Groups combine layers into a shared visual stage. They are different from library Collections, which only organize clips.
Create and assign
Click Groups above the layer controls to open Layer groups.
- Choose Add group and edit its Group name.
- Use the layer pickers below the group list to assign layers, or choose Ungrouped.
- Use Parent to nest a group inside another group; Composition makes it a root group.
- Choose FX to edit that group's ordered effect stack.
Missing parents and cyclic hierarchies are rejected. Assigning members consolidates the group at its first member's place in the layer list, preserving the members' relative order; grouping can therefore change compositing order.
Group controls
- Master is group opacity, 0…1. It scales the combined group image.
- Bypass hides the group. This is a group visibility control, not an individual effect's bypass switch.
- Solo isolates descendant layers of soloed groups.
- FX opens the group's effect stack, with the same instance controls and 16-instance limit as other stacks.
- Remove removes the group and its group look. It reparents its immediate member layers and child groups to the removed group's parent; it does not delete those layers.
Group opacity, bypass and solo also affect the file-audio gain of descendant layers. The visual effect operators themselves do not become audio processors.
Processing order
Clip processing feeds layer processing. The renderer composites group members, applies the group's stored transform and effects, then its opacity. Nested groups feed their parents, and the result feeds Master processing. Ungrouped layers feed the composition directly. The group editor exposes FX and opacity; it does not provide a separate group-transform editor.
The main Inspector's picker still offers Clip, Layer and Master. Open group FX from the Groups sheet or a group's matrix header.
Collapse groups and compact layers
A group's header chevron collapses or expands its descendant rows. The header keeps its name, FX and Master controls; collapsed rows continue playing.
A layer's chevron, or its context menu's Compact layer / Expand layer, changes that row's height. The compact row keeps its name and FX control while the expanded Solo/Mute/opacity block is hidden. These controls change presentation rather than stopping playback.
Group-collapse and layer-compaction state save with the set and participate in Undo/Redo. The app discards saved collapse/compact references whose identities no longer exist when restoring.
Storage and limits
Group routing, hierarchy, opacity, bypass/solo and group looks are set data. New group semantics require set format 6. See Sets, presets and storage. Import banks from set… still refuses grouped routing; open the complete set instead.
This describes development source. Group behavior in the public preview binary and physical output were not verified for this documentation update.