Convert Brush strokes to path

[saschag96537985]

Hey everybody,

for some scribbling work (with a graphic tablet) I want to apply saber (plugin by videocopilot) on a brush. Unfortunately saber needs a text or a path to be applied to.

Is there any way to draw with a brush and convert the brush into a path? Or any other way to apply saber on a handdrawn object / brush stroke?

Thanks in advance.

Sascha

[Mylenium]

No. You have to create whatever brush-based paths/ outlines you want in Illustrator and expand them.

Mylenium

[Kyle Hamrick]

To clarify, in what did you do the scribbling?
If you did it in Illustrator, you've created paths already.
If in Photoshop or similar non-vector software, you'll need to recreate.
If you did it directly in AE with motion sketch, you can copy/paste that to a mask path!

[saschag96537985]

I am simply using the brush tool in AE and scribbling on the actual video layer. As taught in these hundreds of scribbling tutorials on youtube. The hint mit the motion sketch is pretty nice but not really what I was looking for. Thanks anyway.

So not solution here?

[Kyle Hamrick · Accepted solution]

Aha! The brush tool is also just making a path, which means it can be copy/pasted to other paths.

My guess at the best workflow for what you're doing:
Create a new solid, the same size as the layer you scribbled on.
Use the pen tool to draw a mask - literally any shape, could even just be a single point.
Now you have something to paste into!
Open up your Paint settings on the layer you did your brushstrokes on. Under Brush 1, the first parameter is Path.
You can copy this and paste it to the Mask Path property on the other layer, then apply Saber.

You could continue with multiple masks on the layer, or could copy/paste additional brush paths as keyframes on the same path.

[saschag96537985]

Hey Kyle ... great idea. Works out! Thanks a lot for your help.

But considering the fact that there will be a couple thousands brushes that is a really complex and annoying workflow 😕

Nevertheless ... thanks! If anyone has another idea, just hit me up

Cheers!

[Kyle Hamrick]

Ha, yeah, that does sound pretty inconvenient. Lesson learned - test the workflow before doing the whole thing. 

If it were me, I would probably put the time toward trying to replicate the LOOK of Saber with other effects, though that may or may not be possible, depending on the look you're after.

You might also try checking out the VideoCopilot forums - since it's their product, they might be able to offer some better suggestions about working with the brush paths.

[saschag96537985]

Yeah I am also about to replicate the look. Sounds legit.
I already hit up the videocopilot support - they verified that I need to get a text or path going to apply Saber. No way around it.

[Kyle Hamrick]

Good luck!