properties
Layer Properties
thisLayer
When you add masks, effects, paint, or text to a layer, After Effects adds new properties to the Timeline panel. There are too many of these properties to list here, so use the pick whip to learn the syntax for referring to them in your expressions.
On this page, we’re going to use thisLayer as a sample on how to call these items, however note that any method that returns a Layer will work.
Attributes
Layer.anchorPoint
thisLayer.anchorPoint
Description
Returns the anchor point value of the layer in the coordinate system of the layer (layer space).
Type
Array of Numbers (2- or 3-dimensional)
Layer.audioLevels
thisLayer.audioLevels
Description
Returns the value of the Audio Levels property of the layer, in decibels. This value is a 2D value; the first value represents the left audio channel, and the second value represents the right. The value is not the amplitude of the audio track of the source material. Instead, it is the value of the Audio Levels property, which may be affected by keyframes.
Type
Array of Numbers (2-dimensional)
Layer.marker
thisLayer.marker
Description
Returns a given layer’s Marker property.
Type
Layer.name
thisLayer.name
Description
Returns the name of the layer.
Type
String
Layer.opacity
thisLayer.opacity
Description
Returns the opacity value for the layer, expressed as a percentage.
Type
Number
Layer.position
thisLayer.position
Description
Returns the position value of the layer, in world space if the layer has no parent. If the layer has a parent, it returns the position value of the layer in the coordinate system of the parent layer (in the layer space of the parent layer).
Type
Array of Numbers (2- or 3-dimensional)
Layer.rotation
thisLayer.rotation
Description
Returns the rotation value of the layer in degrees. For a 3D layer, it returns the z rotation value in degrees.
Type
Number
Layer.scale
thisLayer.scale
Description
Returns the scale value of the layer, expressed as a percentage.
Type
Array of Numbers (2- or 3-dimensional)
Layer.timeRemap
thisLayer.timeRemap
Description
Returns the value of the Time Remap property, in seconds, if Time Remap is enabled.
Type
Number