Adobe After Effects CS5 Operating instructions

Using

ADOBE

®

AFTER EFFECTS

®

CS5 & CS5.5

Last updated 11/28/2011

Legal notices

For legal notices, see http://help.adobe.com/en_US/legalnotices/index.html.

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Contents

Chapter 1: What’s new

What’s new . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Chapter 2: Workflows, planning, and setup

Setup and installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Workflows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Planning and setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Working with After Effects and other applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Dynamic Link and After Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Chapter 3: User interface

Workspaces, panels, and viewers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

General user interface items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Chapter 4: Projects and compositions

Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Timecode and time display units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Composition basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Precomposing, nesting, and pre-rendering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Chapter 5: Importing and managing footage items

Importing and interpreting footage items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Working with footage items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Importing from After Effects and Adobe Premiere Pro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Importing and interpreting video and audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Preparing and importing 3D image files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

Preparing and importing still images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Chapter 6: Layers and properties

Creating layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Selecting and arranging layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

Managing layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

Layer properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

Blending modes and layer styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

3D layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158

Cameras, lights, and points of interest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

Chapter 7: Views and previews

Previewing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178

Modifying and using views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188

Chapter 8: Animation and keyframes

Animation basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194

Setting, selecting, and deleting keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198

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Editing, moving, and copying keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202

Assorted animation tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207

Keyframe interpolation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215

Speed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222

Time-stretching and time-remapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229

Animating with Puppet tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239

Tracking and stabilizing motion (CS5) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246

Chapter 9: Color

Color basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263

Color management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273

Chapter 10: Drawing, painting, and paths

Paint tools: Brush, Clone Stamp, and Eraser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285

Overview of shape layers, paths, and vector graphics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295

Creating shapes and masks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301

Managing and animating shape paths and masks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312

Shape attributes, paint operations, and path operations for shape layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323

Chapter 11: Text

Creating and editing text layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331

Formatting characters and the Character panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337

Formatting paragraphs and the Paragraph panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343

Animating text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345

Examples and resources for text animation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 356

Chapter 12: Transparency, opacity, and compositing

Compositing and transparency overview and resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365

Alpha channels, masks, and mattes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366

Keying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375

Roto Brush and Refine Matte . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379

Chapter 13: Effects and animation presets

Effects and animation presets overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 386

Effect list . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 414

3D Channel effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 422

Audio effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 429

Blur & Sharpen effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 433

Channel effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 441

Color Correction effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 447

Distort effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 466

Generate effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 483

Keying effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 503

Matte effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 513

Noise & Grain effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 515

Perspective effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 536

Simulation effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 541

Stylize effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 571

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Text effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 582

Time effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 584

Transition effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 591

Utility effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 598

Obsolete effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602

Chapter 14: Markers and metadata

Layer markers and composition markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 609

XMP metadata . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 613

Chapter 15: Memory, storage, and performance

Memory and storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 620

Improve performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 627

Chapter 16: Plug-ins, scripts, and automation

Plug-ins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 631

Scripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 633

Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 635

Chapter 17: Expressions

Expression basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 637

Expression language reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 651

Expression examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 674

Chapter 18: Rendering and exporting

Basics of rendering and exporting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 680

Rendering and exporting for Flash Professional and Flash Player . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 698

Rendering and exporting still images and still-image sequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 706

Automated rendering and network rendering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 707

Converting movies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 714

Export an After Effects project as an Adobe Premiere Pro project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 719

Chapter 19: Keyboard shortcuts

Modify keyboard shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 720

Keyboard shortcuts reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 720

1

Last updated 11/28/2011

Chapter 1: What’s new

What’s new

New and changed features in After Effects CS4, CS5, and CS5.5, collected by Chris and Trish Meyer on the ProVideo

Coalition website.

For a complete list of what’s new and changed in Adobe After Effects CS5.5, see this post on the After Effects Region

of Interest blog.

What’s new in After Effects CS5

Online resources about new and changed features in After Effects CS5

New and changed features in After Effects CS4, CS5, and CS5.5, collected by Chris and Trish Meyer on the ProVideo

Coalition website.

For information on an update to the importer software for RED (R3D) files (for the RED camera Mysterium-X sensor

and new color science),

see this post on the After Effects Region of Interest blog.

In After Effects CS5, bugs were fixed for the Apple ProRes 422 and ProRes 4444 codecs. However, there were still a

couple of issues.

See this post on the After Effects Region of Interest for workarounds for two issues in After Effects CS5.

See this post on the After Effects Region of Interest blog for details about the After Effects CS5 (10.0.1) update:

• Several fixes and improvements for RED (R3D) import and workflow.

• The Apply Color LUT effect can now use .3dl files with floating point values or 3DMESH/Mesh keywords, or those

saved from an ASSIMILATE SCRATCH system (i.e. that have SCRATCH in the comments at the top of the file).

• QuickTime (.mov) files from JVC solid-state cameras can be imported.

The Vector Paint effects was removed for After Effects CS5. See these posts on the After Effects user-to-user forum for

a discussion of alternatives and feedback. This post on the After Effects Region of Interest blog has more information

about giving feedback in general.

See this post on the Premiere Pro Work Area blog for information about what’s new and changed in Adobe Media

Encoder CS5.

For details of new and changed features in After Effects CS4, see the After Effects CS4 Help document.

Top new features in After Effects CS5

• 64-bit After Effects CS5 application, with improved performance and memory features: “Memory, storage, and

performance” on page 620

• Roto Brush tool: “Roto Brush and Refine Matte” on page 379

• Refine Matte effect: “Roto Brush and Refine Matte” on page 379

• AVC-Intra import and improved RED (R3D) support: “Supported import formats” on page 71

• Imagineer mocha shape for After Effects plug-in and improved mocha for After Effects planar tracker application:

“Resources for Imagineer mocha shape for After Effects” on page 375 and “Resources for mocha for After Effects

(mocha-AE)” on page 246

2

USING AFTER EFFECTS

What’s new

Last updated 11/28/2011

• Auto-keyframe mode: “Auto-keyframe mode” on page 198

• Apply Color LUT effect for using color lookup tables: “Apply Color LUT effect” on page 598

• Align panel improvements, including ability to align layers to the edges and center of a composition: “Align or

distribute layers in 2D space” on page 126

• Synthetic Aperture Color Finesse 3, with support for 32-bpc color: “Resources for Synthetic Aperture Color

Finesse” on page 270

• Digieffects FreeForm: “Resources for Digieffects FreeForm” on page 467

Other new and changed features in After Effects CS5

Added Help > Send Feedback command, which opens a web browser to the feature-request and bug-report form on

the

Adobe website.

Projects and compositions changes

• The default composition settings are now for a 30-second 1920x1080 HDTV composition: “Composition settings”

on page 62

• In previous versions, if you were entering or editing text when it was time for an auto-save, you would be forced

out of text-editing mode. Now, if you're in text-editing mode when it's time for an auto-save, that auto-save is

skipped:

“Save and back up projects in After Effects CS5” on page 52

• The Frame Rate control in the Composition Settings dialog box now includes a menu that allows you to select from

a list of common frame rates:

“Change frame rate for a composition” on page 80

• The composition background color setting is now located in the Composition Settings dialog box instead of on the

Composition menu, and the keyboard shortcut for accessing only the composition background color has been

removed:

“Composition settings” on page 62

• When you double-click a precomposition layer when the Roto Brush tool or a paint tool is active, the

precomposition layer opens in a Layer panel. To open the nested composition in a Composition panel instead, Alt-

double-click (Windows) or Option-double-click (Mac OS) the precomposition layer:

“Opening and navigating

nested compositions” on page 66

Importing and managing footage items changes

• Added interpretation rules and gamma rules for ProRes media: “Interpret footage items” on page 75

• Added .mxr and .sxr as filename extensions recognized as OpenEXR files for import: “Supported import formats”

on page 71

• Added interpretation rule for RED (R3D) raw color data that interprets colors as HDTV (Rec. 709) gamma-

encoded (non-linear-light) 32-bpc color:

“Interpret footage items” on page 75

• Improvements in import of Illustrator files with multiple artboards created from Video & Film presets: “Preparing

and importing Illustrator files” on page 113

• After Effects can import multi-channel DPX files, such as those from a Northlight film scanner: “Cineon and DPX

footage items” on page 115

• Removed ability to open or import After Effects projects created by versions of After Effects 5.5 or earlier. After

Effects CS5 can open and import projects created by After Effects 6.0 and later:

“Import an After Effects project”

on page 90

• Removed ability to open projects using project links in movies rendered and exported from After Effects CS3 or

earlier. After Effects CS5 can open projects using project links included in movies rendered and exported by After

Effects CS4 and later:

“Import an After Effects project” on page 90

3

USING AFTER EFFECTS

What’s new

Last updated 11/28/2011

• Removed ability to import AAF, OMF, PCX, Pixar, and Filmstrip files: “Supported import formats” on page 71

• Removed ability to import Premiere 6.5 projects. After Effects CS5 can import Premiere Pro projects: “Import an

Adobe Premiere Pro project” on page 91

• Removed ability to import and export FLV files with video encoded using the Sorenson Spark codec. After Effects

CS5 can import and export FLV files encoded with the On2 VP6 codec:

“Render and export a composition as an

FLV or F4V file” on page 704

• When you drag a completed output module to a folder in the Project panel, you import the output file or files into

that folder:

“Output modules and output module settings” on page 691

• Double-click a footage item in the Project panel to open it in a Footage viewer. Alt-double-click (Windows) or

Option-double-click (Mac OS) a footage item in the Project panel to open the source file in the media player

assigned for that file type by the operating system. Press Enter on the numeric keypad to open selected footage items

in a Footage viewer. The behavior in previous versions was less predictable and more complex, and was limited to

specific media players:

“View footage item in the Footage panel or media player assigned by operating system” on

page 86

Layers and properties changes

• Added Divide and Subtract blending modes: “Blending mode reference” on page 152

• The Label Colors and Label Defaults preferences categories have been combined into one Labels preference

category. Null Object and Text items have been added to the Label Defaults section, and a new label color control

(Dark Green) has been added in the 16th position. Panel tabs include a square label that is the same color as the

composition, footage item, or layer’s label if the Use Label Color For Related Tabs preference is selected in the

Appearance preference category:

“Color labels for layers, compositions, and footage items” on page 136

• The Camera Settings dialog box includes a new Type option, which specifies if the camera is a one-node or two-

node camera:

“Camera settings” on page 166

• Shift-dragging with the Unified Camera tool selected temporarily activates the Orbit Camera tool and constrains

rotation to one axis:

“Move or adjust a camera or working 3D view with the Camera tools” on page 171

• Dragging with the Unified Camera tool selected and the right mouse button pressed temporarily activates the Track

Z Camera tool and modifies Position only:

“Move or adjust a camera or working 3D view with the Camera tools”

on page 171

• Dragging with the Unified Camera tool selected and the right mouse button pressed and Ctrl (Windows) or

Command (Mac OS) pressed temporarily activates the Track Z Camera tool and modifies both Position and Point

Of Interest:

“Move or adjust a camera or working 3D view with the Camera tools” on page 171

Views and previews changes

• In After Effects CS4, the default center cut action-safe margin was 30%, and the default title-safe margin was 35%.

In After Effects CS5, the default center cut action-safe margin is 32.5%, and the default title-safe margin is 40%:

“About title-safe and action-safe zones” on page 192

• Added Alternate RAM Preview preference, which is used to preview the specified number of frames when you press

Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) while starting a RAM preview:

“RAM preview a specified number of frames”

on page 179

• In Previews preferences, added Viewer Zoom Quality and Color Management Quality controls: “Viewer Quality

preferences” on page 185

• New Alpha Boundary and Alpha Overlay view modes in the Layer panel, with keyboard shortcuts: “Layer panel

view options” on page 385 and “Views (keyboard shortcuts)” on page 726

4

USING AFTER EFFECTS

What’s new

Last updated 11/28/2011

• When you are working with a composition that contains a 3D layer, a light, or a camera, the Composition panel

shows a label in the top-left corner of each view (such as Top or Right) to indicate which view is associated with

which camera perspective. To hide these labels, choose Show 3D Labels from the Composition panel menu:

“Choose a 3D view” on page 188

• When you click the Current Time control in the upper-left corner of the Timeline panel, you can now enter a time

directly in the box instead of opening the Go To Time dialog box:

“Move the current-time indicator (CTI)” on

page 182

• When you click the Time Navigator in the Timeline panel, the Info panel shows the times of the beginning and end

of the Time Navigator duration:

“Zoom in or out in time for a composition” on page 183

• When you click the Work Area bar in the Timeline panel, the Info panel shows the times of the beginning and end

of the work area. The length (duration) of the work area is also shown:

“Work area” on page 186

• Default audio preview duration (Preferences > Previews) is now 30 seconds: “Preview video and audio” on page 178

• The resolution (down-sample factor) of a Layer viewer is now tied to the resolution of the Composition viewer for

the composition in which the layer is contained:

“Resolution” on page 190

• Removed Wireframe preview.

Animation and keyframes changes

• When you place the pointer over a vertex (keyframe) in the Graph Editor, a tooltip now displays the layer name,

property name, time, and value:

“View or edit a keyframe value” on page 202

Color changes

• In the View > Simulate Output menu, Macintosh RGB and Windows RGB have changed to Legacy Macintosh RGB

(Gamma 1.8) and Internet Standard RGB (sRGB). This change corresponds with a change in gamma from 1.8 to

2.2 for Mac OS version 10.6 and later:

“Gamma and tone response” on page 271

Drawing, painting, and paths changes

• Added the Path Point Size preference, which specifies the size of Bezier direction handles and vertices for masks

and shapes, direction handles for motion paths, and some effect control points:

“General preferences” on page 49

• Selecting vertices, direction handles, and effect control points is easier. Instead of needing to click directly on the

point, you can click within a small area around each point:

“Select masks, segments, and vertices” on page 316

• Using Create Masks From Text now trims the new layer to match the original: “Create shapes or masks from text

characters” on page 309

• When you change a mask path color, the new color is used as the default mask path color for new masks: “Change

mask path color” on page 369

Text changes

• Added ability to orient each text character around its anchor point toward the active camera with Orient Each

Character Independently option in Auto-Orientation dialog box:

“Per-character 3D text properties” on page 354

• When you select certain properties in the Timeline panel for a text animation, anchors points are now shown in the

Composition panel:

“Text anchor point properties” on page 353

• Added No Break command in Character panel menu to create nonbreaking spaces: “Create a non-breaking space”

on page 339

• You can now enable or disable the Path Options for a text layer by clicking the visibility (eyeball) switch for the

Path Options property:

“Creating and animating text on a path” on page 355

5

USING AFTER EFFECTS

What’s new

Last updated 11/28/2011

• Double-clicking a Type tool creates a new text layer: “Enter point text” on page 333

Transparency, opacity, and compositing changes

• After Effects now premultiplies channels with black when creating FLV files with transparency, which solves

problems with fringes and halos in Flash and Flash Player:

“Alpha channel interpretation: premultiplied or straight”

on page 77

Effects and animation presets changes

• New Color Correction effects based on Photoshop adjustment layer types. When you import PSD files with these

adjustments, they are preserved:

• “Black & White effect” on page 449

• “Selective Color effect” on page 463

• “Vibrance effect” on page 466

• The results of changes in the Curves effect are now shown as you drag in the Effect Controls panel, rather than only

being shown when you release the mouse button:

“Curves effect” on page 456

• Removed entries in Effects & Presets panel and Effect menu for the Paint effect (and Paint category) and Puppet

effect (from Distort category), because there's no need to apply these effects directly. Use the corresponding tools

to apply the effects:

“Paint tools: Brush, Clone Stamp, and Eraser” on page 285 and “Animating with Puppet tools”

on page 239

• The histogram in the Levels effect provides the option to see individual color channels in context with other color

channels, as well as showing color channels as colorized:

“Levels effect” on page 460

• The Alpha Levels effect has been removed. Instead, use the Levels effect, which can be assigned to work only on an

alpha channel, has a histogram, and is a 32-bpc effect. Old projects that use the Alpha Levels effect will still open,

and you will still be able to modify the Alpha Levels effect properties in these projects:

“Levels effect” on page 460

• The Vector Paint effect has been removed. Compositions created with a previous version of After Effects that use

the Vector Paint effect will still render, but you will not be able to modify the Vector Paint effect properties in these

compositions. Instead, use paint tools and shape layers:

“Drawing, painting, and paths” on page 285

• Font preview support (the Show Font option) has been removed from the Basic Text, Path Text, and Numbers

effects.

• The Show Animation Presets option is now off by default in the panel menu of the Effect Controls panel: “Effect

Controls panel” on page 391

• The Effects & Presets panel command Reveal In Finder (Mac OS) or Reveal In Windows Explorer (Windows) now

works for Pixel Bender effects:

“Effects & Presets panel” on page 392

• The Exposure slider in the Exposure effect now has a range from -4 to 4 instead of -20 to 20 to allow for more precise

adjustment:

“Exposure effect” on page 457

• Changed behavior for copying effects when the Effect Controls panel is active. Even if a property of an effect is

selected, the effect itself (not just the selected properties visible in the Timeline panel) will be copied. Behavior when

the Effect Controls panel isn't active is unchanged:

“Effect Controls panel” on page 391

Markers and metadata changes

• Added File > Go To Adobe Story menu command: “XMP metadata” on page 613

• Include Source XMP Metadata option is off by default in all output module templates: “Exporting XMP metadata

from After Effects” on page 616

6

USING AFTER EFFECTS

What’s new

Last updated 11/28/2011

• After Effects writes startTimecode and altTimecode values into XMP metadata. You can view these values in the

Start Timecode and Alternate Timecode fields in the Dynamic Media schema in the Metadata panel:

“XMP

metadata in After Effects” on page 614

• Removed the Clip Notes features.

Memory, storage, and performance changes

• Render Multiple Frames Simultaneously multiprocessing can now use the virtual (logical) processor cores created

by hyperthreading on many modern computers:

“Render multiple frames simultaneously” on page 620

• Simplified Memory & Multiprocessing preferences, improved automatic RAM allocation between foreground and

background processes, added Details dialog box for observation of RAM usage, and improved performance of

Render Multiple Frames Simultaneously multiprocessing:

“Memory & Multiprocessing preferences” on page 620

• After Effects now shares a memory pool with Premiere Pro, Adobe Media Encoder, and Encore: “Memory pool

shared between After Effects, Premiere Pro, Encore, and Adobe Media Encoder” on page 623

• The time that After Effects takes to start is reduced. The start-up time for the background processes used in Render

Multiple Frames Simultaneously multiprocessing is also reduced.

Plug-ins, scripts, and automation changes

• Esc key interrupts a running script: “Loading and running scripts” on page 633

• After Effects CS5 can load and run only 64-bit plug-ins, not 32-bit plug-ins: “Plug-ins” on page 631

• Pixel Bender Toolkit 2.0 included, and performance of Pixel Bender effects greatly improved: “Plug-ins” on

page 631

Rendering and exporting changes

• Removed QuickTime export functionality from File > Export menu. To export a QuickTime movie, use the render

queue:

“Rendering and exporting overview” on page 680

• Removed ability to export AAF, OMF, PCX, Pixar, Filmstrip, ElectricImage, Softimage PIC, and PICT files:

“Supported output formats” on page 682

• Pressing spacebar no longer stops the render queue: “Pause or stop rendering” on page 685

• Warning for mismatch in frame rate or dimensions between output module settings and other settings, and

automatic correction of mismatches:

“Warning for mismatch in frame rate or dimensions” on page 694

• Removed options dialog box for SGI output. The dialog box contained an option for using RLE (run-length

encoding). This option is now always on.

• Filename extensions are now enforced on output: “Specify filenames and locations for rendered output” on

page 688

• Cineon output module renamed to DPX/Cineon, and DPX is now default. To create Cineon files, choose

FIDO/Cineon 4.5 in the Cineon Settings dialog box:

“Cineon and DPX footage items” on page 115

• Added warning message explaining that custom format settings will be reset to defaults when opening a project

created in After Effects CS4 or earlier if the settings can’t be converted. This can happen with some output modules

that reference FLV, F4V, H.264 (and variants), MPEG-2 (and variants), or WMV:

“Create, manage, and edit output

module templates” on page 692

• Added several output module templates for common formats, including F4V, FLV, H.264, and MPEG-2. Renamed

some existing output module templates for increased clarity:

“Create, manage, and edit output module templates”

on page 692

7

USING AFTER EFFECTS

What’s new

Last updated 11/28/2011

• Removed some color depth options from output module settings that used very few bits per pixel (bpp) from output

modules: Black & White (1-bpp color), 4 Colors (2-bpp color), 16 Colors (4-bpp color), Thousands Of Colors (16-

bpp color), and some grayscale options. This doesn’t affect higher color depths that are expressed in bits per

channel (bpc). Remaining are color depth options for 256 Colors (8-bpp color), Millions Of Colors (8-bpc),

Trillions Of Colors (16-bpc), and Floating Point (32-bpc):

“Output modules and output module settings” on

page 691

• Removed overflow volumes feature.

• Changed Segment Movie Files At preference to Segment Video-only Movie Files At preference: “Segment settings”

on page 713

• Removed some fractional audio sample rates and ability to set audio sample rate to an arbitrary, custom value in

output module settings. If you need to save audio with a sample rate other than those offered in After Effects, you

can reprocess the audio in Adobe Audition:

“Output module settings” on page 693

• Removed Edit > Edit In Adobe Audition command: “Edit audio in Adobe Soundbooth” on page 26

Keyboard shortcuts and miscellaneous user interface changes

• To mitigate the problem of some new Apple keyboards lacking a numeric keypad, alternative shortcuts have been

added for common operations that have shortcuts that use the numeric keypad. These changes are for Mac OS only.

For a complete list of keyboard shortcuts, see

“Keyboard shortcuts” on page 720.

• Pressing J or K goes to beginning, end, or base frame of Roto Brush span if viewing Roto Brush in Layer panel:

“Time navigation (keyboard shortcuts)” on page 724

• Pressing PP shows Roto Brush strokes as well as paint strokes and Puppet pins: “Showing properties and groups in

the Timeline panel (keyboard shortcuts)” on page 730

• New keyboard shortcuts for Look At Selected Layers and Look At All Layers commands: “3D layers (keyboard

shortcuts)” on page 732

function shortcut using numeric keypad new shortcut

RAM preview 0 (zero on numeric keypad) Control+0 (zero on main keyboard)

Shift+RAM preview Shift+0 (zero on numeric keypad) Shift+Control+0 (zero on main

keyboard)

Preview only audio from

the current time

. (decimal on the numeric keypad) Control+. (period on main keyboard)

Preview only audio in

work area

Option+. (decimal on numeric

keypad)

Control+Option+. (period on main

keyboard)

Preview N frames Option+0 (zero on numeric

keypad)

Control+Option+0 (zero on main

keyboard)

Add marker at current

time (layer marker if layer

selected, composition

marker otherwise)

* (multiply on numeric keypad) Control+8 (on main keyboard)

Add marker at current

time (layer marker if layer

selected, composition

marker otherwise) and

open marker dialog box

Option+* (multiply on numeric

keypad)

Option+Control+8 (on main

keyboard)

8

USING AFTER EFFECTS

What’s new

Last updated 11/28/2011

• New shortcuts to display entire composition duration in the Timeline panel: “Zoom in or out in time for a

composition” on page 183

• Mouse scroll wheel no longer changes camera position when the Unified Camera tool is active. Rolling the mouse

scroll wheel zooms in this context:

“Scroll or zoom with the mouse wheel” on page 47

• Many dialog boxes now have a Preview option that allows you to see the results of changes before you close the

dialog box. Dialog boxes for which the Preview option has been added include Interpret Footage, Composition

Settings, Camera Settings, Solid Settings, Light Settings, 3D Rotation, and all transform property dialog boxes.

• In the Project, Render Queue, and Effect Controls panels, you can use the arrow keys to expand or collapse groups.

• Several more features now operate on the visible viewer in ETLAT mode, including keyboard shortcuts for toggling

grids, toggling guides, showing channels, working with snapshots, and sending a preview to an external video

monitor:

“Edit this, look at that (ETLAT) and locked Composition viewers” on page 44

• Changed some user interface strings to make their meaning and function more clear.

• In Help menu, changed Community Help And Support to After Effects Support Center: After Effects Support

Center on the Adobe website

• In Composition panel, changed Show Last Snapshot to Show Snapshot: “Snapshots” on page 186

• In Mask Interpolation panel, changed Mask Shape to Mask Path in all items, including changing Add Mask

Shape Vertices to Add Mask Path Vertices:

“Animate a mask path with Smart Mask Interpolation” on page 320

• In the Output Module Settings dialog box, the Output Module Templates dialog box, and the Output Module

section of the Render Queue panel, Stretch has been renamed to Resize:

“Output modules and output module

settings” on page 691

• In several places relevant to importing Photoshop and Illustrator files as compositions, Composition - Cropped

Layers changed to Composition - Retain Layer Sizes:

“Import a still-image sequence as a composition” on

page 109

• In the SWF Settings dialog box, the Prevent Import checkbox has been renamed to Prevent Editing to clarify its

intent:

“SWF export settings” on page 703

• Removed Preserve Clipboard Data For Other Applications preference. This option is now always on.

What’s new in After Effects CS5.5

For a complete list of what’s new and changed in Adobe After Effects CS5.5, see this post on the After Effects Region

of Interest blog.

See this series on the video2brain website for video training about every new and changed feature in After Effects

CS5.5.

Chris & Trish Meyer provide free video tutorials about new features in After Effects CS5.5. For the tutorials, see this

Adobe TV video series.

New and changed features in After Effects CS4, CS5, and CS5.5, collected by Chris and Trish Meyer on the ProVideo

Coalition website.

More Help topics

“Keyboard shortcuts” on page 720

“Import footage items” on page 74

“General workflow in After Effects” on page 11

Planning and setup

Planning your work

Correct project settings, preparation of footage, and initial composition settings can help you to avoid errors and

unexpected results when rendering your final output movie. Before you begin, think about what kind of work you’ll

be doing in After Effects and what kind of output you intend to create. After you have planned your project and made

some basic decisions about project settings, you’ll be ready to start importing footage and assembling compositions

from layers based on that footage.

The best way to ensure that your movie is suitable for a specific medium is to render a test movie and view it using the

same type of equipment that your audience will use to view it. It’s best to do such tests before you have completed the

difficult and time-consuming parts of your work, to uncover problems early.

Aharon Rabinowitz provides an article on the Creative COW website about planning your project with the final

delivery specifications in mind.

For a video tutorial on creating and organizing projects, go to the Adobe website.

For more information about encoding and compression options, see this FAQ entry: “FAQ: What is the best format

for rendering and exporting from After Effects?”

Storyboards and scripts (screenplays)

Before you begin shooting footage or creating animations, it is often best to start by planning your movie with

storyboards and a script (screenplay).

You can use Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator to create storyboards. You can use Adobe Story to collaboratively

write and manage screenplays. Adobe Story also converts information from a screenplay into XMP metadata that can

automate the creation of shooting scripts, shot lists, and more.

Note: To start the Adobe Story service from within After Effects, choose File > Go To Adobe Story.

15

USING AFTER EFFECTS

Workflows, planning, and setup

Last updated 11/28/2011

Acquiring, choosing, and preparing footage

Before importing footage, first decide which media and formats you'll use for your finished movies, and then

determine the best settings for your source material. Often, it’s best to prepare footage before importing it into After

Effects.

For example, if you want an image to fill your composition frame, configure the image in Adobe Photoshop so that the

image size and pixel aspect ratio match the composition size and pixel aspect ratio. If the image is too large when you

import it into After Effects, you’ll increase the memory and processor requirements of the compositions that use it. If

the image is too small, you’ll lose image quality when you scale it to the desired size. See

“Pixel aspect ratio and frame

aspect ratio” on page 81.

If you can shoot footage with consistent lighting and colors—and otherwise prevent the need to do a lot of tedious

utility work in post-production—then you’ll have more time for creative work. Consider using Adobe OnLocation

while shooting footage to make sure that you get the most out of your time and footage.

If possible, use uncompressed footage or footage encoded with lossless compression. Lossless compression means

better results for many operations, such as keying and motion tracking. Certain kinds of compression—such as the

compression used in DV encoding—are especially bad for color keying, because they discard the subtle differences in

color that you depend on for good bluescreen or greenscreen keying. It’s often best to wait until the final rendering

phase to use compression other than lossless compression. See

“Keying introduction and resources” on page 375.

If possible, use footage with a frame rate that matches that of your output, so that After Effects doesn’t have to use

frame blending or similar methods to fill in missing frames. See

“Frame rate” on page 79.

The kind of work that you’ll be doing in After Effects and the kind of output movie that you want to create can even

influence how you shoot and acquire your footage. For example, if you know that you want to animate using motion

tracking, consider shooting your scene in a manner that optimizes for motion tracking—for example, using tracking

markers. See

“Motion tracking workflow” on page 249.

David Van Brink shows an excellent example on his omino pixel blog of why shooting in a high-definition format is

useful even for standard-definition delivery, because the extra pixels give you a lot of room for synthetic (fake) camera

work, such as zooms and pans in post-production.

Trish and Chris Meyer provide tips for planning and delivering high-definition and widescreen work in articles on the

ProVideo Coalition website:

• The High-Def Checklist

• Open Wide: Creating That Widescreen Look

Project settings

Project settings fall into three basic categories: how time is displayed in the project, how color data is treated in the

project, and what sampling rate to use for audio. Of these settings, the color settings are the ones that you need to think

about before you do much work in your project, because they determine how color data is interpreted as you import

footage files, how color calculations are performed as you work, and how color data is converted for final output. See

“Color management” on page 273 and “Timecode and time display units” on page 55.

If you enable color management for your project, the colors that you see are the same colors that your audience will

see when they view the movie that you create.

Note: Click the color depth indicator at the bottom of the Project panel to open the Project Settings dialog box. Alt-click

(Windows) or Option-click (Mac OS) to cycle through color bit depths: 8 bpc, 16 bpc, and 32 bpc. See

“Color depth and

high dynamic range color” on page 263.

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