Animating a layer using a path

[Feyli]

Hi there! I'm trying to animate a layer using a path so I create a shape and I copy its path, then I paste it to the position setting of the layer I want to animate but the animation goes outside of the preview and it goes super large.

I put a video because I don't think I explained very well ^^'

[Jose Panadero]

Probably you have modified the properties of the target layer. Could you press UU and show us a screen capture of your timeline?

[Feyli]

Sure ^^

btw, sorry, After Effects is in french 😕

[Jose Panadero]

That is the problem, as Rick says when you want to use a path as a motion path, the target layer cannot be moved or scaled. You have modified the scale (30,90 aprox) so this is the problem. Also you have to be careful about your anchor point position.

[Feyli]

What should I do if I want to animate each single part of the Google logo 😞

[Rick Gerard]

The path needs to be drawn on a layer that has not been moved or scaled. You did start a new shape layer and if your preferences are not set to center the anchor point on the shape then it should work. A sure-fire way to make this work is to add a new comp-sized solid and draw a path on the solid. 

Something else must be going on in your composition. Did you use the camera tool to reposition the Active Camera view earlier? 

[Feyli]

I created some shapes from my text via the integrated After Effects script. Does it mean I have to do everything manually?

No, I didn't used the camera tool 😕

[Rick Gerard]

Try just trying your path on a solid.

[Feyli]

I tried but it doesn't seem to change anything 😕

[Rick Gerard]

Try this. Start a new comp. Add a new solid (Ctrl/Cmnd + y) to the timeline that is the same size as your comp. Draw an open mask path on this new solid using the pen tool (g). Press Alt/Option + M to set a mask keyframe. Press Ctrl/Cmnd + X to cut the mask keyframe. Add a second new solid to the comp but make this solid 100 X 100 pixels. Press Alt/Option + P to set a position keyframe for the new small solid, then immediately press Ctrl/Cmnd + v to paste the mask data to the position data.

If the new small solid follows the motion path then your problem lies in the main comp, not in the workflow. 

Go back to your problem comp. Select all layers, press 'uu', There should be no layer/transform properties showing on the layer you are using for the path. If you see Layer/Transform Anchor Point, Position, Scale, or Rotation properties then you need a new layer to use as your motion path. Try the same workflow you used in the text comp above. Create a new comp-sized shape layer and a new small shape layer and see if that works.

If that does not work, select all layers in your problem comp and copy them. Create a new comp that is the same frame size, frame rate, and duration and paste the layers in the new comp and try again.

If none of that works, embed some screenshots (don't use Drag and drop here) or share the project file so we can see what is going on.

[Feyli]

Nothing works 😕

I'm sending the project. The concerned compositions are "Oui" and "Composition 3". Don't take care of the others 😉

PS: the file is in the comment but if it doesn't work, you can get it here: https://plik.root.gg/file/5talwEmBUK6O2tbb/ZncPjYsrPjSaWWIj/motion%20learn.aep (it expires in 3 days)

[Rick Gerard]

You need to remove the parenting before you paste the vector path as a motion path. Null 2 is also scaled wildly. I don't see any reason at all to parent all of those shape layers to the null, and it is never a good idea to offset the anchor point or adjust the scale of a null before you use it as a parent for other layers. 

All of your converted shape layers are also scaled. That can be worked with, but the whole workflow for the comp is inefficient. 

Sorry I did not notice that the layer you were trying to animate was parented to another layer. 

[Feyli]

I parented them to be able to animate all of them at the same time. Like move each one. The problem is that even when I create a new composition without any parented layer, it still doesn’t work

[Rick Gerard · Accepted solution]

I made a video. There is no reason at all for this not to work with your Google comp if you turn off parenting, select the path on layer 2 and set a keyframe, or make sure you have the path selected and copy it, then you set a position keyframe and paste on any layer. You could also use a shape layer path. This always works for creating a motion path from a vector path if the layer with the vector path has not been moved at all. If any transform properties are not at their default values, a copy and paste operation will not place the motion path directly over the motion path. I am uploading the video to YouTube now. It should be processed in a couple of minutes. The video is not intended as a tutorial. It is only a very quick demonstration of the proper workflow.

Once you get the motion path created you can parent the layers back to the null. You could also leave the layers all parented to the null and paste the vector path to the null's position.

*The video may still be processing. It should be ready in a few minutes.

[Feyli]

I just watched the video and OMG thanks it worked! Thank you so much for being fast to reply ^^