How to cut out shapes in Adobe After Effects
If you want to cut out something from a shape inside Adobe After Effects, using another shape, there is a quick and easy way to do that, which I will show you in this blog post.
How to cut out shapes in Adobe After Effects
First, you want to create 2 shapes inside the same “Shape Layer”.
You do that by selecting the first shape (or the layer with the shape inside) and then creating a new shape with the shape tool. This will automatically place your new shape inside the same “Shape Layer”.
(If you want to create a NEW shape layer, you need to unselect every layer first)
Now, click “Contents” inside your “Shape Layer” and then click “Add” right next to it. Here, you want to select “Merge Paths” and this will create 3 new layers under your shapes.
Open the first one and change “Mode” to “Subtract” to subtract any shape from the shape at the top in that layer, and now the settings under the layers “Stroke” and “Fill” will affect the remaining area.
And if you want to invert the subtraction, simply change the order of your shapes.
🎞 Watch the tutorial here!
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Thanks for reading!
