Layer Types
The layer kinds Alekhya can create — plane, camera, vector and adjustment — what distinguishes them, and when each is appropriate.
Reference
- Panel
- Layers
- Menu
- Layer ▸ New Plane Layer (3D)
A layer is one compositing unit in the scene. Layers differ along three axes: the space they occupy (a plane in the 3D scene, or locked to the screen), whether they hold vector paths instead of raster strokes, and whether they hold content at all.
The space a layer occupies is fixed when the layer is created. There is no control that converts an existing layer between 3D and 2D, so the choice made at creation is the choice you keep.
Creating a layer
Three layer kinds are on the menu bar's Layer menu. The Layers panel's + button offers these and more; see the Layers panel for the complete menu.
Creates a plane layer in scene space. Also on the Layers panel + menu as
Plane layer (3D).
Creates a screen-locked layer. Also on the + menu as Camera layer (2D).
Creates a vector layer in scene space. Also on the + menu as Vector layer (3D). The
menu bar has no item for the 2D variant.
A 2D shot has one drawing layer
The plane/camera split is a choice about depth, and a 2D shot has none. There the menu reads New Layer and New Vector Layer, and everything below about 3D versus 2D layers does not apply — every layer is flat, at depth zero, and stacks in panel order.
3D or 2D: the distinction that matters
This is the single choice that most often produces an unexpected result, and it is worth stating concretely.
A plane layer (3D) lives in scene space. It has a depth, it sits on a surface you can bend, and it is drawn from wherever the viewport camera happens to be. Orbit the viewport and a plane layer turns with the scene, because it is in the scene. Its artwork holds a position in space.
A camera layer (2D) is locked to the screen. It has no depth in the scene and it does not move when the viewport orbits or pans. Whatever you draw on it stays fixed to the frame.
The practical rule: if the artwork belongs to the world you are drawing, use a plane layer. If it belongs to the frame — a title, a caption, a border, an overlay that must not drift when the camera moves — use a camera layer.
Two indicators in the Layers panel tell the kinds apart at a glance. A camera-space layer carries a
viewfinder badge next to its name, and the right-hand column of its row reads 2D. A plane layer's
row shows its depth as a number instead.
The space is set at creation
A layer's space cannot be changed afterward. There is no 2D-to-3D conversion control. If a title was drawn on a plane layer and drifts when the viewport orbits, the fix is to create a camera layer and redraw it there.
Plane layer (3D)
Reference
- Panel
- Layers
- Menu
- Layer ▸ New Plane Layer (3D)
The default kind, and the one to draw on when the artwork should have depth. A plane layer draws onto a drawing surface, which can be left flat or bent into a curve, and it composites into the scene at its depth.
New plane layers are named Plane 1, Plane 2, and so on. A new plane layer is placed 40 units in
front of the frontmost layer already in the stack — its depth is the smallest depth in the stack
minus 40 — and it is inserted at the top of the panel. It therefore reads as "added on top" both in
the list and in the scene.
Creating a plane layer also clears any active sub-layer or mask, so the new plane becomes the draw target immediately.
Camera layer (2D)
Reference
- Panel
- Layers
- Menu
- Layer ▸ New Camera Layer (2D)
A screen-locked layer, for content that must stay fixed to the frame: titles, annotations, overlays and framing elements. It never moves with an orbit or a pan.
New camera layers are named Camera 2D 1, Camera 2D 2, and so on, counting the camera-space
layers already present. They are added at the top of the panel at depth 0.
A camera layer is not positioned by a surface pose. It is positioned by its own offset, scale and rotation instead. Its scale is per-axis, so it can be stretched on one axis independently.
Vector layer
Reference
- Panel
- Layers
- Menu
- Layer ▸ New Vector Layer
A vector layer holds editable vector paths rather than raster strokes. The paths remain editable after they are drawn — the points persist rather than baking into pixels — and they are drawn in the scene as lines and tubes.
The Vector Pen creates one for you. If the active layer is not already a vector layer, the pen creates a vector layer before it places the first point, on the same touch. You do not need to create one in advance.
Two variants exist:
| Variant | Created from | Space | Auto-name |
|---|---|---|---|
Vector layer (3D) | + menu, or Layer ▸ New Vector Layer | Scene space | Vector 1, Vector 2, … |
Vector layer (2D) | + menu only | Screen-locked | Vector 2D 1, Vector 2D 2, … |
The 3D variant is created flat at depth 0 and added at the top of the panel. The 2D variant is a screen-locked shape layer and follows the camera-layer rules above. The menu bar's Layer menu creates only the 3D variant.
For what you can do to the paths once they exist, see Vector modifiers.
The other kinds
Three further kinds are documented on their own pages.
Groups are folders. A group composites its member layers as one unit, then applies the group's own opacity, blend mode and effect stack to the result. See Masks and groups.
Sub-layers are a 2D stack on a parent plane layer's own plane, composited together before the
parent composites into the scene. A paint sub-layer is created from the + menu as
Paint sub-layer. See Masks and groups.
Adjustment layers hold no content of their own. Their effect stack applies to everything composited below them. See Adjustment layers.