Building Your Project - The Focal Easy Guide to After Effects - page 128

Open Drag & Replace - Build 01.aep , a Lower Third project for a fictitious
game called GridBall that needs its players updated. Included in the Comp are
three of the players that need individual Lower Thirds:

1

Select the layers using BD.psd image.

2

In the Project Window, locate GS.psd in the Player Headshots folder.

3

Depress 'Alt', then click and drag GS.psd into the Timeline Window.

4

Release the mouse button at any place in the Timeline.

5

In the Timeline select text - Brandon Dicks.psd .

6

In the Project Window, Drag and Replace (click and drag) text - Grant
Salisbury.psd into the Timeline.

The subtle beauty of Drag and Replace is obvious when you try to manually
duplicate the steps above. To see how much work would have been involved,
select the three GS.psd layers and press 'U U' to display all modified properties
and effects. Suddenly, the thought of cutting and pasting effects, adjusting
properties settings, and changing Blending Modes becomes more daunting.

Drag and Replace - Part 2: Footage Across
Multiple Comps

Now imagine that this one resource is used throughout many other graphics
Compositions - how do you address Drag and Replace with a heap of isolated
targets to modify? Do the Drag and Replace inside the Project Window:

1

Select CAS.psd , then depress 'Alt'.

2

Drag and Replace CAS.psd over
the top of GS.psd .

Anywhere the file GS.psd was in use
has been updated with CAS.psd
instead. This is just the simplest
example - Drag and Replace across
multiple Comps is even more powerful
when you realize that using Drag and