Show or hide 3d axes and layer controls, Move a 3d layer, Rotate or orient a 3d layer – Adobe After Effects CS4 User Manual
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USING AFTER EFFECTS CS4
Layers and properties
Last updated 12/21/2009
Show or hide 3D axes and layer controls
3D axes are color-coded arrows: red for x, green for y, and blue for z.
•
To show or hide 3D axes, camera and light wireframe icons, layer handles, and the point of interest, choose View
>
Show Layer Controls.
If the axis that you want to manipulate is difficult to see, try a different setting in the Select View Layout menu at the
bottom of the Composition panel.
•
To show or hide a set of persistent 3D reference axes, click the Grid And Guides Options button
at the bottom
of the Composition panel, and choose 3D Reference Axes.
Chris and Trish Meyer provide a video tutorial on the
that demonstrates the use of the 3D
axis layer controls.
More Help topics
Show or hide layer controls in the Composition panel
Move a 3D layer
1
Select the 3D layer that you want to move.
2
Do one of the following:
•
In the Composition panel, use the Selection tool
to drag the arrowhead of the 3D axis layer control corresponding
to the axis along which you want to move the layer. Shift-drag to move the layer more quickly.
•
In the Timeline panel, modify the Position property values.
Press P to show Position.
•
To move selected layers so that their anchor points are at the center in the current view, choose Layer > Transform
> Center In View or press Ctrl+Home (Windows) or Command+Home (Mac OS).
Chris and Trish Meyer provide a video tutorial on the
that demonstrates the use of the 3D
axis layer controls.
More Help topics
Show or hide 3D axes and layer controls
Selecting and arranging layers
3D layers (keyboard shortcuts)
Rotate or orient a 3D layer
You can turn a 3D layer by changing its Orientation or Rotation values. In both cases, the layer turns around its anchor
point. The Orientation and Rotation properties differ in how the layer moves when you animate them.
When you animate the Orientation property of a 3D layer, the layer turns as directly as possible to reach the specified
orientation. When you animate any of the X, Y, or Z Rotation properties, the layer rotates along each individual axis
according to the individual property values. In other words, Orientation values specify an angular destination, whereas
Rotation values specify an angular route. Animate Rotation properties to make a layer turn multiple times.