Adobe AFTER EFFECTS 7.0 - About Blending Modes; Blending Modes and Mask Modes; To Apply a Blending Mode

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ADOBE AFTER EFFECTS 7.0

User Guide

259

Blending modes and mask modes

About blending modes

Blending modes for layers control how each layer blends with or reacts to layers beneath it. The stencil and silhouette

blending modes affect the alpha channels of layers beneath them. Other blending modes for layers affect how colors

appear when blended with the colors from other layers. Blending modes for layers in After Effects (formerly referred

to as layer modes) are identical to blending modes in Adobe Photoshop.

You can’t animate blending modes by using keyframes. If you want a blending mode to change at a certain time, split

the layer at that time and apply the new blending mode to the part of the layer that continues. You can also use the

Compound Arithmetic effect, the results of which are similar to those for blending modes but can change over time.

For more information, see “Compound Arithmetic effect” on page 398.

You apply a blending mode to the layer above the layers you want it to interact with. When you specify blending

modes, it is helpful to think of the results in the following terms:

Underlying colors Colors of the layers located below the layer to which you want to apply the mode.

Layer colors Original colors in the layer where you set the blending mode.

Resulting colors Final colors of the composite.

Note: To blend colors with a gamma value of 1, choose File > Project Settings and select Linear Blending. Deselect this

option to blend colors in the project’s color space.

Blending modes for masks on the same layer are called mask modes.

Some effects include their own blending mode options. See the descriptions of the individual effects for details.

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