Indexing vectors and arrays

Indexing is a way of retrieving values in vectors and arrays. Vector and array indexing starts from 0--for example, the Position property arrays are indexed as follows:

• Position[0] is the x coordinate of position.
• Position[1] is the y coordinate of position.
• Position[2] is the z coordinate of position.

The Layer, Effect, and Mask elements in After Effects use an indexing process that starts from 1. For example, the first layer in the Timeline window is as follows:

layer(1)

Generally, it is best to use the name of a layer, effect, or a mask instead of a number to avoid confusion and errors if the layer, effect, or mask is moved, or if the parameters are changed during product updates and upgrades. When you use a name, always enclose it in straight quotes. For example, the first expression below is easier to understand than the second expression, and it will continue to work even if you change the order of effects:

effect("Colorama").param("Get Phase From")
effect(1).param(2)