Adobe After Effects ACP flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Changing comp frame rate

Editing frame rate in Composition Settings changes playback timing metadata but does not retime existing keyframes; keyframes keep their times in seconds and snap to the nearest frame of the new rate.

Auto-Save interval

Auto-Save writes recovery copies at an interval set in Preferences > Auto-Save, 20 minutes by default, to a folder you specify; recovery files open after an unexpected quit.

Disk cache location

Configured in Preferences > Media & Disk Cache, the disk cache stores rendered frames for previews and is not saved inside the project, so it can be purged or relocated freely.

Project file references

An .aep file stores links to source media rather than the media itself; moving or renaming sources breaks those links, repaired with Replace Footage or avoided with Collect Files.

Interpret Footage dialog

Right-click footage and choose Interpret Footage > Main to set frame rate, pixel aspect ratio, field order, alpha type, and color management before the footage is used in compositions.

Premultiplied alpha

Alpha interpretation where color channels are already multiplied by alpha, so edges composite correctly. Treating premultiplied footage as Straight causes fringing on semi-transparent edges.

Proxy footage

A lower-resolution stand-in linked to a source file. The proxy switch toggles preview use; final renders use the full-resolution source unless Use Proxies is enabled in Render Settings.

Collect Files command

File > Collect Files copies the project plus all used footage into a single folder and can generate a report, making it the standard way to archive or hand off a project.

Import PSD as composition

Choosing Composition in the Photoshop import dialog creates a folder containing a comp at document size and one layer per Photoshop layer, preserving stacking order, blending, and opacity.

Anchor point

The pivot for scale and rotation and the reference for position. Repositioning the anchor in the Layer panel changes rotation and scaling behavior without moving the layer if position is compensated.

Hold keyframe

A keyframe whose value stays constant until the next keyframe, producing stepped animation. Set it by right-clicking the keyframe and choosing Toggle Hold Keyframe.

Parenting a layer

Linking a layer to a parent makes it inherit the parent's position, scale, and rotation, but not opacity, effects, or masks; parenting is independent of layer order.

Time Remapping

Layer > Time > Enable Time Remapping adds keyframes whose values represent source time, so spacing sets speed and reversed keyframe order reverses playback, including freezes.

Track matte layer

An alpha or luma matte uses the layer directly above to define visibility; the receiving layer's switch must be set to Alpha Matte or Luma Matte, which hides the matte layer.

Adjustment layer

A layer with no source that applies its effects to all layers beneath it in the same composition, useful for global color correction, blur, or grain without altering original layers.

Mask feather

Softens mask edges over a pixel distance, set in the Mask properties or by dragging with the Mask Feather tool; mask expansion instead grows or shrinks the entire shape.

Saving animation preset

Select layer properties, then Animation > Save Animation Preset to write an .ffx file into the User Presets folder, where it appears in the Effects & Presets panel.

Effect render order

Effects are applied from top to bottom in the Effect Controls panel, so swapping their order changes the result; masks are applied before effects on the same layer.

Trim Paths operator

A shape layer operator that animates strokes drawing on or off using Start, End, and Offset percentages; it must be placed below the path group it affects.

Repeater operator

Duplicates a shape group multiple times with per-copy offsets for position, rotation, scale, and opacity, building patterns such as radial bursts without adding layers.

Text range selector

Text animators use range selectors to limit which characters receive properties like position, scale, or opacity, defined by start, end, offset, and advanced shape settings.

Create Shapes from Text

Right-clicking a text layer and choosing Create Shapes from Text converts glyphs into editable shape paths, enabling per-outline manipulation and shape operators such as Trim Paths.

Expression wiggle function

wiggle(frequency, amplitude) returns a random value each frame around the current property value; frequency sets times per second and amplitude sets maximum deviation.

3D Camera Tracker

Effect > Perspective > 3D Camera Tracker analyzes motion in footage, displays track points, and can create a camera plus nulls for attaching 3D content to the scene.

Collapse Transformations

A layer switch that renders nested comps and vector layers at the parent comp's resolution and lets 3D cameras and lights affect the contents of nested compositions.

Camera depth of field

Enable Depth of Field on a camera and set Aperture, Focus Distance, and Blur Level; larger aperture values produce shallower focus and stronger background blur.

Warp Stabilizer methods

Effects > Distort > Warp Stabilizer offers Position, Position/Scale/Rotation, Subspace Warp, and Perspective methods; Subspace Warp is the most thorough but slowest and can warp edges.

Mocha AE planar tracking

Effect > Mocha > Mocha AE tracks planar surfaces across frames and exports corner-pin or transform data back to After Effects for screen replacement and cleanup work.

Render Queue

Ctrl/Cmd+Alt+0 opens the Render Queue, where each output item carries its own Render Settings for quality, resolution, and frame range and Output Module settings for format and codec.

Output module alpha channels

Set Channels to RGB+Alpha and choose Straight or Premultiplied to match the compositing application that will consume the file; a mismatch causes fringing on transparent edges.

Adobe Media Encoder

Compositions queued to Media Encoder encode to H.264, HEVC, and other delivery codecs in the background, using presets, watch folders, or explicitly set bitrate targets.

Post-render actions

Output Module post-render actions are Import, Import & Replace Usage, and Set Proxy, deciding what happens to the finished file inside the project after rendering completes.