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Christine Goldby
Christine Goldby
Known Participant
December 9, 2021
Question

Introducing the Properties Panel in After Effects (Beta)

  • December 9, 2021
  • 39 replies
  • 174440 views

In our ongoing aim to make your After Effects experience better, we are excited to introduce the new Properties Panel to the beta today (22.2.0x29).

 

As always, we look forward to hearing your feedback here in the forum. Your responses help us know when features are ready to ship or if they need more polishing. Please speak up and help us build the product you need!

 

Properties Panel

Create motion graphics quicker and with greater ease inside the new Properties Panel. Cut down on your twirl-time by quickly accessing the properties you need the most. New designers coming from Photoshop and Illustrator should feel right at home with controls available where you are used to finding them.

 

This first build brings an easier way of working with Shape layers. Select a shape either in the composition window or timeline, and you will find its properties shown in the panel for easy access. If you change a value in the panel, it will change in the timeline as well. Select multiple shapes on a layer to change their values at the same time.

 

Alongside the Shape properties, we’ve also added basic layer transforms for Anchor Point, Position, Scale, Rotation and Opacity. The values can be modified for multiple layers at once when selected together.


How to Use Properties Panel
Select a Shape layer in the timeline, or in the composition window double-click to select a specific shape within that layer. The Properties Panel, which will be at the upper right side of the panel stack, will display the properties for your selection. You may need to extend the bottom edge of the panel down to see all the controls, or you can scroll down instead.

 

  • Layer Transform controls at the top of the panel control the layer as a whole.
  • Layer Contents lists any selected Shape layer(s) plus all the Shapes included within them.
  • Shape Properties gives you quick access to the properties you need most frequently.
  • Shape Transform gives the Anchor Point, Position, Scale, Rotation and Opacity controls specific to the selected shape.

 

Tips

  • Double-click on any shape in the composition window to show its controls in the Properties Panel.
  • Double-click on any property in the Properties Panel to reveal it within the timeline.
  • The panel can be moved to wherever you find it most useful. Let us know where you end up using it most often!

 

For a longer introduction check out the attached video below.

 

 

Have fun with it!

 


Known Issues and Workarounds

  • If you have multiple fills/strokes within a single shape, the fill/stroke does not show up in the Properties Panel. You can still edit these items within the timeline window.
  • If you have multiple paths within a single shape, only the initial path shows in the Properties Panel. You can still edit the other paths within the timeline window.
  • Shape Modifiers applied to Shapes do not show in the Properties Panel.
  • Layers/Shapes cannot be renamed or reordered within the Layer Contents window.
  • If you have a lot of Shapes on one layer, the Layer Contents window may not auto-scroll to your selected Shape. You can use the scrollbar to get to it.
  • When scrubbing the Rotation angle, revolutions are not properly counted (rotating past 360 will start over at 0). You can type in values directly.
  • If you have multiple keyframes on a property, deleting one or more from the Properties Panel does not work correctly. Move to the timeline to delete instead.
  • Deleting a Shape Layer from either the timeline or Properties Panel throws an AE error. Just click OK and keep working.
  • Keyframing a gradient fill/stroke from the Properties Panel throws an AE error. Click OK, and go to the timeline to set your keyframes.
  • Resetting values in the Properties Panel will reset the values within the timeline, but the value still appears the same in the Properties Panel.

 

 

 

    39 replies

    Show previous replies
    Bruno Quintin
    Bruno Quintin
    Inspiring
    May 19, 2022

    Is the development of this panel still on track?
    It is still extremely unresponsive, is there any chance of it getting better in the future?

    https://youtu.be/souPPmwuGHI

    James Landy
    Community Manager
    James LandyCommunity Manager
    Community Manager
    May 19, 2022

    Yes, development for the properties panel is on track.  Our current focus is getting Text ready for public beta, which is coming soon.  



    Regarding the performance issue, I was having difficulty reproducing the slowdown because I assumed that users were referring to dragging layers in the comp viewer panel.  But thanks to your screen recording Bruno, I see now that the issue occurs when scrubbing values in the PP result in a re-draw delay.  That’s the bug and is prioritized for a fix.  

      Bruno Quintin
      Bruno Quintin
      Inspiring
      May 22, 2022

      On version 22.5.0 (Build 32) it's better, it's almost as slow as everything else, so much faster than before :D. But too bad everything is broken : Shape Properties / Size : it's blocked on 100.
      It makes me sad this waste of time on this panel that doesn't work, while I would like to have a panel that replaces the Pseudo Effect. Take the Pseudo Effect out of the effects so that it can be applied to cameras and lights and that it doesn't break the 3D rendering on vector layers and reduced pre-compositions : because it wouldn't be an effect anymore !

      S
      Scott.C.
      Inspiring
      April 6, 2022

      I think it was said elswhere but I would love to see:

       

      -- Full stroke options (dashes, taper, wave) 

       

      Another idea that would be great if implemented is some way too enable setting keyframes for selected shape sub layers/groups...

       

      I.E. If you have a shape or group selected within a "Shape Layer" in the timeline or property layer stack, than hitting Alt+Shift+P will set the position property of that shape, and not the global position of the layer. If you are only selected on the layer itself than it would set the position of the layer globally.  Currently when doing shape layer heavy projects with a many sub elements setting keyframes becomes tedius for someone who is used to using the keyboard shortcuts.   

      Christine Goldby
      Christine GoldbyAuthor
      Known Participant
      April 6, 2022

      Thanks @Scott.C. . I will add your vote to the stroke options, that has definitely come up a bunch. But that's an interesting second point you bring up on having a keyboard shortcut that could specify whether you are altering the shape transforms or layer transforms for a quicker workflow. Adding it to the list!

      _nicdean
      _nicdean
      Adobe Expert
      February 4, 2022

      Finally had the opportunity to play with the Properties Panel on a recent project. I see some of these mentioned, but I'll add support to:

       

      1. Rename Layers by double-clicking (or hitting Enter) on selected layer name within Properties Panel > "Layer Contents".
      2. Allow left-click+dragging the Stopwatches to set multiple keyframes in one action (this works in the timeline, doesn't work in the Properties Panel).
      3. Add a Pickwhip next to Stopwatch in Properties Panel. Pickwhip should work by pickwhipping to properties within Properties Panel and/or within the timeline.
      4. Show Shape Layer Effects (Zig Zag, Trim Paths, Merge Paths, Twist, etc) as individual layers within Layer Contents, with relevant Properties appearing within Properties Panel.
      5. Add an arrow next to Layer Contents to add any shape element  to the hierarchy (group, parametric shape, path, fill, stroke, etc). This should follow the same functionality as "Contents" > "Add" within the timeline.
        Christine Goldby
        Christine GoldbyAuthor
        Known Participant
        February 4, 2022

        Thanks @_nicdean, great list. I will update the feature requests votes!

        _nicdean
        _nicdean
        Adobe Expert
        February 4, 2022

        Thanks @Christine Goldby!

        Kyle Hamrick
        Kyle Hamrick
        Adobe Expert
        January 10, 2022

        Chiming in WAY late to say that I applaud the concept, and am looking forward to its continued development. As someone who often builds intricate multi-path, multi-grouped nearly-a-whole-composition-inside-one-shape-layer kinds of madness, this definitely has a lot of limitations in its current state, but I know I'm not the user this is probably aimed at right now. 🙂 

        v22.2.0x91: Ungrouping (or further nesting) an existing group using hotkeys both kicks me an "internal verification failure" error, and straight-up deletes the previously-grouped elements. Happy to provide details if needed!

        Christine Goldby
        Christine GoldbyAuthor
        Known Participant
        January 11, 2022

        Hey @Kyle Hamrick , details on that ungrouping issue would be very helpful. Can you give us your system details, along with any more info on the error you are seeing?

          Kyle Hamrick
          Kyle Hamrick
          Adobe Expert
          January 11, 2022

          Hey @Christine Goldby! 

          Here's a screen recording where I was able to reproduce this. Hopefully this is helpful. 🙂 
          https://www.loom.com/share/13cba68a74f144cd9dd246da5f1df0cd

           

          System Specs:

          Windows 10 Pro
          6core i-8700
          64 GB Ram
          GTX 1060 6GB
          As mentioned above, this is currently on AE v22.2.0x91

          Bruno Quintin
          Bruno Quintin
          Inspiring
          January 9, 2022

          If you want to improve the use of the shape layers, remember to take into account the requests that have already been made:
          To be able to lock and use label colors as for masks.

          It should also be possible to move an element from one layer to another by drag and drop. It should also be possible to group without breaking the expressions. And when we group, the coordinates should be zero for the position and the anchor point and not create the same offset in both.

          And take example on the exellent work of Overlord — Battle Axe for the interaction with Illlustrator. It's your software dammned it's up to you to do this work.

            Christine Goldby
            Christine GoldbyAuthor
            Known Participant
            January 11, 2022

            Thanks for the feedback @Bruno Quintin, lots of good suggestions that I will add your vote to on our list. 
            And we agree, Overlord has done a great job.

              jackthegiantkiller
              jackthegiantkiller
              Inspiring
              February 7, 2022

              I would be happy just for the ability to translate AI text layers to editable text layers in After Effects. All my projects come in with dozens of text layers that I have to manually cut and paste between the apps. It's LONG OVERDUE.

                charlesbevan
                charlesbevan
                Inspiring
                December 30, 2021

                I believe I found a bug: when the Properties Panel is active, Keyframe Assistant > Sequence Layers... doesn't respect selection order (i.e. selecting bottom-to-top or random selection). It instead sequences based on the layer order, top-down.

                 

                If you close the Properties Panel, re-select your layers and try again, it works as expected.

                Christine Goldby
                Christine GoldbyAuthor
                Known Participant
                January 11, 2022

                Good find @charlesbevan , we'll get that written up. Thanks!

                S
                Stephen_ANM
                New Participant
                December 20, 2021

                This feature is good for now but i think we should add some thing which is can not controlled by keyboard shortcut. For EXP: Trim path from shape layer, taper, line cap which is use so much. For Pos/Rotation/Opacity is easy to control and reveal by shorcut. 

                 

                Thank you 

                  G
                  GregPin
                  New Participant
                  December 18, 2021

                  Love the feature !

                  But I have an issue to report : 

                  Scrubbing the values of any properties in the Properties Panel is sluggish/choppy, while srubbing values in the timeline is fluid as ususal. 

                  I'm experiencing this on a dual monitor (4k), so perhpas it has something to do with it.

                  Can someone else confirm the issue ? Thx

                   

                  Kyle Hamrick
                  Kyle Hamrick
                  Adobe Expert
                  January 10, 2022

                  Confirmed. I have a dual-monitor setup, but am testing this all on one screen. Scrubbing layer Position in the Props panel has a noticeable visual lag & lowered frame rate on the actual displayed layer contents (but not the outlines), while scrubbing in the timeline does not. 
                  If you hold ALT while scrubbing the values (which disables UI update until release), the outlines move smoothly.

                    X
                    xiaoxixi
                    New Participant
                    December 17, 2021

                    Didn't see anyone mention this. So I'll ask, will Essential Properties be added to this Properties Panel?

                    To me, Essential Properties is used almost in every one of my projects. But when I have many Essential Properties enabled precomps in my timeline, I need to twirl open every single one of them to change a parameter value. Adding Essential Properties to Properties Panel must be a great workflow booster.

                      N
                      NytramM
                      New Participant
                      December 14, 2021

                      Looks good.

                      Please add a paths button or shortcut.

                       

                      Thanks

                      James Landy
                      Community Manager
                      James LandyCommunity Manager
                      Community Manager
                      December 16, 2021

                      Thanks for the suggestion.  We had hoped to have had this working in our initial beta release but ran out of time.  Shortcut method to add shape/path will be available soon.

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