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Activity Forums Adobe After Effects Am i too stupid to find the effect???

  • Am i too stupid to find the effect???

    Posted by Sabina Haller on August 5, 2010 at 9:08 am

    Hi guys,

    i am working since some hours on some (like i think) really easy effect.. i dont know how to do it – exept from the normal moving and keying-way.. what i want to do is very simple: i want a satelite to go on a path.. following the path and just adjust maybe like 4 or 3 keyframes for the scaling and position.. in adobe flash its very easy to do this.. you just create a path, attach the wanted layer to it and set 3 keys.. and there you go.. but what about after effects? where can i do this? i tried to do it with a shape layer but unfortunatly i didnt make it wor 🙁

    can anyone of you explain to me how to do this?
    i guess its really not difficult to do but maybe i am just too stupid and dont find the right menu 😀
    please help…

    thank you sooo much…
    and all the best..
    sabina

    Brian Charles replied 15 years, 9 months ago 4 Members · 8 Replies
  • 8 Replies
  • Sabina Haller

    August 5, 2010 at 1:08 pm

    nobody knows? maybe i should have put another topic 😉 can i change that somewhere? i alread tried but did not find (edit message or sth).. i really need help in this cause i got to go on with my animationproject tommorow..

    humm would be really grateful for some help..
    i am using after effects cs3…

    or maybe you can relink me to another thread where it is described cause i already looked for it in the web but i couldnt find.. (motionpath seems not to be the right word for the search nor path itself)…

    Thanks for your help!!!!

  • Todd Kopriva

    August 5, 2010 at 1:12 pm

    You want to use a motion path.

    It seems odd that you’d assume that no one knows the answer just because four hours elapsed since your post—and those four hours are outside of normal working hours for the majority of the people who participate on this forum.

    ———————————————————————————————————
    Todd Kopriva, Adobe Systems Incorporated
    Technical Support for professional video software
    After Effects Help & Support
    Premiere Pro Help & Support
    ———————————————————————————————————

  • Sabina Haller

    August 5, 2010 at 2:37 pm

    sorry i already read that link yesterday.. it didnt help me.. its not working if i am pasting the curve into the position settings.. the other stuff of the site i really know.. come on, its basic stuff.. and i am not a beginner/beginner in after effects..

    and yeah.. i know its worktime.. dont know where you guys are living.. could have been the opposite too!! also i dont have much patience because its an important job that i have to do and i cant wait until tommorow because then i have to do it..
    thats basically it..

    i am just searching for another option.. i am searching for a way to draw some line, circle.. some random shape and then use this line/shape, put my object at the first point, set key, put it more down the way, set another key and so on until i finished the curve and then it should go along exactly at that line.. not a little bit up or down.. it should snap.. just 3-4 keys i wish to set.. otherwise i could animate it normally.. it should just take the line with its ancor point.. seems to be difficult to do that in after effects.. but somehow i cant imagine its that difficult.. makes me crazy.. maybe i am doing something wrong? its not possible to paste the shape into the position settings.. dont know why! in flash its veeeeery veeery easy to do this.. i already tried with a null object or via linking the layers to each other but its not working.. and that really annoys me.. because it MUST be easier to do this..

    this is the only thing i am asking for..
    im somehow not finding a solution

    just really curious to know how to save some work!

    cheers
    sabina

  • Sabina Haller

    August 5, 2010 at 3:16 pm

    yes, i really appreciate after effects.. so much more comfortable then flash.. exept of that situation.. i will try tommorow like you have said.. sounds like it must work.. i always mix up the layers – like i dont know which layer to parent on the other..that confuses me still.. maybe that was the problem..

    thank you for explaining, Dave! 😉

    “ms-still-learning” 😀

  • Sabina Haller

    August 5, 2010 at 3:21 pm

    but still: no other way ? similar to what its like in flash (yeah i know its also some way of parenting but it feels much easier…) case i dont wanna do it like “orbiting”?

    Thanks! 🙂

  • Sabina Haller

    August 5, 2010 at 3:41 pm

    i guess you are joking.. i already know that stuff..

    thank you anyway..
    😉

  • Gary Hazen

    August 5, 2010 at 5:53 pm

    But Dave she wants it to be exactly like flash.

    I don’t know flash. If I ever decide to learn flash I’m sure I’ll want it to be exactly like After Effects. Sometimes the hardest part of learning a new app is letting go of the app that you know so well. I struggled with FCP at first until I stopped trying to make it work like an Avid. If Sabina can let go of her death grip on Flash she’ll figure out how to execute her motion path in AE.

  • Brian Charles

    August 5, 2010 at 7:08 pm

    This is how its done.

    959_masktopath.mov.zip

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