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Flight Control Help Center

Ad Builder Layer Panel

  • Updated

General

The Layer Panel serves several functions:

  • Viewing and Stacking Layers: It enables you to view and stack layers on top of each other.
  • Accessing Layer Properties: You can open each layer to access its Transform, Effects, Masks, and other properties, allowing you to add keyframes to the timeline for animation purposes.
  • Creating additional compositions: The Layer Panel facilitates the creation of multiple compositions, also known as pre-compositions. Essentially, create a composition within a composition. These allow you to group layers, treat them as a single layer within another composition, and instantiate them as many times as needed. Refer to the "Create a new Composition" section below for more information.

Note: You can select multiple layers and adjust their transformation properties simultaneously.

Layer Features

Refer to the table below for a list of available layer features:

Layer Features.png

Name Description
Ad builder_layers panel_add comp.pngAdd Composition

Allows you to create additional compositions, which appear as tabs. Click or hover over a composition tab and click the vertical ellipsis (Ad builder_layers panel_add compisition_ellipsis.png) to access the following options:

  • Edit: Updates the composition settings (name, frame rate, duration, width, and height).
  • Duplicate: Creates a copy of the composition.
  • Delete: Deletes the composition.
Ad builder_layer panel_lock.png Lock Locks a layer to prevent it from being edited within the composition.
Ad builder_layer panel_eye.png Visible
  • Toggles the layer’s visibility on and off.
  • Hidden layers do not appear in the exported creative.
  • Remember to unhide layers and save before exiting Ad Builder.
Ad builder_layer panel_color label.pngColor Label Color-codes a layer in the Layer Panel and Timeline to help you visually organize layers.
Ad builder_layer panel_layer index.pngLayer Index Indicates a layer’s order in the stack (lower index layers appear above higher index layers).
Ad builder_layer panel_drag n drop handle.pngDrag & Drop Handle Drag to reorder layers within the Layer Panel.
Ad builder_layer panel_layer dropdown.pngLayer Drop-down

Opens layer properties, including:

  • Transform (position, scale, rotation, etc.)
  • Audio (volume; for Video layers)
  • Content properties (shapes, text animators, etc.)
  • Masks
  • Effects

This is where you apply keyframes and fine-tune settings.
Layer Name
  • The name you assigned to the layer.
  • Rename by double-clicking the layer name or right-clicking the layer and selecting Rename.
  • Use consistent naming across sizes in a template to simplify Template Mapping later.
Parent

Creates a parent-child relationship so a layer inherits transformations from another layer.

  • On the child layer, drag the pinwheel connector under Parent to the parent layer.
  • The parent layer ID appears on the child layer.
  • Right-click the layer to remove the parent-child relationship.
Trackmatte

Uses the alpha channel of one layer to define the transparency of another layer (also known as a raster mask).

To use trackmatte:

  • On the layer that receives the mask, drag the trackmatte connector to the alpha layer.
  • Right-click the layer to remove trackmatte.
Ad builder_layer panel_3d toggle.png3D Toggle
  • Enables 3D transforms, including perspective.
  • Click the 3D button on the desired layer to enable it.
Ad builder_layer panel_ease editor.pngKeyframes Editor (Ease Editor)
  • Shows keyframe easing so you can fine-tune animation smoothness.
  • Select a property to display its keyframes in the editor.
  • For more details, see the Ad Builder Timeline article.

Layer Options

Right-click on a layer to reveal the options below. You can also access these options by right-clicking on the layer within the composition:

Action Description
Add Mask

Opens a submenu with the following options:

  • New Mask: Applies a mask to the layer.
  • Remove All Masks: Removes all masks applied to the layer.
Add Effect Adds an effect. Select from Drop Shadow, Blur, Color Overlay, and Fill Color.
Add Null Layer Adds an empty layer that can be used to control other objects.
Rename Renames the selected layer.
Duplicate Duplicates the selected layer.
Delete Deletes the selected layer.
Remove Parent Enabled when a parent-child relationship exists. Removes the parent association from the selected layer(s).
Remove Trackmatte Enabled when trackmatte is in use. Removes trackmatte from the selected layer(s).

Add Animator

For text layers

Adds an animator effect to text layers to animate characters, words, or lines individually. Select between Opacity, Color, and Position.

For more information, refer to the Text Layer Animators section in the Ad Builder Layer Properties article.

Create a New Composition

Pre-compositions allow you to group layers, treat them as a single layer within another composition, and instantiate them as many times as needed. For example, you can build an animation in one composition and then add that composition to another, a process also known as nesting.

To create a new pre-composition:

  1. Click the plus sign next to the current composition's tab in the Layer Panel.
    • The Create Composition window will be displayed.
  2. Enter a name for the composition.
  3. Select a frame rate from the list (defaults to 30 fps).
  4. Specify the desired width (defaults to 200 pixels).
  5. Specify the desired height (defaults to 200 pixels).
  6. Select a duration.
  7. Click OK.
    • The new composition will display as a tab next to your existing compositions. To use it as a pre-comp layer, drag and drop the composition tab into the target composition's Layer Panel.
    • To edit the composition, hover over the composition's tab and click the ellipsis icon that is displayed. Then, click Edit.