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kend8148345
Participant
December 5, 2022
Question

complex motions along a path

  • December 5, 2022
  • 2 replies
  • 307 views

For a project for work, I am trying to create an animation of a traffic roundabout - sometimes called a traffic circle - used to control traffic at an intersection without a traffic light. This particular roundabout is at the intersection of three roads, so imagine an "O" with roads intersecting at noon, 3 p.m., and 6 p.m. positions.

 

The looping animation I have in mind would involve an arrow, representing a vehicle, moving along a path simulating a road. It would travel along the road, enter the traffic circle and exit at either of the two other roads and carry on along the rest of the path. What I am trying to do is find an easy way to randomize the paths of the arrow, so that the looping animation is seamless. One arrow, for example, would enter at the noon position, loop around and exit at the 3 p.m. road; the next would exit at the 6 p.m.  And of course, there would be a separate animation of opposite traffic entering at the 6 p.m. road and alternatively exiting at the 3 p.m. and 9 p.m. intersections.  Any ideas on how to do this will be greatly appreciated. I am also unsure whether AE or Animate may be the best Adobe products for this animation.  

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2 replies

Mylenium
Legend
December 5, 2022

You're going to need some paths, regardless of whether you animate some motion by hand, use Rick's suggestion or simply copy & paste them from a shape layer or masks to position properties. Animate the necessary cycles once, then adjust the timing and duplicate the layers often enough.

 

Mylenium 

Community Expert
December 5, 2022

I suggest drawing shape-layer paths for each route you want to have the graphics take. Put these paths on a separate shape layer with no fill and no stroke. Then use the Window/Create Nulls From Paths/Trace paths script to create a null that follows each path you have drawn. 

 

You can then attach a Graphic to the Null using Shift + Parent, and it will follow the path and stay oriented to the motion path. You can set the motion to loop and just keyframes for the controllers added to the nulls so you can control the timing. 

 

I don't have time to set up a sample project for you. You should be able to figure it out.