Alternative to toComp

[Darby Edelen]

I’ve seen this happen when the 3D Null moves behind the camera. In those cases I usually check to see if the 3D Null is behind the camera and if it is I move the result of the expression to an arbitrary off-screen location like [-3000,-3000].

That’s a general idea that may work in a few different circumstances.

Darby Edelen

[Navarro Parker]

What’s the expression to check if a null is behind the camera?

[Darby Edelen]

Here’s a sample that uses the active camera and tests the layer the expression is applied to:


c = thisComp.activeCamera;
p = toWorld(anchorPoint);
cp = c.fromWorld(p);
if(cp[2] <= 0) behindCam = true;
else behindCam = false;


Darby Edelen

[Navarro Parker]

Hey, I’m getting an error: expression results must be of dimension 2, not 1

Here’s a test project file to illustrate the original problem (for anyone wondering):

https://www.mediafire.com/download/bk0grfxawg0059w/3Dnull-looparound.aep

[Darby Edelen]

In your case you could apply this to the opacity of the “pre.Mini Marker” pre-comp:

c = thisComp.activeCamera;
L = thisComp.layer("Null E");
p = L.toWorld(L.anchorPoint);
cp = c.fromWorld(p);
if(cp[2] <= 0) 0;
else value;

This would make the layer invisible when it is behind the camera. The position values will still be incorrect but the layer will not be visible.

If you need the position to be offscreen then you can replace the position expression you’re currently using with this one:

c = thisComp.activeCamera;
L = thisComp.layer("Null E");
p = L.toComp(L.anchorPoint);
cp = c.fromComp(p);
if(cp[2] <= 0) [-5000,-5000];
else p;


Darby Edelen