AE

[Matt_Sanguine]

Hi,

I have recently got into simple graphic animation with AI and AE. I want to produce motion of spheres in AE but, when I create a shape layer from vector, the content includes hundreds of paths which cause my AE to run unworkably slow. Obviously, I only want AE to recognise the spheres as a single object, I don't need to animate its paths individually. I have tried to group the paths in AE, no resolution.

Is there a way to compound the paths so AE will recognise it as a single path? Or should I somehow turn the sphere into a photo rather than a vector? Should I just use 2D circles instead? Is there something I am missing?

Regards,

Matt

[Mylenium]

You completely misunderstand the workflow. Converting AI files to shape layers is an option, not mandatory. This didn't even exist until soem years ago. And there's your answer. Just leave the AI artwork as it is and use it as a single layer, give or take specific some additional prep work in AI, possible issues with continuous rasterization and a few other things, none of which are any hinderance to your plans and can be sorted out easily if and when they arise. You may want to re-read the online help on working with layers, where these things are explained.

Mylenium

[Matt_Sanguine]

Thank you heaps Mylenium! Appreciate it. 🙂