adjustment-layer.md

<adjustmentLayer>

A layer that draws nothing of its own and transforms the clip below it. While the layer's clip lasts, its transform composes onto that of the sibling directly beneath it in the stack, so a punch-in, a drift or a keyframed zoom is authored once, in a row of its own, and trimmed and slid along the timeline without the clip it acts on being touched.

<scene name="Interview" width={1920} height={1080}>
  <video src="a-roll/interview.mp4" />
  <adjustmentLayer start={2} end={6} scale={1.4} />
</scene>

Keyframe it the way any node is keyframed (see keyframes.md) — this is what the element is for:

<adjustmentLayer name="Punch in" start={2} end={6}>
  <keyframeTrack property="scale">
    <keyframe time={0} value={1} easing="easeInOut" />
    <keyframe time={2} value={1.6} />
  </keyframeTrack>
</adjustmentLayer>

What it acts on

The preceding sibling — one clip, the one drawn directly beneath the layer — for as long as the layer's own start/end window lasts. Outside that window, or with hidden, the clip is left alone. A layer that is the first child of its parent has nothing beneath it and does nothing.

Inside a <sequence> the layer acts on what sits below the sequence, not on the clip before it inside one: a sequence is a row of clips over time, so "beneath" is measured against the row.

Props

Prop	Type	Default	Meaning
x, y	number	0	Translation applied to the clip below, px.
offsetX, offsetY	number	0	Render-time translation on top of x/y, px.
rotation	number	0	Rotation in degrees, about the box centre.
scale	number	1	Uniform scale about the box centre. Overrides scaleX/scaleY while set.
scaleX, scaleY	number	1	Per-axis scale.
width, height	number	1920 × 1080	Never drawn: the box the transform pivots around. Set them to the scene's own size on a frame shaped otherwise, so rotation and scale turn about its middle.
hidden	boolean	absent	Excludes the layer without removing it: the clip below is left alone and the layer keeps its place in the timeline.
start, end	Time	see timing.md	When the layer acts. A layer is sourceless, so with no end it takes the 16-second default.
id, name	string	see elements.md	Address and label.

It has no fill, no opacity and no blendMode: it has no pixels of its own to give them to. Its children are <animation> and <keyframeTrack> elements — what the layer's transform is animated with.