Make object spin in place like a top?

Question

Trying to create the animation suggested in the title. I have the object as its own layer, but when I explore the rotation options the entire LAYER rotates, technically including the space around my object, which is in the lower-left corner of the image. This naturally makes the object fly all over the image when I only want it to rotate in place.

Resizing the layer by grabbing a corner resizes the object. I wish I could shrink the frame around the object like I sometimes do in Indesign. Is that possible?

David Arbor · Accepted Answer

Can you please post non-cropped screenshots, it's hard to tell what you're referring to without seeing your art. Also make sure your layer is selected and that your anchor point and layer controls are visible.

Is your anchor point positioned in the exact spot you want your layer to rotate around? If not, that's the first thing you need to change. You can do this by using the Pan Behind/Move Anchor Point tool (keyboard shortcut "Y").

Conrad_C · Answer

@keithm1972 wrote:I wish I could shrink the frame around the object like I sometimes do in Indesign. Is that possible? [Edit: Question was already solved before I finished typing!] You can “shrink the frame” (crop a layer) in seconds by drawing a rectangular mask path, but that alone won’t solve the problem because it will still be using the default layer center anchor point position. You will still have to move the anchor point to the center of the part of the layer you actually want to rotate, as already suggested. Changing the Anchor Point property in After Effects is like changing the transformation Reference Point in InDesign.

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