Creating a new composition and changing settings

Once you have created a composition, you can change its settings at any time. Remember, however, that changing frame size or pixel aspect ratio can affect your final movie, so set these as early in the project as possible. Use the Flowchart View to get a "big picture" perspective of complex projects. (See "Visualizing organization with Flowchart View" on page 666.)

When you create a composition without changing settings in the Composition Settings dialog box, the new composition uses the same settings as the previous composition. (See Understanding basic composition settings.)

To create a composition:

1. Choose Composition > New Composition.
2. Type a Composition Name.
3. Either choose a preset from the Preset pop-up menu or specify basic composition settings as follows:
• Type a value for frame size in the Width and Height text boxes. As a general rule, frame size and aspect ratio should match your intended output media. This is set automatically if you choose a preset.
• Select Lock Aspect Ratio if you want to type a width or height not included in the menu and if you want After Effects to ensure that the composition dimensions conform to the aspect ratio for the current values.
• Choose a pixel aspect ratio from the Pixel Aspect Ratio pop-up menu. This is set automatically if you choose a preset.
• Type a value for frames per second in the Frame Rate text box. This is set automatically if you choose a preset.
• Choose a resolution from the Resolution pop-up menu.
• Type a value in the Start Timecode or Start Frame text box to determine the time value that will be displayed for the first frame of the composition. This value does not affect rendering.
• Type a duration for your composition in the Duration text box.
4. If desired, click the Advanced tab and specify advanced settings as follows:
• Use the Anchor control if you want to anchor the layers to a corner or edge of the composition as it is resized.
• Specify Shutter Angle and Shutter Phase settings for motion blur.
• Select the Preserve Resolution option so that the nested composition retains its resolution setting. Select the Preserve Frame Rate option to lock a composition to a specific frame rate.
• Select a 3D rendering plug-in from the Rendering Plug-In pop-up menu.
5. Click OK.

For additional information, see Understanding basic composition settings, Understanding advanced composition settings, and "Adjusting the shutter angle for motion blur" on page 133.

To change a composition's settings:

1. Choose Composition > Composition Settings.
2. Adjust basic settings.
3. If desired, click the Advanced tab and adjust advanced settings.
4. Click OK.

For more information, see Understanding basic composition settings and Understanding advanced composition settings.