Adobe After Effects - Manual (Page 154)

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Off
Orient Along Path
Orient Towards Camera
Orient Towards Point Of Interest
Note:
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mattes retain their order, on top of the layer.
After you split a layer, the duration of the original layer ends at the point of the split, and the new layer starts at that point in time.
If no layer is selected when you choose Edit > Split Layer, all layers are split at the current time.
Paul Tuersley provides a script on the AE Enhancers forum for splitting layers at layer markers.
Lloyd Alvarez provides a script on his After Effects Scripts website that automatically detects edits in a footage layer and splits it into a separate
layer for each edit (or places a layer marker at each edit).
Auto-Orientation options
The auto-orientation options (Layer > Transform > Auto-Orient) for each layer specify how its orientation depends on motion paths, points of
interest, and cameras.
The layer rotates freely, independent of the motion path, point of interest, or other layers.
The layer faces in the direction of the motion path. For example, use this option for a camera to depict the perspective of a
driver who is looking at the road ahead while driving.
The layer is always oriented so that it faces the active camera. This option is available for 3D layers; this option is not
available for 2D layers, cameras, or lights. 3D text layers have an additional option, Orient Each Character Independently, which orients each
character around its individual anchor point. Selecting Orient Each Character Independently enables per-character 3D properties for the text layer
if they aren’t already enabled. (See Per-character 3D text properties.)
The camera or light always points at its point of interest. This option is not available for layers other than
cameras and lights. (See Cameras, lights, and points of interest.)
If you specify an auto-orientation option for a layer, and then change its Orientation or X, Y, or Z Rotation properties, the layer orientation is
offset by the new values. For example, you can set a camera with Orient Along Path, and then rotate the camera 90 degrees to the right to depict
the perspective of a passenger looking out the side window of a car as it moves.
The automatic orientation to point to the point of interest occurs before the Rotation and Orientation transformations are applied. To animate a
camera or light with the Orient Towards Point Of Interest option to look temporarily away from the point of interest, animate the Rotation and
Orientation transform properties.
Dan Ebberts provides an expression on his MotionScript website that auto-orients a layer along only one axis. This is useful, for example, for
having characters turn from side to side to follow the camera while remaining upright.
Additional resources for selecting and arranging layers
Jeff Almasol provides a script on his redefinery website that creates a panel with controls for moving various combinations of items in time: layer In
point, layer Out point, layer source frames, keyframes, and markers.
Trish and Chris Meyer provide an introduction to moving, trimming, reordering, and sequencing layers in a PDF excerpt from the “Layer Control”
chapter of their book
After Effects Apprentice: Real-World Skills for the Aspiring Motion Graphics Artist .
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