Create a composition



You can change composition settings at any time. However, it’s best to specify settings such as frame aspect ratio and frame size when you create the composition, with your final output in mind. Because After Effects bases certain calculations on these composition settings, changing them late in your workflow can affect your final output.

Note: You can override some composition settings when rendering to final output. For example, you can use different frame sizes for the same movie. For more information see Render settings and Output modules and output module settings.
When you create a composition without changing settings in the Composition Settings dialog box, the new composition uses the settings from the previous time that composition settings were set.
Note: New compositions do not inherit the previous Preserve Frame Rate When Nested Or In Render Queue and Preserve Resolution When Nested settings.

You can create a set of After Effects compositions tailored for a selected set of devices by using the File > New Document In > After Effects command in Adobe Device Central. See Create compositions for playback on mobile devices.

Jeff Almasol provides a script on his redefinery website that creates and saves a new project for each selected composition in the current project. If a folder is selected in the Project panel when you create a new composition, the new composition is placed in the selected folder.

Create a composition and manually set composition settings

 Choose Composition > New Composition, or press Ctrl+N (Windows) or Command+N (Mac OS).

Create a composition from a single footage item

 Drag the footage item to the Create A New Composition button at the bottom of the Project panel or choose File > New Comp From Selection.

Composition settings, including frame size (width and height) and pixel aspect ratio, are automatically set to match the characteristics of the footage item.

Create a single composition from multiple footage items

  1. Select footage items in the Project panel.
  2. Drag the selected footage items to the Create A New Composition button at the bottom of the Project panel, or choose File > New Comp From Selection.
  3. Select Single Composition and other settings in the New Composition From Selection dialog box:
    Use Dimensions From
    Choose the footage item from which the new composition gets composition settings, including frame size (width and height) and pixel aspect ratio.

    Still Duration
    The duration for the still images being added.

    Add To Render Queue
    Add the new composition to the render queue.

    Sequence Layers, Overlap, Duration, and Transition
    Arrange the layers in a sequence, optionally overlap them in time, set the duration of the transitions, and choose a transition type.

Create multiple compositions from multiple footage items

  1. Select footage items in the Project panel.
  2. Drag the selected footage items to the Create A New Composition button at the bottom of the Project panel, or choose File > New Comp From Selection.
  3. Select Multiple Compositions and other settings in the New Composition From Selection dialog box:
    Still Duration
    The duration of the compositions created from still images.

    Add To Render Queue
    Add the new compositions to the render queue.

Duplicate a composition

  1. Select the composition in the Project panel.
  2. Choose Edit > Duplicate or press Ctrl+D (Windows) or Command+D (Mac OS).