Blend tool in After Effects.

[HermannMotion]

Hello everyone,

I have been using after effects for a few years now and I am launching into a particular style of motion, with only the shape tool and distortions. I would like to know if there is a way, a tool which would allow the illustrator style to create intermediate shapes from 2 shapes.

You know, the blend tool : 

Hope this topic is on the right place.

[nishu_kush]

Hi HermannMotion,

Thanks for writing in.

After Effects doesn't have dedicated tool for blending 2 or more shapes. However, you can animate one shape into another. Here's a YouTube tutorial of what I am talking about: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLd-5x5KhyA&ab_channel=MOBOXGraphics

Hope it helps.

Thanks,

Nishu

[HermannMotion]

Hi nishu_kush,

Thank you for answering me 🙂

Yes, i don't really need morphing. I just want to create shapes from 2 initiales shapes.

[thepixelsmith]

I'm confused. 

Does your end result just need to be static shapes (non animated) or do you need to animate the blending of two shapes together?

AE isn't really a drawing program so it doesn't have anywhere the number of tools to create graphics as Illustrator and Photoshop do.

[HermannMotion]

Yes, i want to animate the blending of two shapes. I can't animate in illustrator. I think my solution is to copy paste path on each shapes.

[Rick Gerard]

The easiest way to blend one shape into another is to use Illustrator to create the blend, expand the blend, release to layers, then import the AI file as a composition retaining layer size and sequence the layers. Here are a couple of tutorials that I produced. One of these days I'll do a more comprehensive one. I have used this technique ever since you could import AI files as a composition. I think that's about 15 years.

This technique works as well as any complicated editing a vector path plan you may come up with and it only takes a few minutes. 

[HermannMotion]

The fact i want to do it directly in After Effects is practical in the sense that I would like to modify the shapes while keeping the blend. 

[HermannMotion]

Thanks for your videos, it will helps me for sure.