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Blog

Three Useful AE Workflow Tips

April 25, 2015
25 Apr 2015

These simple After Effects tips can supercharge your workflow. Take a few moments to familiarize yourself with these useful shortcuts and pointers.

We are not “After Effects designers”, we are motion designers. Most of us just happen to use After Effects. Achieving a zen-like status as a professional motion designer is really about having After Effects get out of the way of your creativity. The best way to do this is to know the most efficient way(s) to get things done. Here’s a few that you might not know about.

 

After Effects Tip 1: Option + STAHP!

You hit render and you realize that you accidentally left that layer with the monkey.jpg turned off and the client MUST have it. You hit the STAHP! button, and then the Render Queue inconveniently queues up an item with the render settings set to pick up where you left off. I’m on my 20th year of using After Effects and I’ve never, ever used that. HOWEVER, if you hold down option or alt when you hit stop, it creates a fresh new copy of your render item.

monkey

 

After Effects Tip 2: Reveal Composition in Project

displacement-map

In After Effects, it’s inevitable that we precompose. Often we are creating a pre-comp first and need to locate it to drag into the main comp. In a complex project, that comp might be a bit buried or otherwise hard to find if there are a number of folders open. To quickly locate your current comp in the project, simply right-click in the blank space outside of your layers and select “Reveal Composition in Project”.

 

After Effects Tip 3: Add to Composition

addToComp

So, you’ve revealed this comp or element in your project window. To quickly add it to your composition, hit control or command + /. It works better if you shout a sound like  “PACHOO!” or “ZVHOOSH!”.

3 Comments/in After Effects Tips /by Harry
3 replies
  1. Adam says:
    April 28, 2015 at 8:58 am

    Holy crap. I really did miss the Opt+Click on the STHAAAP button. My life begins. Thanks! 😀

    Reply
  2. Peter Baker says:
    May 7, 2015 at 6:29 pm

    Wow, great tip! On a side note, how’s your health these days? I haven’t been to your site in a while, so I’m curious.

    Be well,
    Peter

    Reply
    • Harry says:
      May 20, 2015 at 4:11 pm

      Doing well! I am trying to wrap up the bills and whatnot from the first surgery and look forward to phase 2, which is a lot less involved. Overall, I am out of any dire risks or hazards as I was a couple years ago (many, many thanks to the community for helping me with that!).

      Reply

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