AE 2018 Can't copy/paste layers using "Points follow Nulls" without it breaking

[stinab34266420]

Heya. As the title says, I set up a simple line with three path points, all following nulls using the new feature in AE 2018. However when I copy and paste these layers into a new comp, it seems to all break apart. The names are untouched, scripts seem to be intact, yet when I move the nulls around the path points do not follow. Any ideas?

[P.M.B]

Precomp the layers and then copy/paste the precomp, not the individual layers

[stinab34266420]

We do use pre-comps most of the time, but then there are cases where it's just so much easier to copy the layers into the comp. Partly because it needs to fit with a lot of other layers and elements in the comp, partly because we can easily rack up 6-7 pre-comps...

[Kevin-Monahan]

What was your solution for this issue StinaB? Or did you find one yet?

Thanks,
Kevin

[stinab34266420]

Sorry for the late reply. We never found a solution, so we've stuck to simply moving the path points themselves around. It's a shame because the nulls would've automated a very small but frequent task.

[Roland Kahlenberg · Accepted solution]

There is a solution!
After pasting the Nulls and its associated Shape Layer, the Effects that are applied to the Shape Layer lose their references to the Nulls — you have to manually re-set these references. So, select the Shape Layer and access its Effects Control Panel. Note that each Null has a pulldown menu — they are now incorrectly referencing the Shape Layer. To correct the issue, simply use the pulldown menu to select each effect's appropriate reference — simply ensure they link to their respective names.

Interestingly, the solution works regardless if each effect is linked to their respectively named Null as long as each effect references one Null. This issue also crops up if you were to copy-paste the Nulls, within the same copy.

[stinab34266420]

Thank you so much! While I hope we don't have to relink nulls in a future update, this definitely makes life easier.