Adding effect to a transparent layer

Question

Hi. I'm fairly new to After Effects so this question may be basic.
I have a video and I have a simple silhouette image that I want to overlay on the video.
I want to add a little movement texture to the silhouette without effecting the video underneath. The image is just black on a transparent background.
does anyone know the best way to do this?

thanks

Rick Gerard · Answer

Some effects take over an entire layer and ignore transparency, some honor layer transparency. Without knowing exactly what you want to accomplish and which effects you want to apply the only advice I can give you is to try adding the effect to the layer. If that does not work, add a new layer below your layer with transparency, add the effects, then set the transparent layer as an Alpha track matte for the layer with the effect.

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