Change ONLY the first Position Keyframe of an Image using an Expression

[defaultdb3e9gl13f2s]

I made a simple animation where an icon I made (which is parenting a matte layer) will swipe from right-to-left, revealing text I wrote beneath it. I want to export this as a MOGRT file so I can use this to present people's names and/or titles in my Premiere Pro projects.

However, I need a way to ensure only the first keyframe of my image's animation is always starting at the end of the text box (the right-most position of the text layer's bounding box on the X-axis).

That way, if I add more or less text to the MOGRT on my Premiere timeline, the first position keyframe of my image will update accordingly.

What is the proper expression I need to type out to acomplish this?

[Mylenium]

The usual sourceRectAtTime() expressions will be used to determine the size of the text bounding box and then perhaps something with valueAtTime(key(1).time), substituting the original value for the calculated one from the bounding box.

Mylenium

[Mathias Moehl]

If you use Pins & Boxes you can

1) create a box for your text

2) animate the box in by keyframing its  scale X% control (also set its anchor point in X to 0 or 100% such that it scales in from either its left or its right edge).

3) create a pin on the edge of the box and attach the icon to it --> now the icon moves with the box

4) you can make the box invisible now, since you only needed it to create the moving pin in step 3

[Mathias Moehl · Accepted solution]

I just created a little screen recording to explain this in more detail:

[Mathias Moehl]

By the way, in practice you want your icon to move a little bit more than just the text size itself (like start 50px left of the text and end 50% right of it). You can easily do that, too, by using the margin controls of the box layer.

[defaultdb3e9gl13f2s]

I tried the trial version of your Pin and Box plugin to see if it would accomplish what I'm trying to do, and it worked successfully. However, a question:

How do I convert all this into a MOGRT file to use in Premiere Pro? The Essential Graphics window in After Effects doesn't seem to accept anything I drag in that came from your plugin.

Another question I have is a bit of a follow-up to my original question---combined with the info you've given me:

This animation will use different variations of logos in the future (i.e. using a social media logo to introduce someone by their social media handle, or using a company logo to introduce an employee of said company). I was initially just going to make multiple MOGRT files with each logo/icon I plan on using for my project and future projects. However, this will leave me with many MOGRTs to sort through when I actually need them in Premiere Pro. Is there a way to make the image I use in a MOGRT replaceable? That way I can just create one MOGRT file that's completely flexible when using in Premiere Pro.

It is my first time creating a custom MOGRT file. And although I've seen tutorials, they don't mention/use images in their examples. Only text and simple shape layers. So I don't know if it's possible to make images replaceable in a MOGRT file when transferring and using the new MOGRT file from AE to PP.

[Mathias Moehl]

"The Essential Graphics window in After Effects doesn't seem to accept anything I drag in that came from your plugin." What exactly did you try to drag? You should be able to drag the source text of the text layer to make it editable.

In general, Pins & Boxes just creates expressions and effects for the parameters like the scale and anchor. All of this can be dragged into the essential graphics panels exactly in the same way as any other property.

[defaultdb3e9gl13f2s]

I dragged my image (as per the instructions of the Youtube video you sent me), along with the source text, into the essential graphics panel. However, when I try to drag in the pin layers or the box layer, I get this error:

If I export the MOGRT without the pins and boxes, won't it break my logo's animation of it sweeping across the screen to reveal my text (since it's parented to the pin layer, and needs the pin to animate properly) when I use it in Premiere Pro?

[Mathias Moehl]

If you drag an entire layer onto the panel, you tell AE that the Pr user should be able to replace the source footage of the layer (which is not possible for shape layers like the pins or boxes).

In general, all layers are included in the mogrt. In the essential graphics panel you only need to put the properties that the Premiere Pro user should be able to change. The pins layers and boxes layers resize automatically, hence, there is no point in adding them to the essential graphics panel.

[defaultdb3e9gl13f2s]

Ah. Now I better understand. Thank you for that explanation. Now I've exported my MOGRT, and everything is working perfectly when using it in Premiere Pro.

What's even better is that if I need to add any more editable effects/parameters to my MOGRT, I can just add them in AE, export the MOGRT to overwrite the old version, then jump back into PP to see it automatically updated in PP's Essential Graphics menu with no hassle.

Thank you again for your help. I will mark your response as the answer.

[Mathias Moehl]

Thank you 🙂

[Mathias Moehl]

And yes, you can replace images in a Mogrt: