AfterEffects

Create a shape or mask by dragging with shape tools

The shape tools are the Rectangle , Rounded Rectangle , Ellipse , Polygon  , and Star tools.

To activate and cycle through the shape tools, press Q.

A polygon is a star without an Inner Radius or Inner Roundness property, so the name of the shape created for a polygon or a star is the same: polystar.

You can create a mask by dragging with a shape tool on a selected layer in the Composition panel or Layer panel. You can create a shape by dragging with a shape tool on a selected shape layer in the Composition panel. If you drag with a shape tool in the Composition panel with no layer selected, you create a shape on a new shape layer.
Note: To draw a mask on a shape layer, click the Tool Creates Mask button in the Tools panel with a shape tool active.

When you create a shape by dragging with a shape tool in the Composition panel, you create a parametric shape path. To instead create a Bezier shape path, press the Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) key before you click to begin dragging. You can release the key before you complete the drag operation. All mask paths are Bezier paths.

Dragging starts when you click in the Composition panel or Layer panel to begin drawing, and ends when you release the mouse button. Pressing modifier keys at different times during a single dragging operation achieves different results:

  • To reposition a shape or mask as you are drawing, hold the spacebar or the middle mouse button while dragging.

  • To scale a circle, ellipse, square, rounded square, rectangle, or rounded rectangle around its center while drawing, hold the Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac OS) key after you begin dragging. Don’t release the key until you have released the mouse button to finish drawing.

  • To cancel the drawing operation, press Esc.

Note: Each shape tool retains the settings of the most recent drawing operation with that tool. For example, if you draw a star and modify the number of points to be 10, then the next star that you draw will also have 10 points. To reset a tool’s settings and create a shape with the default settings, double-click the tool in the Tools panel. (See Create a shape or mask the size of the layer.)

Draw rectangles, rounded rectangles, squares, and rounded squares

  1. Select the Rectangle tool  or the Rounded Rectangle tool , and do one of the following:

    • To draw a rectangle or rounded rectangle, drag diagonally.

    • To draw a square or rounded square, Shift-drag diagonally.

  2. (Optional) If drawing a rounded rectangle or rounded square, do the following before releasing the mouse button:

    • To increase or decrease the corner roundness, press the Up Arrow key or the Down Arrow key, or roll the mouse wheel forward or backward.

    • To set corner roundness to the minimum or maximum, press the Left Arrow key or the Right Arrow key.

  3. Release the mouse button to finish drawing. If drawing a square or rounded square, release the Shift key after releasing the mouse button.
Note: Squares are created to be square according to the pixel aspect ratio of the composition. If the composition’s pixel aspect ratio is not 1, then squares only appear square in the Composition panel if the Toggle Pixel Aspect Ratio button is selected at the bottom of the Composition panel.

Draw ellipses and circles

  1. Select the Ellipse tool , and do one of the following:

    • To draw an ellipse, drag diagonally.

    • To draw a circle, Shift-drag diagonally.

  2. Release the mouse button to finish drawing. If drawing a circle, release the Shift key after releasing the mouse button.
Note: Circles are created to be circular according to the pixel aspect ratio of the composition. If the composition’s pixel aspect ratio is not 1, then circles only appear circular in the Composition panel if the Toggle Pixel Aspect Ratio button is selected at the bottom of the Composition panel.

Draw polygons and stars

  1. Select the Polygon tool  or the Star tool , and do one of the following:

    • Drag to scale and rotate the polygon or star as you draw it.

    • Shift-drag to scale the polygon or star as you draw it, preventing rotation.

  2. (Optional) Do the following before releasing the mouse button:

    • To add or remove points, press the Up Arrow key or the Down Arrow key, or roll the mouse wheel forward or backward.

    • To increase or decrease the outer roundness, press the Left Arrow key or the Right Arrow key.

    • To keep the inner radius of a star constant as you move the mouse to increase the outer radius, hold the Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac OS) key.

    • To increase or decrease the inner roundness of a star, press the Page Up key or the Page Down key.

  3. Release the mouse button to finish drawing. If Shift-dragging to prevent rotation, release the Shift key after releasing the mouse button.