Editing 'retaining illustrator layer size'

[Joolsey1973]

Hello, I am doing a Duik IK animation. Part of the process is to bring in the layers 'retaining layer side' IE not the whole document bounds.  The problem that arrises is that if there is a rogue object or point in illustrator that needs to be edited illustrator, with 'retainted layer size' in use, it will see the whole layers bounding box and shift the relative position of the object. This can cause lot of issues. This is a general issue I have (not just duik)  What is the best way to get a layer to stay in position. Is it actull possible? Best wishes

Julian

[David Arbor · Accepted solution]

This can't be fixed in the way you'd like it to (at least, not without importing as Document Size), but the way I work around the issue is by taking a snapshot of the AE Comp panel before saving my file in Illustrator. If you're not familiar with how to do this, you can hit Shift+F5 or click the Camera icon at the bottom of the comp panel. Then after you save, you can hold F5 ,or click the Eyeball icon at the bottom of the Comp panel, to recall the snapshot. This is a quick way to look at your previous layout to align the updated artwork. 

A bit of a Pro Tip: If you hold Alt/Opt while clicking the Eyeball icon, it will display the stored snapshot with the Difference blend mode on top of your current frame so you can see if the new position and the snapshot perfectly match up.

This workflow allows you to quickly position a shifted item while checking the previous position.

[Joolsey1973]

Good to know about the snap shot and  good to know it's not really possible. I guess I try to be careful but you know I always make a small bobo with my vectors. 

[David Arbor]

It happens. Even after using After Effects for so many years, I still run into this issue. And it's not always a mistake; sometimes you just change you mind later, but it at least helps to know how to make the quick edit.