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Change the path of an animated layer
I’m trying to figure out how to do something that should be pretty easy, but I’m just blanking on the solution.
In essence, I want to have a layer or comp follow a complex path.
Here’s the setup: I have a vector graphic of an arrow with a dashed line.
I intend to animate the arrow so that the arrow head stays in place, but the dashed line is constantly moving to the right. My plan is to make the dashed line a lot longer (copy and paste), moving it with Position keyframes so it is always going to the right, and masking the dashed line so that it always appears the same length and disappears behind the arrow head.
But then I want to take the composition that contains all of that and make it this:
So I want to be able to create a non-linear path for my linear dashed line to follow. The above image is just one example of a non-linear path. I’d like to do complex paths for the layer/comp to follow.
I know I can do this by duplicate the dashed line comp for each “leg” of the path (since I don’t intend to have curved paths) and trying to match them up, but that is time-consuming and I feel like there has to be a better way.
Any ideas?
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1 Reply
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You can offset a dashed path with trim paths. Complete information on this can be found here: https://www.provideocoalition.com/after-effects-hidden-gems-weekly-dashed-lines/
Kalleheikki Kannisto
Senior Graphic Designer
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