1 // After Effects 101
Tools panel
Info / Audio
Composition panel
Time Controls
Effects & Presets Project panel
Timeline panel
The Standard workspace in After Effects. The active panel is highlighted with a yellow outline. Background courtesy Artbeats/Light Alchemy; objects courtesy Getty Images.
TIP
Resize Window To resize the Application Window (or any floating window) to fit inside its current screen, press Command+\ (Control+\). Press this again to expand the window further to fill the screen, with its borders extending beyond the screen.
4
The Application Window When you launch After Effects, it opens into its Application Window. By default, this window occupies your entire main monitor; you can resize it by dragging the lower right corner. The Application Window is divided into frames and panels. A frame is a major space division inside this window. One or more panels of information may be “docked” into each frame. Panels are dedicated to different types of information and tools, such as the Tools, Project, Composition, Timeline, Audio, Info, Time Controls, and other panels. Any panels not currently open can be accessed through the Window menu. In some cases, you may have multiple copies of the same type of panel, such as having multiple comps open or creating new Composition panels using the View > New Viewer menu command. Later in this chapter we will show you how to rearrange these frames and panels to create more efficient layouts for the task at hand. You can even “undock” panels or entire frames into their own floating windows. Once you have a layout you like, you can save it as a workspace; you can recall or reset your workspaces in addition to a set of task-specific workspaces Adobe has created for you.