- After Effects Solid Settings
- Solid Settings After Effects Program
- How To Open Solid Settings In After Effects
Learn useful techniques when adjusting a 3D layer's material options in After Effects to create a sense of depth and realism. After Effects will work to solve the camera movement once the analysis is complete. It will work to match the way the camera moves using reverse engineering before turning control back over to you. These are simple. The name of the mode determines what is kept by the top layer. So if you apply Hue to the top layer then it’ll lock that in and use the saturation and luminance from the bottom layer. This takes the blue hue from the top layer but then uses luminance and saturation from the red one. MM - All Mask Settings M – Mask Path F - Mask Feather TT - Mask Opacity General Shortcuts. Cmnd + Z – Undo Cmnd + N – New Composition Cmnd + K – Composition Settings Cmnd + I - Import Cmnd + Y – New Solid Shift + Cmnd + Y = Solid Settings Toolbar Shortcuts. Q – Shape Tool G – Pen Tool Y – Pan Behind Tool Cmnd + T – Type Tool. This simple video will show you how to change solid layer color in After Effects Studio.
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Learn about the many interesting and effective ways you can work with Solid Color Layers in After Effects.
If you’re a seasoned editor or designer still feeling lukewarm about jumping into After Effects, I encourage you to finally give it a go. Video editors may feel perfectly comfortable working entirely inside their preferred NLE, and designers may feel daunted by the technical side of video, and that’s perfectly understandable. However, After Effects provides a lot of powerful tools distinctly more advanced than those in Premiere Pro and Photoshop.
If you’re still pretty new to the application, here’s a chance to dig in a little deeper. Let’s demystify one of the most basic and essential elements of After Effects — the Solid Color Layer.
What Exactly Is a Solid Color Layer?
So what exactly is a Solid Color Layer in After Effects? Simply put, it’s a plain single-color layer. More specifically, it’s a vector-based, two-dimensional object generated with minimal data — just a rectangle with color, height, and width values assigned to it.
The Solid Color Layer is one of several basic layer types in After Effects. Other layer types include Shape Layers, Adjustment Layers, Cameras, Lights, and Null Objects. Each has unique functions and parameters, some more advanced than others. If you’re relatively new to After Effects, keep it simple. Begin with understanding the Solid Color Layer first. Once you get the hang of using Solids in conjunction with images and video, you’ll be ready to start leveraging the full breadth of layer types.
Although Solids are an older layer type inside After Effects, they persist in relevance due to their simplicity. For instance, a Solid Layer can achieve much of the same results as a Shape layer, but if all you need is a simple rectangular shape, then a Solid Layer will be much lighter-weight in terms of processing and memory. Additionally, many powerful effects and plugins are designed to be applied specifically to Solid Layers, such as Element 3D. This simple yet robust functionality is precisely why Solid Color Layers are foundational to working in After Effects.
How Do I Create a Solid Layer in After Effects?
Creating a Solid Color Layer is simple. Go to the Layer drop-down menu and under New select Solid… or just use the key command (Command+Y on Mac, Control+Y on a PC).
To create a new Solid Color Layer, you can either go to the Layer menu and under “New” select “Solid…”
Inside the Solid Settings panel, you can adjust the dimensions, aspect ratio, and color of your new Solid Color Layer. If you would like the dimensions of your Solid to match that of your Composition, simply click Make Comp Size. If later you need to adjust the dimensions or color of your Solid, use the key command Shift+Command+Y on a Mac and Shift+Control+Y on a PC.
I’ve Created a Solid Color Layer. How Do I Use it?
Once you’ve created your Solid Color Layer, there are a lot of ways to use it. Here I’ll go over some of the most common applications for this essential layer type.
Backgrounds
The solid-colored background of your composition is purely for working in After Effects, and effectively represents transparency.
Perhaps the most essential use of a Solid Color Layer is creating a background for your Composition. Sure, you can set a background color in your Composition Settings, but this function is purely for working inside After Effects. That means the solid-colored background of your Composition is only there to show you transparency. In fact, you can toggle this colored background off to reveal the transparency grid we’ve come to know having worked in Photoshop or Illustrator.
In fact, you can toggle this button to reveal the Transparency Grid.
Because of this, it is best to use a Solid Color Layer as your background color, even if all you need is a plain black backdrop. Since Solids are technically 2D objects, they can remain stationary in your composition even when under dynamic animation and 3D objects. I personally like to add a bit of depth to a backdrop by giving my background layer a vignette with an Effect. I’ll explain more about applying an Effect later.
This 3D scene has a 3D Solid Color Layer as it’s background.
Faux-3D
While a Solid Color Layer is a 2D object, you may turn it into a 3D Layer inside your composition. In fact, the same is true for any 2D object, such as an image or a video. To turn a 2D Layer into a 3D Layer, just toggle the box under the little cube icon in your timeline or right-click the layer and select 3D layer.
To turn a 2D Layer into a 3D Layer, toggle the box under the little cube icon in the timeline.
Although still technically a 2D object, turning Solids, Images, and Videos into 3D layers allow your flat images to float in 3D space. This flat object will have no side profile, but will have a front and back face that exists in a sort of parallax.
2D objects can float in 3D space when switched into 3D Layers.
You can use this function to create simple environments for a 3D scene, or even construct crude but effective three-dimensional shapes in a pinch.
Effects
Many effects are designed to alter and adjust an image or video you’ve imported into After Effects. However, some effects are made specifically to generate new imagery and render simulated objects, rather than simply manipulate an image. To utilize this sort of effect, you’ll need a layer on which to place it. That’s where Solids come in.
Right-click the Solid Color Layer to apply an Effect.
To add an Effect to your Solid Color Layer, you can either right-click the layer and go to Effect or highlight the layer in your composition and go to the Effect menu at the top of your screen.
Here I’ve applied a Gradient Ramp Effect to a Solid. I can adjust this Effect’s settings in either the Effect Controls Panel or in my timeline.
You can adjust an effect’s settings in either the Effect Controls Panel or in the timeline.
Masks
Applying a Mask to a Solid is a great way to keep vector art inside your After Effects Project. Much like working in Illustrator, you can create vector shapes directly onto a layer using the Pen Tool. Once you’ve created an enclosed mask path, you’ll be able to use to reveal (add) or cover (subtract) portions of that layer.
Create vector shapes directly onto Solid Color Layers with the Pen Tool.
In fact, you can paste vector paths from Illustrator directly into After Effects. With both your After Effects and Illustrator projects open, go to Illustrator to select the vector shape you want to transfer and copy it (Mac: Command+C, PC: Control+C). Then move over to After Effects, select the Solid Color Layer you wish to work with, and simply paste (Mac: Command+V, PC: Control+V).
A vector art pasted onto a layer in After Effects becomes several editable Mask Paths.
You can certainly paste vector paths onto a Shape Layer path, but the process can be a bit more involved. For more complex vector art, it’s best to stick with Solids, since they are lighter on your memory and much easier to paste masks onto.
By pasting vector shapes directly into After Effects, you effectively keep all vector art contained inside of your After Effects Project. You can also animate a mask by keyframing the mask path in your timeline, providing much more flexibility than just importing vector art into your project.
You can animate a Mask Path in After Effects. Just edit the path and set keyframes along your timeline.
After Effects Solid Settings
Track Matte
One more very robust way to use a Solid is as a Track Matte. A Track Matte is a layer used to reveal another layer directly beneath it in a Composition. More specifically, the layer directly beneath a Track Matte will be revealed in precisely the same shape as the layer acting as the matte.
A Track Matte can be used to reveal a layer in precisely the same shape as the layer above it.
To use a Solid Layer as a Track Matte, you’ll want to toggle the Track Matte setting of the layer you wish to reveal. To do this, you must first place that layer directly below the layer serving as your Track Matte inside your timeline. Then find the column in your timeline marked TrkMat and follow it down to the drop-down for the layer you want to reveal.
Under the column marked “TrkMat” you can apply a Track Matte to a layer.
You’ll have four options to choose from — Alpha, Alpha Inverted, Luma, and Luma Inverted. Alpha will reveal your image in the shape of the matte.
Hedycomputer driver download. An Alpha Matte will reveal a layer in the shape of a masked Solid.
Alpha Inverted will give you the inverse, revealing everything outside of the shape of the matte.
Meanwhile, an Alpha Inverted Matte will achieve the opposite.
Luma and Luma Inverted work a bit differently. If you’re familiar with Photoshop, they work a lot like a Layer Mask, revealing an image along a grayscale value.
A Luma Matte will revealing a layer along a grayscale value.
For instance, if you were to add the Gradient Ramp effect to your Track Matte layer, applying the Luma Track Matte to your image will show more of your image under the lighter parts of your gradient, and gradually hide your image as the gradient becomes darker. Luma Inverted will achieve the inverse, naturally.
Here’s a Luma Matte applied under a masked Solid with a gradient.
This method works great for creating smooth wipe transitions or using more visually complex Matte Layers.
Understand The Solid to Unlock Its Potential
These are just a few of the many ways to use Solid Color Layers. There are so many more graphic effects and animations one can achieve with this layer type, precisely because of its simplicity. In fact, working with After Effects is an everlasting exercise in visual problem solving. Think of it as a creative logic problem, rooted in layers and values, and just waiting to be solved. Once you’ve mastered the logic, the possibilities are endless.
Dig in deeper to all things After Effects with this helpful content:
Maybe you have the sense that After Effects could be… speedier. Let’s make After Effects faster by making sure your system itself is optimized, and by eliminating common slowdowns in a given project.
Adobe provides thorough information on this topic, but there are way more than 12 steps for recovery of speed on that page. We’ll focus on the essentials that will get your preview renders, and final output moving faster so you can finish earlier.
Most of them matter a lot less than just a few presented here. There’s even one official Adobe recommendation I disagree with (see number 7).
1. Update the system, software, drivers, and plug-ins
With a Creative Cloud subscription, updates are waiting in the menu bar. If you’re stubbornly holding on to that copy of After Effects CS6, that’s that. Beyond After Effects itself, make sure third-party plug-ins and system drivers (in particular, for the GPU) are up to date.
2. Have enough RAM
After Effects makes intensive use of physical memory (RAM). The system itself (OSX or Windows) needs 4 or 5 GB without any other graphics applications open, so 16GB is minimal. On a system with 16GB of memory, that leaves 11GB for After Effects. That’s fine on a standard 4-core system (like an iMac or Macbook Pro); you need 2-4GB more for each additional core (the current Mac Pro can have 4, 6, 8, or 12).
3. Manage that RAM
So you have enough RAM. Preferences > Memory allows you to set how much RAM is reserved for other applications. If you’re just running the system, a browser, and so on, the default setting of 5GB is fine. For any of the other Adobe apps listed and shown after “RAM available for…” you are also fine; they don’t fight each other for that available memory. If things get slow, and a graphics or video application like Cinema 4D, Maya, or Final Cut Pro X is open, try closing them.
4. Get an SSD
RAM wasn’t enough for After Effects, so it was redeveloped to extend what had been RAM-only playback memory to the Disk Cache. Rendered frames and layers are identified and stored and recalled way faster than rewriting frames from scratch—especially if you have a Solid State Drive to house the cache. The green line you see above the Timeline stack is frames being added to RAM. As that line becomes blue, those frames have been moved to the cache.
By default, After Effects uses the startup disk. So make sure your startup disk is an SSD with at least 50GB free just for the cache. If not, add an SSD with low latency just to house the Disk Cache, and go to Preferences > Media & Disk Cache to set the maximum size and choose the location.
5. Keep source files on fast local storage
It doesn’t have to be on an SSD, but the equivalent of a fast-attached RAID (like you would use for editing) is great for After Effects. Anything from a portable USB3 RAID to a server-attached array on an optimized gigabit (or better) network will be way faster than keeping the files on a hard disk drive that’s already running the system (if that’s all you have).
6. Reduce needlessly huge source images
More resolution is always better, until it’s squandered at render time. Huge Photoshop files, in particular, will kill render speed. Sure, sometimes you need to pan across a giant graphic or matte painting in a single shot. But if you’re just scaling or cropping the image as soon as you add it to an After Effects comp, do that before you import it. Keep those lovingly crafted 5, 10, 20k originals, but replace them with copies once you commit to what you actually need. Much faster.
7. Set the Info panel to show delays
Frames hanging up? Under Preferences > Display, enable Show Rendering Progress in Info Panel and Flowchart. As each operation happens under the hood, the description of it plays for as long as it’s still happening. The slow ones can be easy to spot. Adobe says to keep this feature turned off for best performance, but I disagree. The penalty is minor compared to how much faster it is not to render some effect that you can turn off temporarily, replace, or omit.
8. Delete unused items from the timeline
Take a moment to delete what’s not in use. Assume that unused layers are wasting processor cycles, and disable or delete them as your comp takes shape.
9. Start in draft mode
Let’s be honest. You spend waaaay less than half your time dialing in the final look of a shot, and up until then, draft settings will mostly work. Set resolution to Half, which is one quarter the image data (or set it to Auto and keep it scaled down until you zoom in). Also, in the Preview panel, you can create a shortcut that skips every other frame: choose a keyboard action from the Shortcut pulldown menu, raise the Skip setting to 1, and use that shortcut when you want to preview twice as fast. Finally, in the timeline, you can disable Motion Blur, Frame Blending, and 3D shading with toggle switches at the top of the timeline—these don’t affect the final render.
10. Choose the appropriate bit depth
By default, After Effects is 8 bits per channel, and many, many artists leave it that way. The penalty to raise that to 16bpc is somewhat negligible given that it’s 128x more data per pixel—often not even noticeable—but then again, the benefit when you’re assembling the scene is also minimal. 16bpc exists only to prevent quantizing (e.g. banding) which you can live with as you work. Save it for render time. 32bpc opens up a whole different model for working with light, and if you need it, you already know that. Otherwise, steer clear.
Solid Settings After Effects Program
11. Speed up 3D previews
Avoid the Ray-traced 3D renderer. There, I said it. Go to the Advanced tab in Composition Settings and make sure it is not activated, or unwanted slowness will occur. And set the Fast Preview menu (in the Comp viewer) to Adaptive Resolution while you’re working in 3D. Use Fast Previews Preferences in that menu to adjust the quality if need be, and use Renderer Options to lower the quality of the shadows (and max it out if necessary at render time).
12. Render with AME
The Render Queue is the least-changed panel in 25 years of After Effects, and it shows. I know, you have your favorite workflow tricks in there. I do too. But as soon as you kick off a render, you can’t use the application until it’s done. In a comp that’s ready to render, choose CTRL+Alt+M (Windows) or CMD+Opt+M (Mac) and it goes to Adobe Media Encoder. It has far more useful built-in presets than the Render Queue and makes it easy to create, organize and save your own. And you can run it and keep working in After Effects; with that shared memory pool described back in number 3 above, everything keeps running, generally much faster than you might expect.
How To Open Solid Settings In After Effects
And one more thing…
Memorize those keyboard shortcuts. It’s the difference between touch typing and hunt-and-peck. Honestly, I’m such a nerd about these my initial thought was to feature my favorites in this post. Maybe an idea for another time. Meanwhile, get in the habit of noticing the shortcuts in pulldown menus and finding context-menus scattered throughout the UI. The After Effects Keyboard shortcuts reference is daunting, but maybe make a game of it and learn one each time you fire up the application, or you can get started with a keyboard skin like this one.
Have suggestions of your own to make After Effects even faster? Please share your comments.