Position parameter within 3D nested groups?

Question

I have a total of six drop zones in 3D space. They are vertical, while the animated background is slanted in the x-axis beneath them. I'm getting a little confused as to the x, y, z coordinates of the drop zones, as they do not seem to be relative to the 0,0,0 xyz coordinates of the canvas. Is there a way to take a screenprint of the canvas and layers tab for me to post? Until then, here is how the nesting looks within the layers tab:
-user content
-drop zone 3
-drop zone 3 portrait
-drop zone 3 landscape
-drop zone 2
-drop zone 2 portrait
-drop zone 2 landscape
-drop zone 1
-drop zone 1 portrait
-drop zone 1 landscape
I have the entire user content group dropping vertically down, and then animate each of the drop zones. My confusion comes in that I've been keyframing the positions, which I find easier than the record button. But, the positions of the individual portrait and landscape drop zones seem to take their 0,0,0 relative to the position of the group they are within, rather than the absolute zero of the canvas. For instance, when drop zone 3 appears to be right in the center of the canvas, it's x and y coordinates are somewhere around 260, -200, which is its position relative to the user content group, not the canvas as a whole. Should I animate them all individually instead of in groups to get actual x,y,z coordinates? or does it even matter?

Answer 1

I should have previewed the post as it took away the formatting for the nesting. The user content group has drop zones 1, 2, and 3 nested within it. Each drop zone group has the portrait and landscape drop zone (with applied effects) nested within it. The x,y,z coordinates of the actual drop zones appear to be relative to the top level group, rather than to the 0,0,0 of the canvas. Wow, that was a much more concise way of explaining the issue.