Working with guide layers (6.5)

You can use rulers, guide lines, safe zones and grids in your layers and compositions to help you position and edit your footage. In After Effects 6.5, you can also create guide layers from existing layers to use for reference purposes in the Composition window. For example, you can use guide layers for visual reference, for audio timing, for timecode reference, or for storing comments to yourself. By default, guide layers aren't rendered when you create output but can be rendered when desired by changing the composition's render settings in the Render Queue dialog box.

Note: Guide layers in nested compositions can't be viewed in the parent composition.

To convert a layer to a guide layer or vice versa:

1. Select the layer.
2. Choose Layer > Guide Layer. A guide layer icon  appears next to a guide layer's source or layer name in the Timeline window.

To not render guide layers with a composition:

1. In the Render queue window, click the Render Settings value to display the Render Settings dialog box.
2. Choose All Off from the Guide Layers menu.

To render visible guide layers with a composition:

In the Render Queue window, choose one of the following from the Render Settings menu:

• Current Settings also renders the composition using the composition's settings.
• Custom displays the Render Settings dialog box. Choose Current Settings from the Guide Layers menu.