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nico cox
nico cox
Participant
April 22, 2026

After Effects Expressions

  • April 22, 2026
  • 1 reply
  • 15 views

Subject: Text on Path — First Margin expression has no visual effect in AE English (all versions)

Description:

In After Effects English, the "First Margin" property of Text on Path options does not produce any visual result when driven by an expression, despite the expression evaluating correctly.

The expression value updates in real time in the timeline, the expression is enabled, the text is correctly assigned to a path mask, and all other expressions on the layer are working. But the text does not scroll along the path.

This issue appeared suddenly during the day — the exact same script was working correctly in AE English this morning on the same machines, and stopped working this afternoon without any change to the script, the project, or the system.

The issue affects all tested versions of After Effects: CC 2024, CC 2025, and CC 2026, on multiple Macs. The exact same script works correctly in After Effects French on the same machines.

Steps to reproduce:

  1. Create a new project and a new HD composition
  2. Add a text layer
  3. Add a mask, set Text → Path Options → Path to that mask
  4. Add this expression on First Margin: -2400 + time * 200
  5. Play the composition past the 12-second mark

Expected result: Text scrolls along the path. Actual result: Text stays static. Expression evaluates and value changes correctly, but has no visual effect. Works in AE French on the same machine.

Environment: macOS, After Effects English CC 2024 / CC 2025 / CC 2026, multiple machines. Worked this morning, stopped working this afternoon with no changes to the system.


 

Ajout important :

Further testing confirms that the issue is not related to expressions. Setting the First Margin value manually (without any expression) also has no visual effect in AE English. The text remains static on the path regardless of the First Margin value, whether set by expression or manually.

This confirms a rendering bug introduced in today's update that completely breaks the First Margin functionality on text-on-path in After Effects English.

    1 reply

    nico cox
    nico coxAuthor
    Participant
    April 22, 2026

    Subject: Text on Path — First Margin has no effect when text justification defaults to Right Align in AE English

    Description:

    After investigating a bug where the First Margin property had no visual effect on text-on-path animations in After Effects English, we identified the root cause: After Effects English defaults to right-aligned text justification, while After Effects French defaults to left-aligned.

    According to After Effects documentation, First Margin only affects left-aligned text, and Last Margin only affects right-aligned text. Since AE English creates text layers with right justification by default, First Margin expressions and keyframes have no effect — while Last Margin works correctly.

    This behavior change appeared suddenly on April 22, 2026, affecting all versions of After Effects (CC 2024, CC 2025, CC 2026) on multiple Macs simultaneously, with no changes made to the system or software. Prior to that date, First Margin was working correctly in AE English on the same machines.

    The bug: The default text justification in After Effects English appears to have changed — or is being applied differently — causing First Margin to silently stop working for all new text layers created in AE English.

    Expected behavior: New text layers should default to left-aligned justification in all language versions, as this has been the standard behavior for years.

    Environment: macOS, After Effects English CC 2024 / CC 2025 / CC 2026, multiple machines. Does not occur in After Effects French on the same machines.

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