Trying to understand AE concepts

[Walter Soyka]

[Todd Soaper] “How can I go about this? I know that a comp is fundamental to AE, and that layers live inside comps, and comps may also be nested in other comps. But my knowledge ends there.”

Since you’re new to Ae, If you’re new to After Effects, I’d recommend the following link, in which former After Effects product managaer Todd Kopriva pulled together some important introductory materials:
https://blogs.adobe.com/toddkopriva/2010/01/getting-started-with-after-eff.html

I think the Andrew Devis After Effects Basics series and the Video Copilot Basic Training and are particularly good starts.

Since you’re a developer, I’d suggest that you can learn a ton about how Ae works under the hood by reading the scripting guide (After Effects CS6 Scripting Guide is the latest full guide with several addenda thereafter). A lot of this will not make sense until after you’ve become more familiar with the user-facing application.
https://www.adobe.com/devnet/aftereffects.html

[Todd Soaper] “You mention 2.5D. Never understood what this means. I read the Wikipedia article, watched YouTube videos that animate still pictures. I understand that much. But, for example, what is a “2.5D bounding box”?”

In real 3D, objects can have depth. In Ae’s 2.5D, an object cannot have depth. A 3D layer in Ae’s classic 3D renderer is a flat plane. As you turn it edgewise, you see the object itself has no third dimension, even though it exists in a three-dimensional space.

Walter Soyka
Designer & Mad Scientist at Keen Live [link]
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
@keenlive   |   RenderBreak [blog]   |   Profile [LinkedIn]

[Walter Soyka]

Also, if you’re into reading-the-friendly-manual:
https://helpx.adobe.com/after-effects/topics.html

There’s some good, clear, well-written background information in there.

Walter Soyka
Designer & Mad Scientist at Keen Live [link]
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
@keenlive   |   RenderBreak [blog]   |   Profile [LinkedIn]

[Todd Soaper]

Thank you! A wealth of information. I especially love scripting.

[Walter Soyka]

[Todd Soaper] “I especially love scripting.”

Cool. You’ll have some fun. Even if you never really get into it, Ae’s scripting system seems to be a pretty thin wrapper for internal functionality. It will definitely help you understand what’s going on, under the hood, in considerable depth.

Walter Soyka
Designer & Mad Scientist at Keen Live [link]
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
@keenlive   |   RenderBreak [blog]   |   Profile [LinkedIn]