Decide what should stay shared.
Keep structural design and shared animation in the source composition. Expose a short list of purposeful controls such as Name, Role and Panel colour. Place the source in a parent comp rather than making independent copies for every small wording change.
Bring useful controls forward.
- Select the source object and find its parameter in Basement.
- Expose that parameter in the object’s Controls.
- Raise it through each containing Group and onto the comp as needed.
- Name the control by the job it performs.
- Inspect the instance’s exposed controls before changing a variation.
Create and inspect two variations.
Place the source twice. Change an exposed text value on one instance, then another on the second. Edit a shared source property that neither overrides. Both should receive that shared change while retaining their distinct wording.
| Action | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Edit the source | Change shared content for instances, subject to overrides |
| Edit instance control | Set a value for that instance |
| Revert override | Follow the source again |
| Type source value | Keep an override that currently matches |
| Duplicate source comp | Create an independent design source |
Keep animation assumptions explicit.
An instance override can replace a source property’s animation with a static value in the reviewed development behaviour. It is not an additive animation offset. For independent motion, use a supported approach and inspect the result instead of assuming every override is animatable.
Changing a shared source can affect several placements. Undo/revert and save/reopen are part of the exercise, not optional final polish.
Let an agent help with the variations.
Ask it to identify the source, both instances and exposed controls before changing anything. Let it revise only one Role, stop, inspect both results, and hand the project back. After you edit manually, ask for fresh state before further changes.