[Todd Kopriva]

Dave’s instructions are good. If you want more information, see the “Create a motion path from a mask, shape, or paint path” section of After Effects Help.

If the Help document doesn’t contain the information that you need, or if you’d like to add a tip of your own, leave a comment using the link at the bottom of any Help page.

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Todd Kopriva, technical editor, Adobe Systems Incorporated
putting the ‘T’ back in ‘RTFM’ : After Effects Help on the Web
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[Todd Kopriva]

I just took a look at the iStockPhoto page that you linked to, and the page says that the footage comes with a luma matte (not a mask, as you said) for this footage.

The flag layer will take its opacity values from the luminance values of the matte layer, so black parts of the matte will cause 0% opacity (100% transparency).

Put the matte layer in the Timeline panel above the footage (flag) layer. Then, in the TrkMat (track matte) column for the flag layer, select the Luma Matte “[matte layer name]” option.

These instructions and more details are in the “Convert a layer into a track matte” section of After Effects Help. You can search for “luma matte” in After Effects Help for more information.

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Todd Kopriva, technical editor, Adobe Systems Incorporated
putting the ‘T’ back in ‘RTFM’ : After Effects Help on the Web
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[Todd Kopriva]

[tyke06] “when i go to do the motion tracking i dont have the tracker control on my menu….what do i do to fix it??? i have after effects 7 full”

By “full” do you mean “Professional”? Motion tracking is in After Effects 7 Professional but not in After Effects 7 Standard.

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Todd Kopriva, technical editor, Adobe Systems Incorporated
putting the ‘T’ back in ‘RTFM’ : After Effects Help on the Web
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[Todd Kopriva]

Paul Tuersley has a script here that allows you to search compositions for effects and turn them on or off: https://aenhancers.com/viewtopic.php?t=31

This isn’t exactly what you were asking for, but it seems like it might do the trick.

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Todd Kopriva, technical editor, Adobe Systems Incorporated
putting the ‘T’ back in ‘RTFM’ : After Effects Help on the Web
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[Todd Kopriva]

Erik’s suggestion is a good one.

Here is what After Effects Help says about 3D layers and the Collapse Transformations switch in the “Render order and collapsing transformations” section:

“If transformations are not collapsed, a nested composition that contains 3D layers is rendered as a 2D image of the 3D arrangement, using the default composition camera. This prevents the nested composition from intersecting with 3D layers, casting shadows on 3D layers, and receiving shadows from 3D layers in the containing composition. The nested composition is also not controlled by the containing composition

[Todd Kopriva]

[Jon] “Is there a way to save an expression as a Preset or Favorite?”

Yes. It’s just like saving any other kind of animation preset: Select the property that contains the expression and choose Animation > Save Animation Preset. You can apply the expression to the same property on a different layer by selecting the layer and double-clicking the animation preset in the Effects & Presets panel, or you can apply the expression to any other property by selecting the individual property first.

For more information, see the “Save and reuse expressions” section of After Effects Help. There are some cross-references at the bottom of that page to more information on animation presets.

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Todd Kopriva, technical editor, Adobe Systems Incorporated
putting the ‘T’ back in ‘RTFM’ : After Effects Help on the Web
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[Todd Kopriva]

There’s an example in After Effects that might help:

“Example: Start or stop wiggle at specific time”

If the Help document doesn’t contain the information that you need, or if you’d like to add a tip of your own, leave a comment using the link at the bottom of any Help page.

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Todd Kopriva, technical editor, Adobe Systems Incorporated
putting the ‘T’ back in ‘RTFM’ : After Effects Help on the Web
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[Todd Kopriva]

[mikederk] “The Help has been unhelpful.”

Mike, you have the ear (or eyes, really) of the person who can fix the Help document. Would you be willing to talk with me about exactly what sorts of problems you’re having and what information you think is missing? If so, email me at kopriva [at] adobe [dot] com.

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Todd Kopriva, technical editor, Adobe Systems Incorporated
putting the ‘T’ back in ‘RTFM’ : After Effects Help on the Web
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[Todd Kopriva]

There’s a section in After Effects Help that deals with the sort of problem that you’re seeing: “Best practices for creating text and vector graphics for video”.

If the Help document doesn’t contain the information that you need, or if you’d like to add a tip of your own, leave a comment using the link at the bottom of any Help page.

————————————————————————————————–
Todd Kopriva, technical editor, Adobe Systems Incorporated
putting the ‘T’ back in ‘RTFM’ : After Effects Help on the Web
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How about taking a survey about After Effects documentation? Please?
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[Todd Kopriva]

There’s a long list of tips for maximizing performance in After Effects Help: “Improve performance”.

If the Help document doesn’t contain the information that you need, or if you’d like to add a tip of your own, leave a comment using the link at the bottom of any Help page.

————————————————————————————————–
Todd Kopriva, technical editor, Adobe Systems Incorporated
putting the ‘T’ back in ‘RTFM’ : After Effects Help on the Web
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How about taking a survey about After Effects documentation? Please?
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