Work with preferences
- To open the Preferences dialog box, choose Edit > Preferences > [category name] (Windows) or After Effects > Preferences > [category name] (Mac OS).
- To open the Preferences dialog box to the General category, press Ctrl+Alt+; (semicolon) (Windows) or Command+Option+; (Mac OS).
- To restore default preference settings, hold Ctrl+Alt+Shift (Windows) or Command+Option+Shift while the application is starting. To also restore default keyboard shortcuts, Alt-click (Windows) or Option-click (Mac OS) the OK button.
Preference reference
This section provides links to pages in which the various preferences—those that aren’t self-explanatory—are explained.
General
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Levels Of Undo: Undo changes
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Show Tool Tips: Tips for working with the After Effects user interface
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Create Layers At Composition Start Time: About layers
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Switches Affect Nested Comps: About nesting and precomposing
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Default Spatial Interpolation To Linear: Controlling change with interpolation
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Preserve Constant Vertex Count When Editing Masks: Designate the first vertex for a Bezier path
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Synchronize Time Of All Related Items: About nesting and precomposing
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Expression Pick Whip Writes Compact English: Add, edit, and remove expressions
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Create Split Layers Above Original Layer: Split a layer
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Allow Scripts To Write Files And Access Network: Work with scripts
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Enable JavaScript Debugger: After Effects CS3 Professional Scripting Guide (PDF)
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Use System Color Picker: Select a color or edit a gradient
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Create New Layers At Best Quality: Layer image quality
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Preserve Clipboard Data For Other Applications: Copy between After Effects and Adobe Premiere Pro
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Use System Shortcut Keys (Mac OS only): Tips for working with the After Effects user interface
Previews
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Adaptive Resolution Limit: Preview modes
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Enable OpenGL: Render with OpenGL
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Accelerate Effects Using: Preview modes
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Audio Preview Duration: Preview video and audio
Display
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Motion Path: Work with motion paths
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Disable Thumbnails In Project Panel: Work with composition thumbnail images
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Auto-zoom When Resolution Changes: Resolution
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Show Rendering Progress In Info Panel & Flowchart: Preview video and audio
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Hardware Accelerate Composition, Layer, And Footage Panels: Improve performance
Import
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Still Footage: Create layers from footage items
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Sequence Footage: Import a single still image or a still-image sequence
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Interpret Unlabeled Alpha As: Specify alpha channel interpretation
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Default Drag Import As: Import footage items
Output
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Overflow Volumes, Segment Sequences At, Segment Movie Files At, and Audio Block Duration: Overflow volumes and segment settings
Grids & Guides
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Safe Margins: Work with safe zones, grids, guides, and rulers
Label Colors and Label Defaults
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Label Colors and Label Defaults: Work with color labels
Memory & Cache
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Maximum Memory Usage, Maximum RAM Cache Size, Enable Disk Cache, and Maximum Disk Cache Size: Memory & Cache preferences
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Conformed Media Cache and Clean Database & Cache: Work with the media cache
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Prevent DLL Address Space Fragmentation (Windows only): Memory & Cache preferences
Video Previews
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Output Device, Output Mode, Output Quality, Output During, and Scale And Letterbox Output To Fit Video Monitor: Preview on an external video monitor
User Interface Colors
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Cycle Mask Colors: Control mask path color
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User Interface Brightness: Brighten or darken the interface
Auto-Save
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Automatically Save Projects and Maximum Project Versions: Save and back up projects
Multiprocessing
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Render Multiple Frames Simultaneously: Render multiple frames simultaneously
Audio Hardware and Audio Output Mapping
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Audio Hardware and Audio Output Mapping: Preview video and audio
Comments
Comments are no longer accepted for After Effects CS3. After Effects CS4 is the current version. To discuss After Effects CS3, please use the Adobe forum.