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Precomps: Why Less is More πŸ’ͺ
Precomps: Why Less is More πŸ’ͺ
Team Vidsy avatar
Written by Team Vidsy
Updated over a week ago

Precomps can be a blessing or a curse. It's important to know when it's useful to precompose stuff, and when it becomes unnecessary (makes your project a disorganised mess!) 😱

What is a Precomp?

(You probably already know this but I'll repeat it for emphasis) πŸ˜‰
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Precomposing means taking one or more layers that are already in a composition and turning them into a composition of their own, a.k.a. a precomp.
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When should you precompose things?

  • Making changes to an entire composition
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    If you want to animate and apply effects to the entire comp. (P.s. You can also add effects using an adjustment layer = much tidier πŸ˜‹)

  • Reusing anything you build
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    If you're creating an animation that you know you'll use multiple times throughout your piece.

  • Make changes in one go
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    If you make changes in your precomp, those changes affect every composition in which it is used.

  • Add another set of transform properties to a layer
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    But TBH this can also be done by attaching your layers to a Null object πŸ™ˆ

When should you absolutely not need to precompose?

  • If none of the above apply πŸ‘†
    It's as simple as that. No reason = no precomp.

But why?
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Creating precomps for no reason makes it harder to get to the core file and change something + it clutters up your project for no reason 🀭

Keeping it nice and simple also makes it a whole lot easier for us if we need to make any changes to your files!

Always remember, less is more! πŸ’ͺ
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