-
Illustrator document issues when modifying & reloading
Hello everyone
I have been using after fx for years with psd files and I am very familiar with how to use them. One of the most useful things I do is to modify layers in a psd file and reload it in after fx so that I don’t have to re-do any animation (as I’m sure many of you do).
I just started a new project with .ai files and there have been a few growing pains. Nothing unsolvable, until today when I tried to modify a source .ai file in the method described above. I made a change to a layer, saved the .ai file, and reloaded it in after fx, and all of the layers in my composition floated out of position (although the layers in the original composition that I imported were fine). I didn’t move any of the layers in the .ai file and I didn’t change the size of the artboard.
My composition is wider than the original composition, but other than that they are exactly the same. Turning rasterizing on and off doesn’t seem to make any difference.
Modifying the .ai file and then opening the after fx project doesn’t make any difference, either.
Any ideas? I’m using CS4 (yes, it’s ancient by today’s standards! 🙂 )
Thanks in advance. Creative Cow has saved me dozens of times over the last few years. Easily the most helpful After fx and FCP site out there.
-
3 Replies
-
I’m not sure I’m following you.
It sounds like you’ve got some of the layers of your Illustrator file in another comp and they’ve moved out of position when you updated your Illustrator file.
Is that correct?
When you talk about compositions being different sizes, what do you mean?
Some screenshots might help.– The Great Szalam
(The ‘Great’ stands for ‘Not So Great, in fact, Extremely Humble’)No trees were harmed in the creation of this message, but several thousand electrons were mildly inconvenienced.
-
Hi Michael
Thanks for responding. Yeah, it’s a little confusing to explain. I’d love to take a screenshot to help out, but unfortunately it’s for a client and none of the ai art is public yet, so I’ll do my best to describe it.
There are two issues, actually – one that has occurred since you responded. The first one:
-With regards to the compositions: I imported the .ai file (File 1) as a composition (Comp 1) (404×838), duplicated it into Comp 2 and then expanded the size of Comp 2 to 600×838. I did not change the scale of any of the layers. All of the layers were still in the right place (as they should be) and I animated them with basic changes to position and rotation. I opened File 1 in Illustrator and made a few changes to a layer and resaved the file. When I selected “reload file” in after fx, the layers in Comp 2 moved out of alignment slightly. All of the layers in Comp 1 were fine.
A second, seemingly related issue just popped up. Another after fx project (Project 1) was created on a different computer using identical ai files that I have on my computer. When I opened Project 1 on my computer, the same thing happened: the layers in all of the original, imported .ai comps look fine and any layers in duplicated comps (with different dimensions) are off.
Any ideas? I hope this isn’t too confusing. If you have any other questions please let me know.
Thanks
-
Sorry, no ideas. I haven’t used CS4 in years. I don’t think I even have a copy of it anywhere.
Are you updated to the latest version of CS4?
– The Great Szalam
(The ‘Great’ stands for ‘Not So Great, in fact, Extremely Humble’)No trees were harmed in the creation of this message, but several thousand electrons were mildly inconvenienced.
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up