Combustion Eye for the AE Guy
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Step 3: Select the first clip (in my case Water). In the Composite Controls Tab, click the Transform button to access the Transform properties.
This is a radically different way to access controls for a layer than what many After Effects users will be used to. You can still access the Transform Properties via the Timeline Tab and twirling down the arrows, but you will find you have greater control in Composite Controls Tab than you do in the Timeline, mainly because the Timeline Property values can only be changed by scrubbing, and not by clicking and entering a value. [an error occurred while processing this directive]
Change the Scale for the first layer to 50% on the X and Y axis. If you want to scale proportionally, turn on the Proportional button.
You should have the Selection Tool (aka the Arrow Tool) selected by default, but if not, you can quickly access this by hitting the Tab key on your keyboard.
In the Comp window you can click and drag the layer to the upper right hand corner of the screen. For more precise placement you can enter the values of -162 on the X and 120 for the Y.
Step 4: Repeat this same procedure for the remaining three layers, but change the position amounts to:
162, 120
-162, -120
162, -120
The combustion 3 coordinate system has its origin in the center of the Composite, while After Effects places its origin in the upper left hand corner.
Combustion 3 Quick Tip
If your Comp window is too large or too small and you want to zoom in or out quickly, use your scroll wheel. This is something After Effects does not have. If you then need to Pan around, hold down your Spacebar and Click and drag in the Comp Window. This is exactly the same as After Effects.
Step 5: Three of the four clips I am using are longer than comp, however, my fire clip is only 6 seconds long. I need to loop the clip. In After Effects, you would do this by Interpreting the Footage in the Project Window and setting the number of times you want it to loop.
Twirl down the arrow next to the Footage Library in the Workspace. This is where all of the clips are stored when you work on a project.
Highlight the clip that is too short (in my case the Fire clip). The Composite Controls Tab disappears and is replaced with Footage Controls. Click on the Output button, and under the Playback Behavior, select Loop. If you do not enter a value for the number of times the clip is to loop, it should loop indefinitely.
Step 6: With all four of the layers in place, we can now Nest (Pre-Comp) them into their own layer for further manipulation.
Highlight the four layers in the Workspace, Right+Click and select Nesting.
Name this nested comp Video Layer, make sure Composite is turned on, and click OK.
If you twirl down the arrow next to the Video Layer in the Workspace, you can see how everything is collapsed. If you needed to go in and apply a Tint Effect or do Color Correction to a single clip in your nested comp, this is how you would do it.
Source: Digital Media Online, Inc.
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