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Hugh Betcha
Hugh Betcha
Legend
April 23, 2021
Question

__Animating lines - how to

  • April 23, 2021
  • 2 replies
  • 531 views

__I know you'll say "read a tutorial" or "go back to school", but I'm gonna try to rely on the kindness of strangers.

 

I'm 100% self-taught in AE, and I'm having trouble with two things:

1. When I make a stroked line and want to animate it, I'm having trouble selecting the 'nodes' to move each independently - with the Selection tool. My workaround is to add a node with the 'vertex tool' then remove, it - and then the nodes on either end are highlighted, and moveable.

2. When I do select the nodes, I can move independently, but when I animate it, I can't do what I want, which is to have one node kind of 'stay in place' and another one move.

 

Attached is an idea of what I want to achieve...

Can you help?

Thanks!

This topic has been closed for replies.

2 replies

nishu_kush
Community Manager
nishu_kushCommunity Manager
Community Manager
April 23, 2021

Hi Hugh Betcha,

 

Thanks for writing in.

I agree with Mylenium suggestion. However, if you wanna work with the Stroke, you can create null objects that are attached to the anchor point of a path so you can move nulls to move the anchor points ( Select the path and go to Window > Create Nulls From Path).

Hope it helps.

 

Thanks,
Nishu

Hugh Betcha
Hugh BetchaAuthor
Legend
April 23, 2021

Thanks to Mylenium and Nishu, however that didn't make any sense to me whatsoever (I guess I'm not too swift).

 

Attached is a video of what I'm trying to achieve (and showing what your suggestions appear to produce.

Mylenium
Mylenium
Legend
April 23, 2021

Beam will do exactly what you want, but of course it will have to be applied to a layer covering the entire comp, i.e. a solid, not a shape layer.

 

Mylenium

Mylenium
Mylenium
Legend
April 23, 2021

Effects --> Generate --> Beam. No point in bothering with masks/ shape layers and strokes. All you would need is three instances of the effect (or more if you need) and link together the crosshairs with simple pick-whip expressions that could then further be modified so stuff stays perpendicular. Eitehr way, it's already going to be more intuitive than any mask-based set-up could ever be, even if you rig it with expressions to control the anchor points.

 

Mylenium

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