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finding the longest text
Hi all, if i have an if else statement in a project that controls the length of a solid based on the length of the text.
It was easy for 2 text layers, because i assigned x to the length of a text layer with sourcerectattime, and y to the other text layer. and I am using a specific time also because of the animation of the text ( so lets say the 2 second mark )
Now I have more layers, and also some of these layers are coming in later, lets say 7 seconds. So I am not sure how to solve this without making this more complicated.
here is my original expression,
gap = 36;
L = thisComp.layer(“TEXT1”);
M = thisComp.layer(“TEXT2”);
rect = L.sourceRectAtTime();
rect2 = M.sourceRectAtTime();
x = L.toComp([rect.left+rect.width,0],2)[0];
y = M.toComp([rect2.left+rect2.width,0],2)[0];
xclamp=clamp(x,545.70,2000);
yclamp=clamp(y,545.70,2000);
if (x>y) xclamp+gap;
else yclamp+gap
now if I only add 1 more layer, my expression would be this
gap = 36;
L = thisComp.layer(“TEXT1”);
M = thisComp.layer(“TEXT2”);
N = thisComp.layer(“TEXT3”);
rect = L.sourceRectAtTime();
rect2 = M.sourceRectAtTime();
rect3 = N.sourceRectAtTime();
x = L.toComp([rect.left+rect.width,0],2)[0];
y = M.toComp([rect2.left+rect2.width,0],2)[0];
z = N.toComp([rect3.left+rect3.width,0],7)[0];
xclamp=clamp(x,545.70,2000);
yclamp=clamp(y,545.70,2000);
zclamp=clamp(z,545.70,2000);
if (x>y)&&(x>z) xclamp+gap;
if (y>x)&&(y>z) yclamp+gap;
else zclamp+gap
so if i had 6 text layers, this expression would be extremely long. Is there a function I am not aware of that would allow me to bypass writing 5 if else statements each having 5 ”&&” like this for example ;
( this is just 1 line )
if (x>y)&&(x>z)&&(x>z2)&&(x>z3)&&(x>z4) xclamp+gap; and so on….
thanks for any help
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6 Replies
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I think I’d do it with a loop. This won’t be exactly right (I haven’t tested it at all), but maybe it’ll get you headed in the right direction:
gap = 36;
layers = ["TEXT1","TEXT2","TEXT3"];
times = [ 2, 2, 7 ];
maxX = 0;
for (i = 0; i < layers.length; i++){
L = thisComp.layer(i);
rect = L.sourceRectAtTime();
x = L.toComp([rect.left+rect.width,0],times[i])[0];
xclamp=clamp(x,545.70,2000);
maxX = Math.max(maxX,xclamp);
}
maxX+gap
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thanks so much. I will test it and come back and post with the outcome
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Im getting an error here;
L = thisComp.layer(i);
layer index 0 out of range
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starting with your lead and other research, how about this ?
t1 = thisComp.layer(“TEXT 1”).toComp([thisComp.layer(“TEXT 1”).sourceRectAtTime().left+thisComp.layer(“TEXT 1”).sourceRectAtTime().width,0],2)[0];
t2 = thisComp.layer(“TEXT 2”).toComp([thisComp.layer(“TEXT 2”).sourceRectAtTime().left+thisComp.layer(“TEXT 2”).sourceRectAtTime().width,0],2)[0];
t3 = thisComp.layer(“TEXT 3”).toComp([thisComp.layer(“TEXT 3”).sourceRectAtTime().left+thisComp.layer(“TEXT 3”).sourceRectAtTime().width,0],2)[0];
t4 = thisComp.layer(“TEXT 4”).toComp([thisComp.layer(“TEXT 4”).sourceRectAtTime().left+thisComp.layer(“TEXT 4”).sourceRectAtTime().width,0],2)[0];
t5 = thisComp.layer(“TEXT 5”).toComp([thisComp.layer(“TEXT 5”).sourceRectAtTime().left+thisComp.layer(“TEXT 5”).sourceRectAtTime().width,0],2)[0];
t6 = thisComp.layer(“TEXT 6”).toComp([thisComp.layer(“TEXT 6”).sourceRectAtTime().left+thisComp.layer(“TEXT 6”).sourceRectAtTime().width,0],2)[0];
xclamp = clamp(Math.max(t1,t2,t3,t4,t5,t6)+20,545.70,2000);
[xclamp,value[1]]
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Yes, sorry–that should have been:
L = thisComp.layer(layers[i]);
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ok great, your idea is much more straight forward.
thanks Dan
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