Just hold down the shift key when dragging. ... View more

Post this question on the AE Scripting forum. You'll find a link on the forum home page. [EDIT: moved by administrator] ... View more

I'm glad you found you answer. ... View more

Shape layers that are created with everything except the pen tool are defined by rules that don't apply to masks. The size, radius, number of points, number of sides are defined by numbers. These numbers create the vectors that create the shapes. Masks, even when created with the shape tools, are converted immediately to paths. Once a mask is drawn you cannot change the number of points in a star by simply adjusting a number. A shape layer, on the other hand, that was created using the shape tools (Keyboard shortcut q) can be edited after the shape is created by simply adjusting the number of points, inner radius, outer radius and so on. You'll find the shape properties in the timeline under Contents, then Polystar, Rectangle and so forth. If you want to take a mask and convert it to a shape layer then all you have to do is select the mask path, copy that, then use the pen tool (keyboard shortcut g) to draw any path in the comp window. You then spin down the shape layer's Contents, drill down to Shape>Path, then select the path and paste. Your mask is now a Shape Path. When copying and pasting shapes I always find it easiest to set a keyframe for the mask path, select the keyframe, copy that, then go to the Shape Layer >Contents>Shape>Path>path and set a keyframe there, highlight the keyframe and paste. This assures you that you're moving the path info and it always works. That's also how you would turn an animated mask into an animated shape layer. I hope this helps. ... View more

Thanks for the suggestions. Still hammering away. I'll let you know if I get it figured out. ... View more

That script seems to work fairly well. I'd love to see what went into it. My workflow is almost automated now. I'm creating comps from a master template, exporting the comps as projects (aep files) and then manually moving each of the project files into product specific folders so that the product specific footage for the products is automatically loaded into the comps. I then use your script to gather all of the aep's into one AE project. Because of the way that I create the original comps from the csv text file the render cue is automatically loaded up, and the projects are ready to render. The only missing part of the project now is moving the aep's from the Master folder to their product specific folders. I'd love to figure that one out. If you have any ideas for a cleaner workflow I would love to hear it. We've got 200 + products, each with several lines of animated text, a unique audio track, and unique images to be loaded into a demo slideshow. My original thought was to have all of the images and the audio tracks have the same file name so that the same template could be used for all. I've also looked at a comps from spreadsheet script that would work but it would require that the images and audio tracks would have unique file names. This is doable, but requires renaming about 800 files. I'm rambling. It's been a very long day. Thanks again for the help and the script. ... View more

I actually kind of like what's happening with the simple expression. I'm not sure how to describe the motion, but it does some really interesting things when there's a bunch of camera movement. ... View more

Dan, I tried your second expression in a test comp with the camera moving between 2 keyframes at a constant velocity. The results were nearly identical to my expression. Your first expression, the simple one also produced identical results but the layer kept moving after the camera stopped. I thought the first expression should have v where time is. That doesn't work. v = thisComp.layer("Camera 1").transform.position.velocityAtTime(0); value - (v - inPoint)*v[0]; // doesn't work I can't see how to make the horizontal movement stop when the camera stops. I also discovered that under some conditions with only two keyframes the simple expression produces completely different movement. Thanks for giving me some more to think about. ... View more

Thanks very much. I kind of had that, but there were typo's and it was in the wrong place in the brackets. Rick ... View more

I'm not sure I know what you mean by camera's velocity. If the camera is moving 20 pixels per frame then you want to subtract 20 pixels from the the x position of he camera, then in the next frame you want to subtract 40 pixels, then then next 60 pixels. If you define your camera as cam = thisComp.layer(Camera 1); then you take the initial position of the camera as ocp = cam.position.valueAtTime(0) you'll get the position value at the first frame of the composition. ocp = Original Camera Position. Then you subtract the current camera position as ccp = cam.position to get the total pixels the camera has moved in x. It sounds like that's what you want. All you have to do is extract the x value ([0]). Now you can take that value and apply it to the position value of your null like this: cam = thisComp.layer("Camera 1"); ocp = cam.position.valueAtTime(0); ccp = cam.position; nx = ocp - ccp; [value[0] + nx[0], value[1], value[2]]; I'm assuming that the null is 3D. If not eliminate the last item in the array. By using value[0] + nx in the array you'll be able to adjust the starting position of the null in any axis. You can even add keyframes if you'd like. I'm not sure you're going to get the results you are looking for. It seems like you're trying to simulate some kind of lens flair. Changing the + to a - in the final line will reverse the tracking of the null. ... View more

I'm fairly confused by your question, but I have a few comments. First instead of using 1/24 in your prefFrame calculation I would use thisComp.frameDuration. an expression that would display the x position of a null in the previous frame would look like this. nl = thisComp.layer("Null 1"); // your null prevframe = nl.position.valueAtTime(time - thisComp.frameDuration); x = prevframe[0]; // extract x value [x, value[1]] I have no idea what you're trying to do with the camvelocity or how you came up with that number. The expression listed above will allow you to animate the layers Y position and track the x position of the null one frame behind the current frame. If the null moves 10 pixels per frame the position of the layer will be 10 pixels behind the null until the motion stops. ... View more

OOPS! forgot to put in the x, y, and z values. Make the last line [x[0], y[1], z[2]] That's what I get for answering from my iPhone... Final expression looks like this; x = wiggle(1,1000); y = wiggle(.1,1000); z =wiggle(100,2); [x[0], y[1], z[2]] ... View more

All you're missing is the array: x = wiggle(1,1000); y = wiggle(.1,1000); z =wiggle(100,2); [x, y, z] or you can break out each axis. Either works. ... View more

jahesscreen wrote: - the ability to fade in / fade out transfer modes (if this is possible) Duplicate the layer with the transfer mode you want to use, set the top duplicate's transfer mode to alpha add, set the bottom copy's transfer mode to the desired mode (add for example), then animate transparency of the top copy. ... View more

Let's tackle your position expression first: position : X(t)= 15(cm/s)* t (s) Position is an array and it looks like this: [x, y, z] The values are x = [0], y = [1], and z = [2] Time is defined by the word "time" distance is measured in pixels not in centimeters. If you want to control the position of x you must define x as a formula multiplying the initial value by time and a number of pixels you want it to move over a given amount of time. The easiest way to do this is to define the number of pixels, divide time into frames, then multiply the existing value of x by the pixels per frame. The expression would look like this: x = value[0]; y = value[1]; s = 2; // speed in pixels per frame m = time/thisComp.frameDuration; newx = x + (m * s); [newx, y] If you need the movement to exist on a 3D layer then add z = value[2]; and change the last line to [x, y, z] Adjust the value of s to match your composition. If you want the layer to move in the other direction change the plus to a - sign for the calculation newx. Now let's look at your rotation expression: rotation :  F(t)= -5(rad/s) *t (s) You've almost got it except that rotation is measured in degrees and you'll want to set up your expression to rotation speed in º per frame. There is no array for rotation so the language is a little easier. The expression would look like this: r = value; s = .5 // degrees per frame m = time/thisComp.frameDuration; newr = r - (m * s); Same deal here. Adjust the value of s to get the speed you want and change the minus sign to a plus in the newr calculation to change direction. Both allow you to set an initial value for the property or even additional keyframes if needed. That's why I used the value statement. Hope this helps. I'd suggest reading the expression guide in the help files. Once you get a handle on the language the math is fairly easy. ... View more

I'm having no issues with Lion. None, but then again I don't HIDE, never have. I use desktops or in previous versions, workspaces. It's efficient, quick, easy, and all Adobe apps I currently use seem to run just fine. ... View more

Onion skinning does not exist classic sense. Depending on exactly what you're trying to do you can fake it. Some plug-ins make use of something like it. It would be very helpful if we knew exactly what you were trying to do. ... View more

It looks like Jive is gone for the iPhone. Who ever did that, thank you. ... View more

And I'm proud of everyone of my cubs in Pack 1849. The greatest test of my humility came when a 10 year old answered a post I placed on an xcode forum concerning an app that I'm working on for an iPhone. He suggested a video chat. I took it. In 10 minutes he solved my problem. The app is coming along nicely thanks to pubescent kids who post their IOS tutorials on YouTube. Getting back to JChrisG's problem, If you don't know what a layer is you must learn. It's not that hard to get enough of a handle on the technology to start making animations. Start HERE. Cubmaster Rick ... View more

What??? Not the way the software was designed. Are you trying to create some kind of background renderer. ... View more

Not trying to start an argument here, but I translate between 2D and 3D every day with no problems in AE and I've heard that arguement before. Last time I used Nuke was about 2002. I like the parenting thing because it's easy for me to wrap my head around and it's easy to type in values to position the children precisely to the parent. Maybe a switch that would reveal world position or relative position would be a good idea. For Scopes I've used Scopo GIGIO and it's been great when I needed a scope, but frankly, mostly I use my eye and the info palette until I'm ready for final color grading. But then, again, everybody has their favorite workflow. ... View more

TheFosterHouse wrote: • A real 3D coordinate system with a 0,0,0 origin point. • Parenting that doesn't change the values of the child. Just a comment on these two ideas. 0,0,0 at the center of the comp would cause more troubles than it would solve and it would be out of sync with any other compositing and editing app. 0,0 has always been the upper left corner of video and pixel based images. It's always the starting point for vector drawings. 3D apps use 0,0,0 as the center of the world, but it's an easy task to translate those coordinates to the pixel based measurements used in image and video processing apps. When you parent a layer to another the new position is measured from the upper left corner of that layer. This makes a lot of sense to me and it's useful info for a lot of manual positioning once you wrap your head around it because it defines the relationship between the layers. Tying the values to other values through expressions is easy with the toWorld and toComp arguments. Personally I don't think either of these are good suggestions. That's my 2¢. The rest of your ideas are prety good. ... View more

J and K keys, but the keyframes have to be visible. These keys also move to the next marker or the next in or out point for a layer. Escentially you are moving between events in the timeline, but only visible events. The rest of the shortcuts are in the links Todd posted. ... View more

Thanks, I didn't realize that there was a switch there. My spelling is now easier to check. I don't remember that it was necessary to click the icon before I updated to Lion. At least there's a solution that's easier than switching to HTML where the spell check is automatic. ... View more

You need a computer with a capture card and something like DV Garage's Conduit to pull the real time key. There are many products that will do that, but none without some way to capture live video from a camera. ... View more