Exercise 1 · Rig a Reusable Lower-Third

Project 1 · Branded Vector Explainer · Week 1 · Project Architecture · ~60 min

Practice goal: Build a modular precomp driven by Essential Properties, with clean nesting and correct render order.

Set up: New project. A few text/shape layers for a lower-third (no external assets needed).

Steps

  1. New comp, 1920×1080, 30 fps, named Main; build a simple lower-third (bar + name + title text).
  2. Select the lower-third layers and Pre-compose (move all attributes) into a comp named “LowerThird_master”.
  3. Organize the Project panel into folders — /comps, /precomps, /assets — and name every layer.
  4. Open the precomp and decide the editor-facing controls: name text, title text, bar Fill color, an accent.
  5. With the precomp selected in Main, open the Essential Graphics panel and add: name Source Text, title Source Text, bar Fill, accent.
  6. Rename each promoted property clearly (“Name”, “Title”, “Bar Color”, “Accent”).
  7. Back in Main, drive the whole lower-third from the promoted Essential Properties — without opening the precomp.
  8. Duplicate the precomp for a second lower-third; change only its Essential Properties and confirm the instances are independent.
  9. Add an effect and note render order: masks → effects → transforms, and inner comp → outer comp.
  10. Animate an on/off using the master comp's transform (or a promoted slider); Easy Ease.
  11. Save a clean template version of the project; name the file per convention.
  12. Save & render (see naming page).

Free tutorials & references

Done when

A lower-third precomp is fully driven by clearly named Essential Properties, duplicated into an independent second instance, with tidy folders and correct render order.

Files

Pittman_Ex01_LowerThirdRig.aep → render Pittman_Ex01_LowerThirdRig.mov · versions Pittman_Ex01_LowerThirdRig_001.aep

This drill is your in-class activity for the week (worth 2 points) and ladders directly into the project.