Understanding parent layers

To assign one layer's transformations to the transformations of another layer, use parenting. Parenting can affect all transform properties except opacity. Assign parent layers in the Parent column in the Timeline window. A layer can have only one parent, but a layer can be a parent to any number of 2D or 3D layers within the same composition. You cannot animate the act of assigning and removing the parent designation--that is, you cannot designate a layer as a parent at one point in time and then designate it as a normal layer at a different point in time. Parenting layers is useful for creating complex animations such as linking the movements of a marionette or depicting the orbits of planets in the solar system.


Dragging the pick whip to designate the spaceship layer as the parent to the star layer.

Once a layer is made a parent to another layer, the other layer is called the child layer. Creating a parenting relationship between layers synchronizes the changes in the parent layer with the corresponding transformation values of the child layers. For example, if a parent layer moves 5 pixels to the right of its starting position, then the child layer will also move 5 pixels to the right of its position. You can animate child layers independent of their parent layers. You can also parent using null objects, which are hidden layers. (See Using null objects.)

Related Subtopics:

Working with parent and child layers
Using null objects