You can create different types of layers within Adobe After Effects. The most commonly used ones are: Solid, Shape and Text layers. Each one has different attributes:
Solid Layers
A Solid Layer is a raster/resolution dependent objects. This means it cannot be scaled up without deteriorating the image. It includes basic animation properties (i.e: position, scale, opacity etc.), but not more complex ones (i.e: stroke, fill, corner roundness etc.). The upside to these limitations is that this type of layer is less taxing on processing power/more efficient. For this reason, they are often used as starting point for Effects.
To create a new Solid Layer
- Go to Layer > New… > Solid(or Command + Y)
- Set the Solid’s name, dimensions and color in the Settings Window (if you want the layer to fill the entire Composition, press the Make Comp Size button).
- Notice that a new Solid Layer was added to the Timeline
- Get into the habit of renaming your layers by clicking on their name and pressing Enterto edit.
Shape Layers
After Effects allows you to create vector shapes whose properties (including basic ones such as position, scale opacity, but also more complex ones such as stroke, fill, number of sides etc.) can be changed during the course of the animation.
Since these are vector objects, they are resolution independent and can be scaled infinitely without degradation to the image quality.
To create a new Shape Layer:
- Go to Layer > New > Shape Layer
- Activate one of the Shape tools (click and hold the Shape icon to see the different options) and set the Fill, Stroke and Stroke Weight
- Click and drag on the composition.
- Notice that the type of shape is now listed under the Contents tabs
- Rename the layer and its content
You can also nest several Shapes within one Shape Layer:
- Activate the existing Shape Layer
- Activate one of the Shape tools (i.e: Rounded Rectangle) and click and drag on the composition.
- Notice that a new shape has been created within the layer’s Contents tab
Text Layers
The content of Text layers can be customized similarly to text in other software (such as font, font size, color paragraph size, text spacing, kerning etc.). Their “Transform” menu has the same Animation properties as Solid and Shape Layers.
To create a new Text Layer:
- Activate the Text tool
- Set the Character and Paragraph options in their respective Panels (follow these links to review what the different options are for the Characterand ParagraphPanels)
- Click once on the Composition and type the text
- Notice that a new Text Layer has been created in the Timeline and that its name matches the typed text.
