Empty Disk Cache.
5. Hit OK. These methods should speed up the performance of After Effects.
Large Video File Size
1. If the program is outputting massive file sizes, there are ways to reduce this. First, make sure that the animation is trimmed. Move the playhead to wherever the animation ends.
2. Hit N to trim the animation.
3. Another option is to ensure that the correct file type is selected. Go to Composition -- Add To Adobe Media Encoder Queue.
4. Within the Encoder Queue, click on the file's format.
5. A new window should pop up. Underneath the word Format, there will be a dropdown list. Open up the dropdown list.
6. Locate the H264 format. This format is a standard file type that balances quality with file size. Larger file formats include Quicktime and AVI files. Avoid using these codecs if space is a concern.
Looping Expression Error
1. If a project has a Loop expression applied to it, and an error message keeps occurring, it could be due to missing keyframes. To avoid this issue, open up the Timeline.
2. Ensure at least two keyframes are placed on the animated layer's Timeline. Slide the playhead to the desired spot and hit the diamond shape next to the animated property if missing. Doing this will set a new keyframe.
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Timestamps
00:00 - Intro
00:26 - Going Inside a Layer
00:57 - Manipulating Columns and Panes
02:32 - Shy Switch (or, Where Is My Layer??)
03:12 - Reloading Missing Footage
04:14 - Mask and Effects Order
05:20 - Slow Performance
06:02 - Looping Expression Error
06:26 - Giant Video File Size
07:26 - Outro