Adobe After Effects - Manual (Page 144)

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You can create layers of any solid color and any size (up to 30,000x30,000 pixels). Solid-color layers have solid-color footage items as their
sources. Solid-color layers and solid-color footage items are both usually called solids.
Solids work just like any other footage item: You can add masks, modify transform properties, and apply effects to a layer that has a solid as its
source footage item. Use solids to color a background, as the basis of a control layer for a compound effect, or to create simple graphic images.
Solid-color footage items are automatically stored in the Solids folder in the Project panel.
Jeff Almasol provides a script on his redefinery website with which you can rename the selected solid footage items in the Project panel. You can
use this script to, for example, include the pixel dimensions, aspect ratio, and RGB color values in the name.
In After Effects CS6 and later, new solid layers are 17% gray (45/255) so they can contrast with the new default darker user interface
brightness
Create a solid-color layer or solid-color footage item
To create a solid footage item but not create a layer for it in a composition, choose File > Import > Solid.
To create a solid footage item and create a layer for it in the current composition, choose Layer > New > Solid or press Ctrl+Y (Windows) or
Command+Y (Mac OS).
To create a layer that fits the composition when you create a solid-color layer, choose Make Comp Size.
Modify settings for solid-color layers and solid-color footage items
To modify settings for the selected solid-color layer or footage item, choose Layer > Solid Settings.
To apply the changes to all solid-color layers that use the footage item, select Affect All Layers That Use This Solid. If you don’t select this
option, you create a new footage item, which becomes the source for the selected layer.
Adjustment layers
When you apply an effect to a layer, the effect applies only to that layer and no others. However, an effect can exist independently if you create an
adjustment layer for it. Any effects applied to an adjustment layer affect all layers below it in the layer stacking order. An adjustment layer at the
bottom of the layer stacking order has no visible result.
Because effects on adjustment layers apply to all layers beneath them, they are useful for applying effects to many layers at once. In other
respects, an adjustment layer behaves like other layers; for example, you can use keyframes or expressions with any adjustment layer property.
A more accurate description is that the adjustment layer applies the effect to the composite created from all layers below the adjustment
layer in the layer stacking order. For this reason, applying an effect to an adjustment layer improves rendering performance compared with
applying the same effect separately to each of the underlying layers.
If you want to apply an effect or transformation to a collection of layers, you can precompose the layers and then apply the effect or
transformation to the precomposition layer. (See
Precompose layers .)
Use masks on an adjustment layer to apply an effect to only parts of the underlying layers. You can animate masks to follow moving subjects in
the underlying layers.
To create an adjustment layer, choose Layer > New > Adjustment Layer, or press Ctrl+Alt+Y (Windows) or Command+Option+Y (Mac OS).
To convert selected layers to adjustment layers, select the Adjustment Layer switch for the layers in the Timeline panel or choose Layer >
Switches > Adjustment Layer.
You can deselect the Adjustment Layer switch for a layer to convert it to a normal layer.
Online resources about adjustment layers
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