Soft edges on a shape/gradient edge

[mdoyne1]

Hi - I've been trying to figure this out but can't seem to solve the problem and I'm a relative novice at AE.

I'm animating a flower blooming from the inside out and figured out how to do most of (track mattes, etc.) but my only problem is that because the shape the petals are tracked to have a straight edge, they all animate in with that hard line across them.

Is there any way to turn the edge of a shape into a soft blended edge or to just animate the petals in a different way so that they animate in along a specific opacity path instead of just overall opactiy of the object?

Thanks!

[Rick Gerard]

If you use the Trim Paths animator on a filled solid the fill starts at the first vertex and proceeds in the direction that the vertices were added to the path. If the shape also has a stroke you can easily see the progress of this wipe. The fill does not respect the boundary of the shape until the transition is complete. This means that a shape like a 4 leaf clover will behave very badly when you use Trim Paths to try and reveal the shape.

The solution is to create a single stroked path that is wide enough to cover the entire filled shape or will act like a brush painting over the path to reveal it. Then you use that stroked path as a track matte for the shape. This means that every petal and every stroke revealing the petal will have to be on a separate layer.

If you are not using trim Paths, let us know, but if you are maybe this screenshot will give you an idea of how to solve the problem. I am showing 3 different comps using 3 different techniques. Everything I did to reveal the clover is shown in the screenshot.

[mdoyne1]

Thanks so much for the quick help!

I am not using Trim Paths, not sure how those work. I've been just making a shape layer and then track matting the petal to it and animating position and opacity. 

What is currently looks like is close to the first screenshot - the harsh line across the petals, which is not what I want the final product to look like. The second screenshot looks like what I'm trying to achieve - a smooth feathered edged reveal. I will give that a try and hopefully get the result I'm looking for!

[Rick Gerard]

I need a screenshot of your project with the layer and the track matte in the timeline and their properties revealed. There are about a hundred ways to do what you describe. I need details before I can do you much good.