How to Combine Shots in After Effects

To combine shots in After Effects, use the tools of the Composition and Timeline panels to specify where and when the shots composing a sequence will occur. Moving a video's window in the Composition panel lets you set where that video will appear on screen. Moving the video's time slider in the Timeline panel lets you choose exactly which frames of the video will play. You can copy and paste these sliders, which lets you combine multiple instances of a shot into a single sequence. This feature is essential for editing scenes with footage from two or more cameras.

Instructions

1. Click the File menu's "Open" command, then navigate to and double-click a video file with a shot you'd like to combine with a shot from another video file. Repeat this process to load the second video file.

2. Drag the thumbnail icon that shows the first video's first frame from the Project panel onto the Composition panel. This action makes the video editable. Drag the second video's thumbnail onto the Composition panel. The Timeline panel now shows two rows, one for each video. Both rows have a rectangular time slider you can manipulate to specify when and how long each video plays for.

3. Click the top time slider to select it, then drag it left or right to move it backward or forward in time. Dragging left will make the video play earlier, while dragging right will make it play later. Click the left edge of the time slider, which represents the frame at which the first video begins playing. This frame defaults to the first frame in the video. Drag right to make the first video begin playing at a frame after the first frame. Similarly, drag the right edge of the time slider left to specify the last frame that will play in the video.

4. Click the video you want to move in the Timeline panel. This action selects the frame in the Composition panel in which the video plays. Click one of the square handles on the bounding box surrounding the video, then drag to change the bounding box to a size you want. Click inside the bounding box, then drag to position the video at the screen location you want it.

5. Click the "Preview" panel's ">" button to view the combined shots of the two videos.

References

• Adobe After Effects CS5 Classroom in a Book; Adobe Creative Team; 2010