A

Anonymous

Answered

Creating and Selecting a line in After Effects CC?

Forum|Forum|11 years ago
February 23, 2014
7 replies
41443 views

OK, So I suppose this is a two part question...

But there is a little thing in After Effects CC that is annopying me alot, and it could just be me, and the way I've been doing things...

1) The way I have creating a simple Line in After effects, is by using the pen tool, placing two points, and then just using a stroke on the Shape Layer, and no fill. Is this the most efficient way to creating a line in After Effects? It's what i have always done, and it's not until CC that it has been a pain.

2) The reason why it's inconveniencing me is when i try to select that Shape Layer in the Comp Viewer! For some reason, in CS6, when i wanted to select that line, i could just click on it, and it selects the layer, Now, when i click on the line i just made, nothing happens, no where in the line that i can click or highlight will it select the layer of that line, Instead, I have to click the very center of the composition for some reason. there is small unseen point there that i either have to click exactly, or click and drag in that area, in order to select the layer, which gets annoying if there are many line at any given moment. This point is also where the anchor point for the layer is placed.... Is there any way to change this? To be able to change some setting so that when i click on the line itself, it selects it, and to have the Anchor point be placed in the center of the two point i make?

This topic has been closed for replies.

Correct answer dissidently

Yeah, 2D in 3ds Max. Problem solved.

LauriAaltio

Known Participant

yes. it is terrible UX with AE on this. cant choose a simple line endpoint to move.

M

mattdonnelly13

New Participant

I've been having this trouble the last few months. It only seems to be a problem with lines created with the pen tool. Below is a video capture to illustrate the behaviour:

It seems to be because the line has either no X or Y depth, depending if it's perfectly horizontal or vertical. Lines at any angle create a bounding box around it which can be easily selected in the comp viewer.

Would be delighted to hear a fix.

T

tulshyan_praneet

New Participant

anyone found a fix yet? have been facing the same issue. once i create a straight path using the pen tool, i just cannot select it directly in the composition. i can only select it by selecting it in the layer. it is highly annoying!

H

hieut89959590

New Participant

View > View Option

Select : Layer Controls. Press OK..

I hope Your problem will be resolved.

nethstar

New Participant

I made a post about this, as it still seems to be an issue.

I narrowed it down to simply the bounding box for the layer using the shape's anchor point as it's "selection area". A little confusing, but when you draw a straight line, the shape's anchor point is at 0,0 - even if you drew the line at 100,50 coordinates on the comp, the shape layer will always place a the anchor point at 0,0 if the layer is vertical or horizontal. (You can notice this because the bounding box of the layer is dead in the centre of the screen. All 8 vertices that would be used to transform the layer are all set to 0,0.)

Did you come up with a solution, or find a plugin that works around this issue?

dissidentlyCorrect answer

Inspiring

Yeah, 2D in 3ds Max. Problem solved.

M

michaellea10309208

New Participant

Hi, I'm having literally the exact same problem over a year later. Has a REAL solution other than going into 3ds max been found? I am about to kick my computer in, I cannot believe such a simple thing is still an issue

dissidently

Inspiring

I have just tried as you suggested, with vertical lines, and the situation is much worse than you describe it.

Two shape layers, a vertical line on each, a little ways apart.

Using the V tool, if neither layer is selected (there are no other layers in this project) then it's impossible to select either layer with the V tool, except by stumbling over the hidden mid point of the layer.

Even a marquee drag selection over the line won't select it. That's odd, in the extreme.

With no layer selected, the pen tool also doesn't work.

That's not just a matter of mixed metaphors about tool and screwdrivers (sorry, Rick) that's just plain broken UI.

R

Rick Gerard

Adobe Expert

I'm sorry that you are having problems. I've been using AE's mask tools forever and the shape layers since they were introduced and, probably because I have a lot of practice, I don't have any problems at all selecting what I need to select. It's just a matter of practice. I'm not saying that the UI does not need improvement, I'm just saying that with a little practice and understanding the UI it's possible to efficiently adjust the position of each vertex in a mask or shape layer.

dissidently

Inspiring

Rick, it's fundamentally broken. There's no way to pick the drawn line shapes in the editing view, even if there's only two drawn shapes and nothing else in the composition. That's ridiculous.

Not even a marquee selection will activate it. Try it. That's an astonishing oversight for a motion graphics app.

I know... you've accepted the foibles and failures of the UI and Adobe's lack of design. You've settled for picking the layers by way of the Timeline. But that's a work around. It's not what the tools should require you to do just to pick a shape, or an element of a shape.

And, just for kicks, it's possible to "drop" the layer you're working on by clicking in empty space with the editing tools and then be stuck back in the loop of not being able to reselect it without heading back to the timeline to pick a layer.

T

Tom Irwin

New Participant

Having this same issue. Did anyone find a work around? Rick's idea didn't work for me.

C

courageous_Wizard5EF6

New Participant

I had the same problem. It was very annoying. It happened when i drew a straight line by holding shift command, But when i drew a random line; not a straight line (by not holdong shift command) i didn't had that problem. So i adjusted by doing that.

R

Rick Gerard

Adobe Expert

Try switching to the pen tool (g) instead of the dircect selection tool (v). You should then be able to select the points or use the modifier keys to add points or convert verticies.

This question is asked so often that I created a little 1 minute video.

A

Anonymous

@Rick Gerard

this is not exactly what i am trying to do... The issue i have is not necessarily in selecting the path, but just the layer the path is in. but your video DID help in a work around. I figured that my issue only arises when i make a perfectly horizontal or vertical line. You can try this yourself (as mentioned earlier, in CC only) but make a perfectly horizontal or vertical line, deselect it or click away, and then try to select it again in the comp viewer.

The work around i did figure was making a perfect 45 degree angle line, and then just rotating that to be a perfect vertical and/or horizontal line. then it retains an area where i can select the line itself. (if that makes any sense... it makes more sense if you try it yourself.)

Mylenium

Brainiac

Not sure what you are trying to describe here. Shape layers have always been twitchy at best and sometimes you have to twirl down to be able to select the actual path because some otehr appearance itme may obstruct it or thre nesting of the shape layer groups prevents it. Well, whatever. If you merely need a straight line, use the Beam effect.

Mylenium

A

Anonymous

@Mylenium

Oh no, I'm not trying to select the path itself, just the layer the path it on is almost impossible to select (v) in the comp viewer when it's a single straight horizontal or vertical line. You can give it a try, have nothing put the line in the comp, and make it perfectly horizontal or vertical. then unselect it or click away, and try to select it again in the comp viewer.

while Beam effect is a good alternative. the negative to that is it is harder to work with since it's not as easy as just using the pen tool

R

Rick Gerard

Adobe Expert

Same trick applies... If you have a layer that has a path and you select the pen tool, when you hold down the Cntrl/Cmnd key the cursor will change when you roll over the path and you will be able to select it even among hundreds of other layers. Once it is selected press v and you have the selection tool then selected. The problem with a very thin horizontal or vertical line is that you will scale it before you move it because there's so little area to grab onto. This has always been a problem, but it is solved by clicking and dragging on the position values in the timeline. You have to learn to use the tools.

You can also use the timeline, group colors, give the layer a name and search... There are lots of ways to easily and quickly select a single layer among hundreds in a complex composition.

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