Shape layer fill not visible. This should be a really easy one for you guys...

Report · May 22, 2024

Hi all, I'm a complete newbie to After Effects but have been working with Adobe products like Illustrator, Indesign, Flash/Animate and Photoshop for decades. So, I am kind of expecting AE to work in a similar manner when I draw a rectangle or other shape.

The main problem is that the fill is not showing and I can't for the life of me figure out why. I have change the fill colour to something totally obscure and violating to ensure I can see it, but it just won't display. I can add a stroke colour and can see that fine, but the fill will not display.

What am I doing wrong? It's the top layer of the timeline, I've not added any effects such as layer transparency or blend mode. I've not changed any application settings that I'm aware of. I'm looking for answer everywhere and getting very frustrated!

The second issue I have is I am having to lock all layers in order to draw a simple shape that I want to see rather than it act as a mask to an existing layer. Again, what am I doing wrong?

Thanks in advance.

Report · May 22, 2024

Without a screenshot nobody can tell you much. Simply sounds like the shape is too compley or there is something else going on in terms of e.g. an open-ended path or such.

Mylenium

Report · Nov 15, 2024

Try this, instead of creating a shape layer from the menu bar, create a shape layer by using the icon next to the pen tool. It might say "rectangle tool" but you can select different shapes from there by clicking and holding and choosing from the drop-down menu. It will create an editable shape that is a parametric shape. For some reason, creating a shape layer from there is different from creating a shape layer from the menu bar and either choice creates a similar-named "Shape Layer" in the composition. I can't find any good answers as to why they are different. I need to read the manual closer. You can also draw your own editable shape with the pen tool. Be wary of people who ask you more questions instead of suggesting an answer. If they are familiar with the program then they should have an idea as to what problem you are having.

Report · Nov 16, 2024

>>The second issue I have is I am having to lock all layers in order to draw a simple shape that I want to see rather than it act as a mask to an existing layer. Again, what am I doing wrong?<<

This one is simple to fix.

When a layer is selected in after effects the shape tools make masks on that layer.

So make sure you don't have a layer selected when you use the shapes tools and it won't create a mask.

I usually use the keyboard shortcut to deselect layers: Cmd + Shift + A (Ctrl+Shift+A is you use windows)

For the other issue:

Just a guess. The fill and stroke of a shape can have their own opacity and blend mode that are independent both of each other and also of the shape and layer properties.

Before you create the shape click on the word Fill in the tool panels options and check what blending mode and opacity are assigned to it.

That is my first idea on what could be the problem.

If none of us are right, maybe you could add some screen shots.