How to attach these shapes follow an animating line

Question

Hi community.

Is it possible to make these circles 1,2,3 follow the corners of these lines, where ever I position them on the canvas, they follow allong? My initial thought was draw the line animation, where the line changes shape, making zig zags and random wave shapes, and then add in the same shape 3 circle shapes, and I thought of using the pick whip to connect their position, but didnt work.

Whats the best method to achieve this?

Thank you.

Rick Gerard · Accepted Answer

You have the wrong name for the null. You can use the Pickwhip to select the 'p =' value or start typing the null's name in the layer("name") field. Auto-complete will give you the option to choose the appropriate null name from a dropdown list.

Also, clicking on the Layer Name column in the Timeline will switch the layer name from Null 1 and Null 2 to the Shape Layer name given by the Create Nulls From Paths/Points Follow Nulls script.

You also have to remember to reset all position properties.

That should solve your problem.

Maybe this will help. The expression can be on either of the ellipse layer's position properties.

Rick Gerard · Answer

A script at the bottom of the Window menu will allow you to attach nulls to mask or shape layer paths.

Here's the workflow:

Select the path
Open the Window/Create Nulls From Paths.jsx Panel
Select Nulls Follow Points
Figure out which nulls are attached to which vertices
Attach the Shape Layer/Ellipse/Transform Elipse/Position to the appropriate null position with an expression like this:
```
p =thisComp.layer("Shape Layer 1: Path 1 [4.1.3]").transform.position;
p - [thisComp.width/2, thisComp.height/2];
```
The expression just subtracts the comp center from the position of the null.

Repeat for each ellipse you want to follow the path. The final comp would look something like this:

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