How to Use Basic Tools In After Effects

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To begin, open Adobe After Effects and start a new project. You'll notice all of your windows are empty because nothing is in your session. 

Navigate up to the top menu bar and click File -- Import -- File. Search for a file to import in the Import File dialog box that appears and click Open.

*You could also click and drag a file from your desktop and drop it into the Projects window.

Any time you import anything, it will be stored in the Projects window for easy access.

Next, you'll want to create a Composition, which is the window in which your movie or edited graphics will be made. To do so, navigate to the top menu bar and click Composition -- New Composition or press Command+N on your keyboard. 

This will reveal the Composition Settings dialog box. Name your new Composition and choose a Preset, Pixel Aspect Ratio and Resolution before clicking OK.

Zoom in and out of your Composition using the scroll wheel on your mouse, or press Command+(plus sign) or Command+(minus sign) on your keyboard.

To place a file in your Composition, click and drag one of your imported files from the Project window and drop it into your Composition window.

In the top tool bar are various tools. Starting from the left, they are as follows (the letters in parentheses represents the keyboard shortcut used to access the tool):

* Selection Tool (V)

* Hand Tool (H)

* Zoom Tool (Z)

* Rotation Tool (W)

* Unified Camera Tool (C)

* Pan Behind Tool (Y)

* Rounded Rectangle Tool (Q)

* Pen Tool (G)

* Horizontal Type Tool (Command+T)

* Brush Tool (Command+B)

* Clone Stamp Tool (Command+B)

* Eraser Tool (Command+B)

* Roto Brush Tool

* Puppet Pin Tool (Command+P)

*If you can't see your tool bar, make sure the option is checked under Window in the top menu bar.

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