Shape path points expresion triggered by markers

Question

Hello,

Imagine an open shape layer path with let say 5 points. Is it possible to create an expression to have an object move along the shape of the path but hitting the path points at the specific times controlled by markers?

So marker 1 will start the animation from point (0) and the duration of the object traveling to point (1) will be decided by the time placement of marker 2 etc.

Thank you very much in advance.

Dan Ebberts · Accepted Answer

Dan, thank you very much!

Yes, I am trying to build a project that could be used in any situation where we have between 2 and 15 points and the corresponding number of markers.

I will try to modify the expression above to fit that scenario.

You mentioned there is a better way to do this with more points, if the explanation doesn't take too much of your time please let me know.

Thank you again.

This would be the basic idea, but it needs some additional code to handle the situation where the number of points and markers aren't the same:

m = thisComp.marker;
tLayer=thisComp.layer("Shape Layer 1"); 
tPath=tLayer.content("Shape 1").content("Path 1").path;
p = tPath.points(); 

if (m.numKeys > 1){
  n = m.nearestKey(time).index;
  if (time < m.key(n).time) n--;
  if (n == 0){
    tLayer.toComp(p[0]);
  }else if (n == m.numKeys){
    tLayer.toComp(p[n-1]);
  }else{
    p1 = tLayer.toComp(p[n-1]);
    p2 = tLayer.toComp(p[n]);
    ease(time,m.key(n).time,m.key(n+1).time,p1,p2);
  }
}else
  value

angie_taylor · Answer

Yes, there are at least two ways of doing this. You can either paste the mask path into the position property of the layer. This will paste with roving keyframes but you can change them back to linear keyframes and place them at whatever time you like.

or, you could use text animators to move a shape along a path, using the path text feature. This would only work if you used a symbol font for example.

in either situation you can reference markers and use something like time remapping. Link the time remapping property to the specific points you want using expressions.

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