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Managing layers


    Layers are the components you use to build a composition. Any item you add to a composition--such as a still image, moving image file, audio file, lights and cameras, or even another composition--becomes a new layer. Without layers, a composition consists only of an empty frame.

    Using layers, you can work with specific footage items in a composition without affecting any other footage. For example, you can move, rotate, and draw masks for one layer without disturbing any other layers in the composition, or you can use the same footage in more than one layer and use it differently in each instance. For more information on masks, see Working with masks.

    Three layers as viewed in the Timeline window (left) and the Composition window (right)
    Three layers as viewed in the Timeline window (left) and the Composition window (right)