Choose a 3D view

You can view your 3D layers from several angles, using orthographic views, custom views that employ perspective, or camera views.

The working 3D views include the custom views and the fixed orthographic views (Front, Left, Top, Back, Right, or Bottom). The orthographic views show layer positions in the composition but do not show perspective. The working 3D views are not associated with a camera layer. The working 3D views are useful for placing and previewing elements in a 3D scene. 3D layers appear in working 3D views; 2D layers do not appear in working 3D views.

You can adjust the point of view and direction of view for the custom views with the Camera tools. (See Adjust a camera view or working 3D view.)

You can also choose to look at selected layers or all layers; After Effects changes the point of view and direction of view to include the layers that you have selected.

Choose a view from the 3D View menu at the bottom of the Composition panel.
Choose View > Switch 3D View, and choose a view from the menu.
Choose View > Switch To Last 3D View.
To switch to the previous 3D view, press Esc.
To see selected layers, choose View > Look At Selected Layers.
To see layers that aren’t visible in the active view, choose View > Look At All Layers.
To choose one of the 3D views with keyboard shortcuts, press F10, F11, or F12.
To change which 3D view is assigned to a keyboard shortcut, switch to a view and then press Shift and the keyboard shortcut. For example, to make F12 the shortcut for Top view, switch to Top view and then press Shift+F12. You can also use the View > Assign Shortcut To menu command for this purpose.