Grouping for Layers

[mahin53]

When I am working with Animations in After Effects there is too much of layers needed. And if there is an option for grouping layers that will be great.

[Roei Tzoref]

you can use pre-compose, it's also a way to group layers but they will have their own timeline. you can use shy layers to make them hidden from site. there are also 3rd party tools like this:
Sort It Plug in for Adobe After Effects

you can ask for group layers feature in the Ae uservoice page. there are probably several requests for this already.

[mahin53]

sometimes I use pre-compose but editing in layers is difficult when pre-composed.

[Rick Gerard]

mahin53  wrote

sometimes I use pre-compose but editing in layers is difficult when pre-composed.

You can open a second comp panel view and drag the timeline above or below, left or right of the main comp's timeline so you can see both the main comp and the nested comp (pre-comp) at the same time. You can also lock one of the Effects control panels, move the others to the left or right and make an adjustment on effects applied to any layer in the flow chart in any comp that is nested at any level in the project. I do this all the time. It's called ETLAT - edit this, look at that, and it has available on AE since dockable panels were introduced. Instructions are in the user guide.

Throw in a flow chart and you can find anything, including effects, in any comp with the click of a mouse. This is what happens when I click on a layer in the flow chart:

The mask and the effects control panel for the image layer show up and are selected in the timeline. There is no reason to ever get lost in a complicated composition.

[Rameez_Khan]

Hi mahin53,

Roei and Rick have some great suggestions. If you don't want to work with Pre-Comps, does Rick's suggestion help you get the job done?

Thanks,

Rameez