exclude an layer from the adjustment layer

[mouad]

Hi ,

i don't know why adobe still didn't add this option to after effects !!!!!!!!

we have alot of problems with this

i can't just keep pre-comping stuff !!!!!

adding a simple column between the 'track mat' and the 'parent' to exclude the selected layer from an adjustment layer in top of it will simple thing's Up .

please consider this option

My bests

[Todd_Kopriva]

An adjustment layer applies to the composited result of all of the layers beneath it. To implement what you are suggesting would require a complete rearchitecture of how After Effects works.

[mouad]

if it require a complete rearchitecture than do it ! i don't know how many years it takes but it deserve !

i mean seriously we are dying here , or at least adobe should find a solution to this Huge Problem .

[Dave_LaRonde]

...so in other words, get used to making precomps or start moving to a different compositing application.  There are several.

[Rick Gerard]

To exclude a layer from an adjustment layer you have to re-order the rendering pipeline. In a node editor you add a node, In AE you Pre-compose. Pre-composing is a tool you should use not avoid. There's nothing wrong with it. It does not effect quality. It's all about layers and render order. In 20 years using AE I've never 'been dying here' because of a pre-comp. It's all about planning your work and understanding the render pipeline.

There are changes planned in the visual display of pre-comps in the timeline but the same thing will still hold true, if you want to change the rendering order you have to change the position of the layer in the render stack. Nodes or pre-comps are a way to get that done.

[mouad]

well in my latest project , where there is more than 4000 files ,

u can't just keep precomping stuff more than what it is

i guess the solution is moving to a software use Nodegraph .

[Sterphy]

This is why After Effects is massively amateurish compared with literally ANY node-based software. Absolute rubbish.

[valthvisuals]

😂

[Aldo Smit]

After Effects in my opion is a great compositing tool. However, when things become serious complicated I agree that a node based solution works better. Nuke or DaVinci are both great options. I prefer DaVinci Resolve, mainly because of it's price difference compared to Nuke. Both programs deliver basicly the exact same results, but the price difference between Nuke and DaVinci is absurd. $ 8.000,- (per year) for Nuke vs DaVinci Resolve Studio at only

$ 295,- (lifetime, including updates). But as mentioned before in this topic, working in After Effects with layers and pre-comps is not big of a problem. At least not in terms of quality. Never the less, I agree that the workflow with many layers and pre-comps is not preferable. When things get tough a node based solution is deffenitly better. 

Still, I love After Effects. Also because of the tremendous amount of presets, plugins etc. that are on the market. 

So in the end, I use both Adobe and DaVinci Resolve, just depending on what I'm working on. Maybe, and hopefully some day Adobe will add a node based solution to AFX. 

[defaultjlqw3gv4dzl5]

I love your accent 🥹

[mouad]

thank you very much everybody , but moving to another software isn't one of my properties

[Rick Gerard]

Collected files is no indication of project size, a single image sequence could have 4,000 files. AE is a very poor movie editor but it's great for creating shots. If you are building whole sequences with many shots in a single AE comp then you are not using the software in the way it was designed. I have many projects where there are 200 or more layers in a 10 second shot. I render the shot and then edit the sequence in a NLE... That's how it was designed.

If you jump to another program with the same or greater compositing and motion graphics capabilities you're going to run into the same problem if you try and put an entire movie in a compositing program.

Just a friendly workflow suggestion.

[Mylenium]

Agree with the others. this "exclude layer from adjustment layer" request usually means that peopel are using AE in the wrong way and not structuring their projects accordingly...

Mylenium

[mouad]

you'll see , after few years adobe will solve this problem

i'm totally Sure !

[basg95488575]

almost 6 years later is not a few years I'm afraid...

[semo0610]

Can confirm, greeting from 2021

[59271fanart]

Hello from 2022 (8 years later, lol) - I tried all the suggestions on this thread, and still, it's not resolved. I'm using the "CC Radial Fast Blur" effect in the adjustment layer. Underneath it is multiple layers, which I have white text on one layer and flashing lights on another. I only want the flashing lights layer to cast light rays (on the layers above it) instead of all the layers underneath the adjustment layer.

[valthvisuals]

Yeah uhh its 2023

[interesting_protector5E6A]

It's 2024 in 2 days, and the issue is still ignored.

[Juju Creatives]

it's now 2024, nothing has been done about it 🙂

[daniellblack]

april 2024 and nothing has changed

[Simon_0815]

Still 2024. Did you guys all hit the upvote button? 🙂 

[.Ava.]

2025. Over a decade later. This is still an issue, haha. So many times I've wanted to exclude a layer from an adjustment. It's so weird to me that conceptually SIMPLE things like this can't be done.

[camelo003]

Hey guys.

I was stuck with the same problem, so I found a way to solve it with minimal changes.

I have a silly 2d animation representing days and nights passing by. To improve the sensation, I put an adjustment layer to tint all layers below every time the moon rises. But the adjustment layers also tints the sun and moon and with my current structure, full of overlaps, it will be a pain to reorder and mask all layers. So I simply duplicate the layer that I was working on and rename it to "MEGA LUMA MASK" and put them just above the adjustment layer. Inside this new duplicated layer, I tint all layers to total black, except for the moons and suns, which I tint to total white. What I got was a perfect luma mask that respects all overlaps without needing to touch the structure. Finally I just set the track matte of the adjustment layers to Luma Inverted!

No pre composes (kinda), no crazy masks. Of course an adjustment layer exception system would be better, but it's a clean, fast and versatile solution.

[dariosaquetti]

Some people defend their position,in this case Adobe, as if it was politics or their football club. The truth is, the adjustment layer needs to be re designed. If you have 50 layers and you want to apply a stack of effects on layers 40-47 let's say. and keep the rest unaffected,  the only workaround is pre-compose. Sometimes you can't precompose or you don't want to precompose. Basic feature. Much missed.