So I just started with AE and i was wondering in what way do you change the size of a rectangle? Like you would do it as in for example illustrator? If I want to change the shape and pull the anchor points, the rectangle changes on both sides in stead of one side... HELP!
Spend some time with the User Guide. Type edit path in the Search Help field in the top right corner of AE and study up. You should also study up on editing shape layers. The easiest way to find out what is going on in a layer with a shape or a mask is to select the layer and press the U key twice. This will show you everything that has been modified. You can then expand properties as needed and animate anything that has a stopwatch by the property.
Rectangles created with the Rectangle tool are not paths, they are parametric shapes with a width and height. You can convert them to Bezier paths and then animate the path directly. There's too much info to go over in a single post but this overview of editing paths may help you get started. It's no substitute for some serious study of the User Guide. You'll never learn AE by just poking around in the UI and experimenting.
This is just a very basic look at how to use the pen tool to edit paths. The technique will work with Masks and Shape layers.
So to actually answer the question: After a path is created, simply expand the layer via the drop down, expand Contents, Expand whatever your shape name is (mine is Rectangle 1 for example), then right click on that shape names Path ( so for me it is Rectangle Path 1) and click convert to Bezier Path. Then use the standard pen tools to edit the shape via anchor points as you would in illustrator.
Easy. No need to dig thru 50 pages of Adobe's Help manual 😛
Logged in to say thank you for this. I'm very proficient in Illustrator been using it professionally for years and find it really annoying how unintuitive the exact same tools by the exact same developers are in After Effects. I freqently find myself googling how the eff do I just edit a shape's points/path and why is this so difficult? lol Should NOT have to google that. Thank you again for being straight and to the point about it much appreciated!
Hey guys, I just figured out an even easier and possibly better way to edit any shape.
1. Under the layer the shape, example: [name of layer] > [name of shape]
2. Right click on the shape and select 'Convert To Bezier Path'
3. Then under the shape select the path, eacmple: [name of shape] > [name of shape] Path 1
4. In the composition viewer select the shape, not the points you want to edit. You could select the points you want to edit and edit them, but that would be for more specific edits, like morphing the shape.
5. While holding down the 'shift' key, double click on any of the white points and voila. You have a fully editable shape!
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