Drag the layer you want to use as a material (a precomp, solid, image, or video) into the same composition as your 3D layer.
Last updated on
Sep 9, 2026
Learn how to apply animated precomps, solids, images, and videos as material sources on 3D objects in Adobe After Effects (Beta).
Use new beta features
Using layer as material source is now available for testing and feedback. Try it now in After Effects (beta).
With the feature to use layers as material sources, any content already in your project can act as a material. Instead of importing a texture to the project or selecting one from a fixed library, you turn a precomp, solid, image, or video layer into the surface of a 3D object.
When you use a 2D composition as the material for a 3D object, you can animate both together in the same project. Any change you make to the animated layers in the 2D composition plays out directly on the 3D surface, without exporting or reimporting a file.
Before you begin
- Ensure that the Advanced 3D option is currently selected in the 3D Renderer dropdown menu in the Composition panel.
- Confirm the composition contains a parametric mesh, 3D model, or 3D text/shape layer.
- Add a precomp, solid, image, or video to your project to use as the material source.
With the layer to be used as a material added in the Timeline panel, select the parametric mesh, 3D model, or 3D text/shape layer.
Select the Material dropdown under the Material Assignment option in the Timeline panel.
If you are using the Properties panel, you can also use the search field to narrow the list to Compositions, Footage, or SBSARs in the composition.
Select the composition, footage, or SBSAR file you want to use as the material from the Material dropdown menu.
Adjust how the material sits on the surface using the Offset, Rotation, and Scale controls.
Fine-tune the look using the intrinsic material streams such as Roughness, Opacity, Metallic, Emission Color, Emission Intensity, and Ambient Response.
Tip
Roughness, Metallic, Emission, and the other material streams are keyframeable and expression-friendly, so you can animate them the same way you would any other 3D material property.
Your mesh, model, or text/shape layer now displays the assigned layer as its material, updating in real time as the source composition animates.
Join the conversation in our After Effects (Beta) community about using layers as materials.
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