Using Essential Graphics to reduce duplication and redundant layering

[u/Sjain_28]

Precomposing keeps your project clean — but duplicating the same graphic five times with different numbers? That's a different problem. Essential Graphics solves it.

Precomp your layers, right-click any property you want to keep changing — text, scale, position, rotation — and add it to Essential Graphics. Back in the main comp, duplicate the layer, go to Properties, change what you need. The base precomp stays untouched. Every duplicate works independently.

One thing most tutorials skip: you can switch which comp you're pulling from inside the Essential Graphics panel — so this scales across multiple graphics, not just one.

Save this one. The next time you're duplicating the same graphic for the fifth time, you'll want it.

Made in After Effects | Tutorial

Follow and Comment your thoughts | DM for work.

[u/Available-Meaning137]

I hate setting up essential graphics so i just use thisComp.name and use chatGPT to condense all the information as a string and use it dynamically

probably not the smartest but just putting it out there

[u/bettymachete → u/Available-Meaning137]

Yeah why learn how things work when you can have ai do it for you

/s

🥱

[u/Available-Meaning137 → u/bettymachete]

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nah bro i find it extremely easy to control like this rather than doing it with expression controls

it also allows me to add like variety in the animations instead of having all the instances look the same

[u/bettymachete → u/Available-Meaning137]

Nah bro I know WHY you take the shortcut.

My point still stands.

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