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Follow a motion path in 3D space
I have several photos all parented to a long frame. I want this frame to “snake” or move like a train (each photo is an individual car) through the screen from right to left while moving on the z-axis. I’ve tried animating a null object on the path that I want, then parenting the frame to it. However, with this, the frame as a whole unit moves along the path, rather than a train snaking through the screen.
I’ve also tried making a path with the pen tool on a solid layer, then copying the mask to the “position” property of the frame, but this doesn’t work in 3D space.
Any ideas?
Thanks in advance!
Julie -
6 Replies
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Did you try layer>transform>auto-orient, then orient along path?
Steve
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Indeed. AE is quite limited in a 3D sense.
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Yes, Steve. I tried “orient to path”, but it didn’t achieve the desired effect.
Thank you both for your help. I was afraid the answer was “it can’t be done” but there’s a lot I still don’t know about the program and it never hurts to ask.
Julie -
I kinda built this in one of my projects.
I first build a layer with my path and then rotated in 3D space 90 degrees so it stayed flat.
Then I parented a null object to that path so it was perpendicular to the path in 3D.
Next add a new camera and have the point of interest set to somewhere on the null.
What I essentially did was have the camera along the path to look everything else was moving.
I set many lights above my path so I could get the right look.
There was alot of adjusting but you need to work with multiple views of your comp open.
Hope this helps somewhat. -
I just rechecked my old project to see how I did it.
Let me correct one thing. After I made my path and rotated it, I copied the mask/path and pasted the points as positions in my Null object.
The one drawback is you can not adjust your position like you would a draw on path effect would.
Perhaps you can use an expression to link your position keyframes to your points on the path. -
Thanks Ken! I’ll give this a try sometime (I’ve already had to come up with an alternative for the current animation). I appreciate the advice!
Julie
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