Position changing even though there are no position keyframes

[yvonnew74610236]

Hello. I'm back to using After Effects after a bit of a hiatus, so maybe I've missed some strange new update on how things work.

I'm using After Effects 24.0.2 on a MacBook Pro (Sonoma 14.0).

First I positioned the asset where I wanted it to end up and added a position keyframe.

Then I went to the place on the timeline where I want the asset to first appear and added another position keyframe and changed the values.

I also added scaling from 0% (start position) to 120% (mid-position) to 100% (final position).

I decided I wanted the asset to appear a bit later, so I moved the start of the asset and the position and scale keyframes a few more frames in.

Problem 1:

The position of the asset did not go in a straight line to its end position. I checked the Keyframe Interpolation and it was set to Linear. In trying to fix this, I deleted the position keyframes altogether to start over.

Problem 2:

Now there are no position keyframes, but the asset is still moving. The only thing that has keyframes (checked by using "U" to see all keyframes) is the scale, which seems to be working as expected.

I have noticed that the asset's position is somehow linked to the scale keyframes, because at the 120% scale keyframe, the asset starts moving in a different direction.

I have saved my composition and restarted After Effects, but there is no change. I have duplicated the asset (with only the scale keyframes) and it moves like its original asset.

This is actually one of 35 assets all basically doing the same thing (ending in different positions), so I'm trying to avoid completely starting from scratch.

I really appreciate any help you can give.

[yvonnew74610236]

Never mind, I figured it out. It's the anchor point itself. But isn't it strange that the anchor point would not simply be in the center of a circle by default?