I see where you’re coming from. He doesn’t explain the layers very well. But, if you would do it step by step I’m sure you would be able to create the effect. Do exactly what he does then pause while your scaling and stuff. Then play it again and continue to go step by step.
I’ll give you a little tip. Name all of your layers like closest, second closest, middle, second middle and so on and so forth. Then once you are done you can open up all the layers and see how it works!
You also look at a tutorial on how to do it in AE. I watch a lot of AE tutorials and just convert them to Motion!
I hope this tip helps!
AJ