Gotchas

Gotchas

Precomping several layers together can solve problems, but
it can also create new ones. Common gotchas include
. You want some but not all properties to be precomped.
. It can be a pain to undo in order to restore precomped
layers to the master composition.
. You must deal with the all-or-nothing behavior of blending
modes and 3D layers, depending on the Collapse
Transformations setting.
. It can be unclear how motion blur, frame blending, and
collapsed transformation switches in the master composition
affect nested comps.
. Layer timing (duration, In and Out points) and dimensions
can become constraints.
If you recognize any of these problems and haven’t solved
them, check out the following useful strategies.
Boundaries of Time and Space
Each composition in After Effects contains its own fi xed
timing and pixel dimensions, which a couple of strategies
help navigate:
. Make source compositions longer than the shot is ever
anticipated to be to avoid truncating timing.
. Enable Collapse Transformations for the nested composition
to ignore its boundaries.
These two simple rules will cover many situations, but
Collapse Transformations has extra benefi ts and limitations
of its own.