Pick whip stuck at value of first keyframe

[Phi.Def]

See photo: I have one comp inside another, and I've pick whipped the scale value from a layer in the outer comp. But, even though the source scale is animated, the scale of the child doesn't change. The child scale value is fixed at the value of the source's first keyframe.

I've closed and re-opened AE. Everything else seems to be working fine. What am I doing wrong?

Thanks!

[Phi.Def]

(Sorry about the 3 screenshots. They're all the same.)

[Dan Ebberts · Accepted solution]

See if this helps:

c = comp("Endo Opening Main");
c.layer("Hero Pill Orange Fill").transform.scale.valueAtTime(time + c.layer(thisComp.name).startTime)

[Phi.Def]

That worked! Can you give me a sense of what was wrong with the way I did it? Shouldn't it have worked?

[Dan Ebberts]

If an expression in a nested comp references items in the outer comp AND the the nested comp layer doesn't start at time = 0 in the outer comp, you have to compensate for the offset start time if you want to sync up the animation.

[Phi.Def]

Amazing! Thanks for your help!