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Nakul Arora6283
Participating Frequently
May 2, 2022
Question

regarding shape layers

  • May 2, 2022
  • 2 replies
  • 172 views

is it better to add new shapes within a shape layer or make a new shape layer for every new shape

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2 replies

R
Community Expert
Rick GerardCommunity Expert
Community Expert
May 5, 2022

I have uploaded an animation preset that I usually give away with one of my paid workshops. Start a new HD comp, add a new Shape layer, then select the Animation/Apply Animation Preset from the menu, and you will get a clock that looks like this:

 

Pressing the 'u' key twice will show you everything I did to the shape layer. There are two Groups. "Hands" is the first group. The Center Post is just an ellipse with a Gradient Fill. Next is the Seconds object, a simple path with a Round Cap and a Taper. Some expressions link to the Slider Controls, and Check Box Controls have been added to the Shape layer. These expressions control the starting rotation of the Seconds object and the speed of rotation. There is also a checkbox for Seconds visibility and another to make the second-hand snap to the nearest second. 

 

There are also expressions for the Transform Minutes and Transform Seconds rotation properties. These make the hands move the way clock hands move.

The Clock Front group contains an Ellipse and two rectangles with the Transform Minutes and Transform Seconds/Anchor Point offset so that the Repeaters for Rotation will create the clock ticks. The order you add the repeaters is essential. Reverse them, put the Hours first and then the Seconds, and the comp will slow way down while the duplicates are rendering.

I suggest that you save the animation preset in your Custom Animation Presets default folder, so you have access to it at any time. Double-clicking the Clock animation preset with no layer selected will always add a working clock to the center of your comp.

 

All of the Effects Controls can be animated. Play around with the controls and see what you get. 

 

To create a custom shape layer, spend some time with the User Guide and concentrate on the shape layer tutorials. You can also type edit shape layer in the search help field in the top right corner of After Effects and check out the links. The After Effects Search Help tool is more likely to return good results than a simple web search.

 

Here is the preset: Clock.ffx

R
Community Expert
Rick GerardCommunity Expert
Community Expert
May 2, 2022

That depends entirely on what you are trying to do with the design. I often have shape layers with dozens of shapes that are grouped, merged, and animated. I also often have a single object on a shape layer. 

 

If you explained your design idea in detail we could offer some suggestions. 

N
Nakul Arora6283Author
Participating Frequently
May 3, 2022

i want to make an animation of rotating hands in a clock  

and then want to add a repeater to that whole clock(including the animations of the hands within the clock) and add animatin through repeater 

please suggest me the right way to do this within a shape layer or through grouping or through adding multiple shape layers 

i tried of making within one layer but there i was not able to add rotation to the hands of the clock 

then tried to make multiple layer and then add animations to it but there i was not able to add a single repeater to the different layers of hands and clock 

very confused !!

please help

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