Random vs. Noise

[E. Rocka]

Hi all,

Although I've been an After Effects user for  many years, I am a beginner to expressions. They intimidate me, but I'm  noticing how powerful they can be to my workflow. At any rate, here's  what I'm trying to accomplish. I would like to be able to place 3D  layers at random coordinates in 3D space by simply duplicating the  layer. I was able to accomplish this, but it doesn't have all the  functionality I would like. Here's what I've come up with:

posterizeTime(0.00001);
value + [random(-1000,1000), random(-1000,1000), random(-1000,1000)];

The problem with this expression is that I cannot add  wiggle to the position because the posterizeTime inhibits it from  working. Is there any way I can accomplish the functionality I desire  with noise, or another method for that matter? I'm just not sure how  noise works. Any ideas?

Thanks in advance.

[Dan Ebberts · Accepted solution]

Play around with this:

seedRandom(index,true);
offset = random([-1000,-1000,-1000],[1000,1000,1000]);
wiggle(1,100) + offset

Dan

[E. Rocka]

Awesome Dan. It works just the way I need it to. Now it's just

a matter of wrapping my head around how and why it works.

Thank you Dan!