Layers panel

The Layers panel on the left lists every layer in your scene. Use it to select layers, rename them, sort them into groups, and hide or isolate them while you work.

1. Scene: the scene's own settings
2. Add layer (+): a quick menu of things to add
3. A group, with its arrow to open or close it
4. Label color: a color tag for organizing
5. Hide (shown when you hover a row)
6. Delete (shown when you hover a row)

The Scene row

Click Scene at the top of the list to edit settings that apply to the whole piece: canvas size, background, environment and lighting, camera, filters and more. The row also shows the canvas size, such as Primary 1920×1080. Primary is the main version of your scene, as opposed to the other formats.

Right-click the Scene row for Add transition…, Add effect…, Camera move…, Add a note and Feedback for the assistant….

Select layers

• Click a row to select that layer.
• Shift-click or ⌘-click (Ctrl-click) more rows to add them to the selection. Click a selected row the same way to take it out. There's no range select.

The last row you click is the primary selection, drawn brighter with a ring. Some tools, like Text settings, work on it alone.

With several layers selected, changes you make in the properties panel apply to all of them, except their position. Dragging a gizmo moves them all together.

To select every top-level layer at once, deselect everything, right-click an empty part of the canvas and choose Select all.

Rename a layer

Double-click the layer's name, type a new one and press Enter. Press Esc to cancel. You can also right-click the row and choose Rename.

Good names pay off later: search finds layers by name, and so does the assistant.

Reorder layers

• Drag a row up or down. A thin line shows where it will land.
• Or right-click it and choose Move in list › then To top, Up, Down or To bottom. These keep the layer inside its group.

Group layers

A group holds layers, so they move, fade and animate together. There's no shortcut for grouping. Use one of these:

• Make a group, then drag layers into it. Click + at the top of the panel and choose Group (or use the dock's Group button). Then drag layers onto the group's row: drop on the middle of the row to put a layer inside.
• Pre-compose: select several layers, right-click and choose Pre-compose to wrap them in a new group in one step. A pre-composed group is drawn as one flat picture, so it fades and blends as a whole. See Groups and pre-composition.
• Add auto layout: wraps the selected layers in a group that arranges them in a row or column. See Layouts and bentos.

Click the arrow beside a group's name to open or close it. To take layers out of a group, drag them out. There's no Ungroup command.

Hide and isolate layers

• Hide: hover the row and click the eye. Hidden layers stay in the project but don't show in the canvas or in exports. Hiding a group hides everything in it.
• Isolate: right-click a layer and choose Isolate. Only that layer shows until you exit. Right-click another layer and choose Add to isolation to show it too.

While layers are isolated, a pill at the top of the screen names them. Click its Exit button to show everything again.

Label layers with colors

Click the small circle at the left of a row and pick one of eight colors. The row gets a colored dot and a colored edge. Click ✕ to clear it.

Label colors are only for organizing the list. They don't change the scene.

Delete a layer

Hover the row and click the trash button, or right-click and choose Delete layer. Deleting a group deletes everything inside it. There's no confirmation, but undo (⌘ Z) brings it back.

The ⌫ key doesn't delete layers. It only deletes a selected keyframe.

The right-click menu

Right-click any row for more actions. What you see depends on the kind of layer.

With several layers selected, Duplicate, Copy, Isolate, Comment, Add auto layout and Pre-compose act on all of them. Most other items act on the row you right-clicked.