Parenting - Beginner's After Effects & YTPMV (Part 6)

Introduction

This tutorial will guide you through the basics of parenting layers in Adobe After Effects, particularly for users transitioning from Vegas. Parenting layers allows you to move, rotate, and scale multiple layers simultaneously by linking them to a parent layer. This process enhances your workflow and efficiency in creating complex animations.

Step 1: Setting Up Your Layers

1. Open your After Effects project.
2. Remove any unwanted footage or layers to clear your workspace.
3. Drag in a new layer to your composition.
4. Duplicate this layer a few times:
   • Right-click on the layer and select "Duplicate" or use the shortcut Control + D.
5. Arrange the duplicated layers so that the center layer is on top.

Step 2: Parenting Layers

1. Select the two layers you want to parent:
   • Hold Control and click on the layers to select them.
2. Use the parenting icon (a spiral or an arrow) in the layer panel:
   • Drag this icon to the topmost layer (the center layer).
3. Now, when you move the topmost layer, the other layers will move along with it.

Important Note

• If you change the order of layers in the stack (e.g., move the parent layer to the bottom), the parenting relationship remains intact.

Step 3: Creating Parent-Child Hierarchies

1. To create a hierarchy, select the right layer and parent it to the left layer:
   • Click the parenting icon and drag it from the right layer to the left layer.
2. The left layer can now be parented to the center layer as well:
   • Repeat the same process.
3. Understanding movement:
   • Moving the center layer moves both the left and right layers.
   • Moving the left layer moves the right layer, while the right layer can move independently.

Step 4: Applying Transformations

• Parenting applies to all transformation properties except for opacity:
  • You can link position, rotation, scale, and anchor point but not opacity.
• To link the opacity of one layer to another:
  1. Select the layer whose opacity you want to link.
  2. Click the dropdown for opacity.
  3. Use the pick whip tool (a spiral icon) to drag from the opacity of the main layer to the desired layer’s opacity.

Step 5: Linking Individual Properties

1. If your version of After Effects does not show the pick whip for properties:
   • Hold Alt and click on the stopwatch icon next to the property you want to link.
2. This will allow you to drag and link other properties similarly, providing flexibility beyond just parenting layers.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, you learned how to effectively use parenting in After Effects, allowing you to manage multiple layers efficiently. You can create parent-child relationships, apply transformations, and link individual properties for enhanced control over your animations. As you continue your After Effects journey, the next step will be exploring pre-composing, which offers even greater organizational capabilities.