Create a camera layer and change camera settings



You can view 3D layers from any angle and distance using camera layers. Just as it’s easier in the real world to move cameras through and around a scene than it is to move and rotate the scene itself, it’s often easiest to get different views of a composition by setting up a camera layer and moving it around in a composition.

You can modify and animate camera settings to configure the camera to match the real camera and settings that were used to record footage with which you’re compositing. You can also use camera settings to add camera-like behaviors—from depth-of-field blur to pans and dolly shots—to synthetic effects and animations.

Cameras affect only 3D layers and 2D layers with an effect with a Comp Camera attribute. With effects that have a Comp Camera attribute, you can use the active composition camera or lights to view or light an effect from various angles to simulate more sophisticated 3D effects. After Effects can interact with Photoshop 3D layers by means of the Live Photoshop 3D effect, which is a special example of a Comp Camera effect.

You can choose to view a composition through the active camera or through a named custom camera. The active camera is the topmost camera in the Timeline panel at the current time for which the Video switch is selected. The active camera view is the point of view used for creating final output and nesting compositions. If you have not created a custom camera, then the active camera is the same as the default composition view.

All cameras are listed in the 3D View menu at the bottom of the Composition panel, where you can access them at any time.

It’s often easiest to adjust a camera when using one of the custom 3D views. You can’t—of course—see the camera to manipulate it when you’re looking through the camera itself.

Example of a camera 

A.
Point of interest

B.
Frame

C.
Camera

Note: If you import or open an After Effects 5.x project containing a 3D composition that used a default camera, After Effects adds an AE 5.x Default Camera to the composition.

Create a camera layer

 Choose Layer > New > Camera, or press Ctrl+Alt+Shift+C (Windows) or Command+Option+Shift+C (Mac OS).
Note: By default, new layers begin at the beginning of the composition duration. You can instead choose to have new layers begin at the current time by deselecting the Create Layers At Composition Start Time preference (Edit > Preferences > General (Windows) or After Effects > Preferences > General (Mac OS)).

Change camera settings

You can change camera settings at any time.

 Double-click the camera layer in the Timeline panel, or select the layer and then choose Layer > Camera Settings.

Camera settings

You can change camera settings at any time by double-clicking the layer in the Timeline panel or selecting the layer and choosing Layer > Camera Settings.

Name
The name of the camera. By default, Camera 1 is the name of first camera that you create in a composition, and all subsequent cameras are numbered in ascending order. You should choose distinctive names for multiple cameras to make it easier to distinguish them.

Preset
The type of camera settings you want to use. The presets are named according to focal lengths. Each preset is meant to represent the behavior of a 35mm camera with a lens of a certain focal length. Therefore, the preset also sets the Angle Of View, Zoom, Focus Distance, Focal Length, and Aperture values. The default preset is 50mm. You can also create a custom camera by specifying new values for any of the settings.

Zoom
The distance from the lens to the image plane. In other words, a layer that is the Zoom distance away appears at its full size, a layer that is twice the Zoom distance away appears half as tall and wide, and so on.

Angle Of View
The width of the scene captured in the image. The Focal Length, Film Size, and Zoom values determine the angle of view. A wider angle of view creates the same result as a wide-angle lens.

Enable Depth Of Field
Applies custom variables to the Focus Distance, Aperture, F-Stop, and Blur Level settings. Using these variables, you can manipulate the depth of field to create more realistic camera-focusing effects. (The depth of field is the distance range within which the image is in focus. Images outside the distance range are blurred.)

Focus Distance
The distance from the camera to the plane that is in perfect focus.
Add this expression to the Focus Distance property to lock the focal plane to the camera's point of interest so that the point of interest is in focus: length(position, pointOfInterest)

Lock To Zoom
Makes the Focus Distance value match the Zoom value.
Note: If you change the settings of the Zoom or Focus Distance options in the Timeline panel, the Focus Distance value becomes unlocked from the Zoom value. If you need to change the values and want the values to remain locked, then use the Camera Settings dialog box instead of the Timeline panel. Alternatively, you can add an expression to the Focus Distance property in the Timeline panel: Select the Focus Distance property, and choose Animation > Add Expression; then drag the expression pick whip to the Zoom property. (See Expression basics.)

Aperture
The size of the lens opening. The Aperture setting also affects the depth of field—increasing the aperture increases the depth of field blur. When you modify Aperture, the values for F-Stop change to match it.
Note: In a real camera, increasing the aperture also allows in more light, which affects exposure. Like most 3D compositing and animation applications, After Effects ignores this result of the change in aperture values.

F-Stop
Represents the ratio of the focal length to aperture. Most cameras specify aperture size using the f-stop measurement; thus, many photographers prefer to set the aperture size in f-stop units. When you modify F-Stop, Aperture changes to match it.

Blur Level
The amount of depth-of-field blur in an image. A setting of 100% creates a natural blur as dictated by the camera settings. Lower values reduce the blur.

Film Size
The size of the exposed area of film, which is directly related to the composition size. When you modify Film Size, the Zoom value changes to match the perspective of a real camera.

Focal Length
The distance from the film plane to the camera lens. In After Effects, the position of the camera represents the center of the lens. When you modify Focal Length, the Zoom value changes to match the perspective of a real camera. In addition, the Preset, Angle Of View, and Aperture values change accordingly.

Units
The units of measurement in which the camera setting values are expressed.

Measure Film Size
The dimensions used to depict the film size.

Online resources about cameras

Dale Bradshaw provides a script and sample project for automating the rigging of a camera on the Creative Workflow Hacks website.

Mark Christiansen provides tips and detailed techniques for working with cameras in the “Virtual Cinematography in After Effects” chapter of After Effects Studio Techniques on the Peachpit Press website. This chapter includes information about matching lens distortion, performing camera moves, performing camera projection (camera mapping), using rack focus, creating boke blur, using grain, and choosing a frame rate to match your story-telling.

Trish and Chris Meyer provide a tutorial for using 3D layers, lights, and cameras in a PDF excerpt from their book After Effects Apprentice on the Focal Press website.

Richard Harrington provides a video tutorial on the Creative COW website that shows how to use the camera tools and camera views in After Effects to create a camera move with 3D layers. (This tutorial is the second in a two-part series. Part 1 concentrates on working with photographs to isolate and create sky in Photoshop for use in After Effects.)