• Adobe After Effects

  Linking Original Comp and Precompose

  Posted by Greg Gelber on October 29, 2008 at 3:56 pm

  I am trying to tweak a 36 window comp but it’s annoying not being able to see the applied effect on the original multi layered comp so I can adjust each window. I’m using a card wipe effect which breaks up all 36 windows in different directions. Obviously I can see the effect on the Precomp but my 36 layers are on the regular comp. Is there a way (or a trick) to link the two comps together so I don’t have to blindly guess how much to shorten each window? Bouncing back between each comp gets old fast.

  Thanks

  Kevin Camp replied 17 years, 10 months ago 3 Members · 5 Replies
• 5 Replies

• 

  Kevin Camp

  October 29, 2008 at 3:59 pm

  you can create more than one comp viewer window, and you can create one that is locked to the main comp and the other one can change as you select different comps in timeline…

  at the top of the preview window is a dropdown menu. select new comp viewer to create a second viewer. set to be your main comp (also from the dropdown menu, if the comp is open in the timeline) and hit the little lock icon, which will lock it to that comp. you’ll now need to drag that comp window (grab the tab) to an are where you can see both comp windows (it might be helpful to close some of the other panels that you won’t be using).

  now you should be able to select a nested comp timeline and see it in one viewer window, make modifications and see the change in the main comp viewer window…

  is that what you were after?

  Kevin Camp
  Senior Designer
  KCPQ, KMYQ & KRCW
• 

  Greg Gelber

  October 29, 2008 at 4:28 pm

  I’ll give it a try after lunch but it sounds promising.

  Thanks
• 

  Greg Gelber

  October 29, 2008 at 8:56 pm

  You Are Da Man!!!!! Thanks sooo much.
• 

  David Bogie

  October 29, 2008 at 9:58 pm

  Sheesh, Kevin, that was cool. Where do you find this stuff? (You don’t read the manual, do you?)

  I knew I could create more viewers but they were always changing. Solved.

  bogiesan

  This is my standard sigfile so do not take it personally: “For crying out loud, read the freakin’ manual.”
• 

  Kevin Camp

  October 30, 2008 at 4:23 pm

  i think i’m more like one of those people who can’t help but click things i see on the screen, so i just click things to see what they do, and try to figure out why the hell somebody would use it…

  you can do the same thing for the effects panel and timeline window too… very useful for linking things from one layer’s effects to another’s effects or from a layer in one comp to another in a separate comp via the expression pickwhip…

  Kevin Camp
  Senior Designer
  KCPQ, KMYQ & KRCW

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