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monicaw73787342
Participating Frequently
March 16, 2018
Answered

Tracing and Animation

  • March 16, 2018
  • 3 replies
  • 2107 views

Hello After Effects Community,

Could someone direct me to the easiest way to trace and animate lines in an image so that they appear on the screen sequentially?

Wondering if I should create paths in Illustrator first or if I can do everything in After Effects.

Thanks so much!

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer DigitalSpatula

    Hi Monica

    I would import the movie into photoshop, then make a layer to draw on for each frame. You can bring that layered photoshop file into AE for sequencing the frames out as a movie.

    Hope this helps,

    Steve

    3 replies

    M
    monicaw73787342Author
    Participating Frequently
    March 18, 2018

    Hello Everyone!

    Both responses were incredibly helpful, thanks so much! Still playing with this, but will post when finished.

    Thanks so much!

    Kevin J. Monahan Jr.
    Community Manager
    Kevin J. Monahan Jr.Community Manager
    Community Manager
    March 22, 2018

    Hi MonicaW,

    Did you complete this effect yet? What did you end up doing?

    Thanks,
    Kevin

    Kevin Monahan - Sr. Community and Engagement Strategist – Adobe Pro Video and Audio
    Roland Kahlenberg
    Roland Kahlenberg
    Legend
    March 16, 2018

    Use masks directly on the image or on a Solid. Then, apply Effect>Generate>Stroke and choose the options there to suit your needs. Another option is to draw the paths on a Shape Layer and use the Shape Layer Operator, Trim Paths.

    Very Advanced After Effects Training | Adaptive & Responsive Toolkits | Intelligent Design Assets (IDAs) | MoGraph Design System DEV
      DigitalSpatula
      DigitalSpatulaCorrect answer
      Inspiring
      March 16, 2018

      Hi Monica

      I would import the movie into photoshop, then make a layer to draw on for each frame. You can bring that layered photoshop file into AE for sequencing the frames out as a movie.

      Hope this helps,

      Steve

      M
      monicaw73787342Author
      Participating Frequently
      March 16, 2018

      Hi Steve,

      Thanks! So when I trace in Photoshop using the pen tool After Effects and then what do I do to make them look drawn onto the screen again? I haven't used AE in a while and I"m rusty!

      P.M.B
      P.M.B
      Legend
      March 17, 2018

      You could also use AE paint tool/effect in write on mode. Using write on mode creates start and end keyframes for each stroke which you can adjust after the fact.

      You could also draw the paint strokes in constant mode and then paste each stroke's path information onto a shape layer which you can then apply trim paths to.  The advantage to this method is shapes that look truly hand draw...because they actually are.

      ~Gutterfish
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