Why is it not possible to separate the dimensions of the top position in a rectangle?

[dissidently]

See the screen shot below.

Because I'm using a repeater I'd like to separate the dimensions for finer animation control up in this top Position of the Rectangle.

Why is this not possible?

[Rick Gerard]

Not there. Can only do that in the transform property. You should add a feature request.

[dissidently]

Has nobody ever requested this before?

[Dave_LaRonde]

Has nobody ever requested this before?

Oh, they might have, but feature requests are like voting in a Chicago election: do it early and often.

[dissidently]

My first feature request would be for a transparent feature request process. 

Let's see who wants what, for what, and how many others agree.  

[Todd_Kopriva]

> Has nobody ever requested this before?

very few

[dissidently]

is there an easy "work around" that allows me to get animation from the object into the Repeater?

UPDATE: forgot to add... I want bezier handles on the keyframes of the position, as I can't get the result I want with the speed graph.

[Mylenium]

You can of course manually isolate all properties by tying them to single-stream expression controls (sliders)...

Mylenium

[dissidently]

So the x and y of ANY property can be separated by this technique?

How?

If I drag a position property to a "single-stream" slider, how do I know if it's going to control the X or the Y?

[Rick Gerard]

1. Add a slider to your layer by selecting Effect>Expression Controls>Slider Control

2. Duplicate your slider

Add this expression to the 2 axis value you want to control:

x = effect("Slider Control")("Slider");

y = effect("Slider Control 2")("Slider");

[x, y]

To avoid typing everything you can simply use the pickwhip like this:

I just typed "y =" and then clicked the pickwhip and pointed to the Slider 2 value.

Hope this helps. Unfortunately, you won't get any Bezzier curves you can animate this way. You could however, animate a null in X and another null in Y and then use the pickwhip to tie the x and y values to the nulls. This would give you Bezzier curves in the Comp window that you could adjust manually.

[dissidently]

I'm constantly getting this kind of warning, no matter how I try to pull this off:

[maxweel]

You haven't typed the whole expression in.

In Rick's expression, x and y are just variables and AE doesn't know what to do with these. But AE expects you to return a 2-dimensional array at the end of the expression:

//    This assumes that you have 2 sliders on the shape layer,
//     and that they're named "X" and "Y"
var x = effect("X")(1);
var y = effect("Y")(1);
//   Now "return" the array
[x, y]

[dissidently]

Wow, thank YOU!  Maxweel!

I assumed x and y were AE variables that AE knew about.  Did not even read down further to see the array line.

Both of you, thank you very much.  This completely solves my problem, I can now do as I please with this position, with full bezier control.  AWESOME!

[IMpastoAnimationStudios]

Just to add to the votes, I NEED to be able to separate X and Y in ALL of the position properties, not just in the "Transform" sub-menu.

I'm trying to get realistic character animation, Pixar style, as per my training through Animation Mentor and experience beyond.

But I can't do exactly what I need with, for instance, the Puppet Pin Tool because I can't separate X and Y.

Even something simple like the bouncy ball - as per this video - http://tv.adobe.com/watch/learn-after-effects-cs4/animating-precisely-with-separate-dimensions/

If I make my ball connected to a Puppet Pin, I can't properly animate a bouncy ball. Imagine that difficulty multiplied as I apply the same problem to a full character rig with arms and legs. It seems pointless having the Pin tool at all if I can't properly control it.

This is a big problem, as I've been using Adobe steadily for six years since CS3, and I've just discovered the graph editor has been removed from Flash, per CC. Where else can I go if not at least to AE?

If I can't get these controls over my animation, I'd have to either animate frame-by-frame, or move over to another product, which would be a shame because I love Adobe and I know it's possible.

I know I'm in a minority, but PLEASE consider adding the "Separate Dimensions" functionality to ALL aspects (I'd even wish for it on rotation, scale, etc.) I would find this not only extremely useful but actually necessary to do what I am trying to do.

Thanks,

ianalexh (Animated Critic).

[Todd_Kopriva]

This needs to be done separately for each property.

Submit a detailed feature request here listing in priority order the specific properties for which you need this:

http://adobe.ly/feature_request

[IMpastoAnimationStudios]

Awesome - just did it. Thanks so much!

- ian

[formzuform]

Seems like you guys haven't managed to get that feature in since then. I've managed to get a script written that lets you separate the dimensions on all properties. Its free, you can get it here: Separate Multiple Dimensions Script for After Effects

[JamAttack]

These replies don't actually work. I found a much better way, just make a null object and tie the effect position to the position of that null. When all else fails: null objects.

You can then effect the position of this null using sliders if you want and not have a brain aneurysm ok bye