The organization and positioning of all the panels on-screen is called the workspace. After Effects comes equipped with a series of preset workspaces that you can use. After Effects displays certain panels depending upon the workspace selected, and they are named based upon common tasks you might need to perform. Some of these default workspaces are: All Panels, Animation, Minimal, Motion Tracking, Paint, Standard, Text, and Undocked Panels. When you run After Effects for the first time, the application displays the Standard workspace.
Viewing and hiding panels
To modify your workspace, you can open, hide, move, resize, float, or dock panels. This functionality makes the After Effects interface customizable to meet your preferences and working style. After deciding which panels you want to display, close any panels you will not need and open the ones you plan to use. Next, you will work with a variety of application panels to customize and then save your own custom workspace.
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