Keyframes on slider in main comp not affecting pre comps as expected.

[Darren Michael]

Hi.

Have set up a slider in a main comp to control some position animations in a precomp. It works until I add keyframes, then nothing. I think I need to add a valueAtTime expression to offset the start time of the precomp (which starts in the main comp at 11.19 seconds). Thing is I don’t know which parameter or comp I would need to add the ValueAtTime expression.

 

The set up is a simple slider control in the main comp to control the x position of a few layers in the pre comp. the layers I want to control are all connected to the slider and work until the keyframes are set. If I move the precomp to the very start of the Main comp, all works perfectly, even with keyframes. Where do I put the expression and what is the expression syntax I would need to add?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

[Dan Ebberts]

You have to work it into the expression that links a property in the precomp to the slider in the main comp. If it’s just a simple link, it could look like this:

C = comp("main comp");
ctrl = C.layer("controls").effect("Slider Control")("Slider");
L = C.layer(thisComp.name);
ctrl.valueAtTime(time + L.startTime)

[Darren Michael]

Thanks Dan. I still can’t ascertain how to get it to work.

So…..the expression I have in one of the precomp layers (called Character 1) linking to the slider within the main comp (called Infinity) is:

comp(“Infinity”).layer(“Head Rotation”).effect(“x Position”)(“Slider”);

I vaguely understand what the code you posted relates to but don’t fully know how to apply that. I thought I’d changed the syntax from what you’d posted to reflect my comps but get an error at line 1.

C = comp(“Infinity”);

ctrl = C.layer(“Head Rotation).effect(“x Position”)(“Slider”);

L = C.layer(thisComp.Character 1);

ctrl.valueAtTime(time + L.startTime)

I’m clearly doing something rather dumbass

[Dan Ebberts]

Try it like this:

C = comp("Infinity");
ctrl = C.layer("Head Rotation").effect("x Position")("Slider");
L = C.layer(thisComp.name);
ctrl.valueAtTime(time + L.startTime)

[Darren Michael]

Thank you Dan. Sorry for late reply, but this did the trick!