Steve

Sorry to say but transforming a Shape Layer into a 3D layer just affects the results of that layer together, unable to separate and individually treat or affect the separate shapes, strokes and fills in that “group.” That is asking a lot. I mean, sadly, despite all the cool vector-only functionality, Shape Layers still cannot be exported as a SWF or XFL format to Flash… Very bizarre.

As for using more than just the layer above as a track matte – pre-composition. Select all the top-most layers you wish to combine, go to Layer > Pre-Compose, and be sure to put all attributes into the pre-comp (so any keyframes, expressions or effects are all INSIDE the comp), and don’t check Open Pre-Comp, so you end up with one new nested layer in your original composition. Now you can tell your layer to use that pre-comp layer above as the track matte, and all the layers combined within the nested pre-comp will work as one.

Hope this helps, let me know

If this is not possible anyone know of a way to allow more than just the above layer to be used as the track mat?

But it’s one of those features that rarely gets used or noticed, until you really need it. And as you see from the comments, there is no repeater function for video – it only applies to Shape Layers, and that’s why we converted the video INTO a shape layer through the process of auto-trace and copying the masks. A work-around, but that’s precisely why I shared this article.

I agree, Trapcode Echospace is very useful at duplicating layers, but I’d argue that it’s not better than the Repeater. The Repeater is endless in its settings and capabilities, breaking down fills, strokes, wigglers, values, transformers, everything into individually-controllable items. Echospace is very specific, but not this deep. But that’s just my opinion, as it sure is an awesome plug-in, as are all the Trapcode ones. Stunning stuff.