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DECEMBER 30, 2003 After Effects Tips
6. When working with 3D Comps, it is better to use a Two Comp View Workspace. One window can be used as your Active Camera view, while the second Comp Window can be used for your other views. If you’re lucky enough to have a Cinema Display, your screen real estate is quite large and you can have four Comp Windows open at the same time, each with their own unique view (Left, Right, Top, etc.). 
Now for the cool part of this quick tip. When working with multiple Comp Windows, you can use the View menu to change what you see in the selected Window. For example, in order to more accurately see the final results, my Active Camera Comp Window has the Layer Controls turned off (View>Hide Layer Controls).  7. One of the things Adobe has not yet added to After Effects is the ability to look through a selected light to see exactly what the light is pointing at. While the Point of Interest and multiple views can help you set the light accurately, you still can’t see what the light is pointing at. To solve this problem, create a New Camera (name it Light Camera), and move it to the bottom layer of the Timeline stack. The reason we move it to the bottom of the Timeline stack is so that camera does not render as the Active Camera. Position your light where the Light Camera is located and then Parent the light to the Light Camera. Wherever you move the Light Camera, the light will follow. Now change one of your Comp Window Views to Light Camera and you will be able to see exactly what and where your light is pointed at.
8. After Effects has a Secret Preferences setting. By holding down the Shift key and going to After Effects>Preferences>General (Edit>Preferences>General on the PC), you will find a Secret Preference in the drop down menu.  If you have a very complex composition, low processor or memory on your system, and are experiencing crashes when rendering, turning on Disable Layer Cache may help.  This final tip comes with a warning. The Secret Preferences are secret for a reason. They are only to be used as a last resort as they could cause problems with your scene or even AE itself.  When not working deep in the labs of the DMN Central Division testing the latest and greatest software/hardware products Stephen Schleicher can be found at the local university teaching a few courses on video and web production. He can be reached at schleicher@mindspring.com. You can also visit him on the web at www.mindspring.com/~schleicher
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