[Ray Doll]

Your post is correct – it does. I have found the solution: in After Effects CS5.5, to make an an even selection you use shift drag, BUT you have CLICK first, THEN press SHIFT (unlike in Photoshop CS5.1 and most Adobe programs, where you hold shift FIRST, THEN click and drag.) The order of operation is crucial, because in Photoshop you would want to depress shift first, then release the mouse button (if you don’t do it this way, you risk messing up the selection). As far as I have figured out, in AE shift also deselects the layer or something silly like that, so shift then drag just ends up in frustration. However if you click, THEN shift, then drag, it works.

Phew.