• Adobe After Effects

  AE Path copy past offset problems

  Posted by Ryan Mcadam on March 8, 2016 at 9:52 pm

  I’m experimenting with whiteboard animation in After Effects. I keep running into offset issues when copying a path to a different layer’s position or anchor point properties. Doesn’t always happen but it happens enough to be frustrating.

  Here is a 1:45 video walking you through the problem.
  link

  The path I’m using was not imported from illustrator, but created in After effects. Any help would be appreciated. Feel free to send me a link if you know of any good resources that could help.

  Thanks so much
  Ryan

  Ryan Mcadam replied 10 years, 4 months ago 2 Members · 2 Replies
• 2 Replies

• 

  John Cuevas

  March 9, 2016 at 2:42 pm

  When you create shape layers, they are the size of your comp. Check out the position of the layer when you start, it will be at half the width/height of the comp. And the path position of the shape layer isn’t the comp position, but it’s based on the coordinates of the layer. If you move the shape layer using the transform properties of the layer and not Transform:Shape(under the coordinates) you will get offsets like in your video.

  You can create an expression to add the difference, like so for a 1920 x 1080 comp.

  value + (thisComp.layer("Shape Layer 1").transform.position - [960,540])

  Check out this example project, it illustrates the problem and solution.

  9873_shapelayers.aep.zip

  For a lot more information on shape layers, check out the tutorials by Andrew Devis

  Johnny Cuevas, Editor
  ThinkCK

  “I have not failed 700 times. I have succeeded in proving that those 700 ways will not work. When I have eliminated the ways that will not work, I will find the way that will work.”
  —THOMAS EDISON on inventing the light bulb.
• 

  Ryan Mcadam

  March 16, 2016 at 10:05 pm

  Thanks for the reply. I’ll check out that project and tutorial.

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