Parenting text layers to other text layers

[Dan Ebberts]

Here are a couple of examples that should help. This one will right justify to another text layer on the right:

gap = 20;
L = thisComp.layer(“other layer”);
r = L.sourceRectAtTime(time,false);
hisLeft = L.position[0] + (r.left – L.anchorPoint[0])*L.scale[0]/100;
r = sourceRectAtTime(time,false);
myRight = position[0] + (r.left + r.width – anchorPoint[0])*scale[0]/100;
delta = hisLeft – myRight;
value + delta – gap

This one will left justify to another text layer on the left:

gap = 20;
L = thisComp.layer(“other layer”);
r = L.sourceRectAtTime(time,false);
hisRight = L.position[0] + (r.left + r.width – L.anchorPoint[0])*L.scale[0]/100;
r = sourceRectAtTime(time,false);
myLeft = position[0] + (r.left – anchorPoint[0])*scale[0]/100;
delta = hisRight – myLeft;
value + delta + gap

In both, you need to set the gap variable to something that makes sense for your font size.

Dan

EDIT: Oops, I posted the same expression twice. This should be better.

[Kalleheikki Kannisto]

Another option is to use a placeholder character such as an asterisk and replace it.

For instance, set the text to “Hello *! How are you?” and use this expression to get the name from a text layer “name”:

text_array = text.sourceText.split("*");
text_array[0]+thisComp.layer("name").text.sourceText+text_array[1]


Although if you actually want different colors for the different pieces of text, that’s not going to work.

[Bart Remmers]

Hi Dan,

Thank you for your expression again! It works like a charm in both examples!! Exactly what I needed!
I’m very happy that you helped me out with this! A million thanks! This opens up some possibilities that I’ve never dreamed off!

Bart.

[Bart Remmers]

Hi Kalle,

Thank you for your expression. Not in all instances is it required for my texts to have different colors, but I’d like to have the possibility to change it in whatever I’d like it to be. It’s good that you pointed this out. I’ve tried your and Dan’s expression and I went with Dan’s because this one fits more to my needs. But I’d still want to thank you offcourse for your effort and helping me out. So thank you for your input. Much appreciated!!

I’m sure I’ll be back sometime soon when I can’t achieve what I’m trying.

Bart.

[Bart Remmers]

Quick question; would there be a simple way to have the three layers (the second example that I’ve shown in the first post in this topic) centered in the middle of my composition? Right now if the left one contains 3 characters and right one would contain 10 characters and I centered the middle one, it wouldn’t be centered anymore.

Bart.

[Bart Remmers]

Hi Kalle,

I’ve been messing around with your script. It’s really usefull too! Thanks again for it.
Is it possible to split two times in one text layer?

Like this:

I put this in my text layer: “*, #”

text_array = text.sourceText.split("*");
text_array[0]+thisComp.layer("text_1").text.sourceText+text_array[1]

text_array = text.sourceText.split("#");
text_array[0]+thisComp.layer("text_2").text.sourceText+text_array[1]

When I try this it only works on the last one, so this will show up like this:

“*, text_2”

Do you have any idea if it’s possible to split it twice in one layer?

Bart.

[Kalleheikki Kannisto]

You’d have to keep using the result and split it further, like so:

text_array = text.sourceText.split("*");
text_array2=text_array[0]+thisComp.layer("name").text.sourceText+text_array[1];
text_array3 = text_array2.split("#");
text_array3[0]+thisComp.layer("day").text.sourceText+text_array3[1]

So, for example, the original layer would have the text “Hello *, have a good #!” and the comp would have two text source layers, one with the layer name “name” and another with “day”. They would both be replaced.

Centering the text using this method is easy as you can use the centered paragraph, but it would be the same style throughout the text, so will work only for those instances.

[Bart Remmers]

Kalle, you are a true hero! Thank you!

[Sebastien Bruzzo]

Hello Dan,

While trying these two variations of expressions, I encountered the following error message: “Invalid token” on the line with the variable <code inline=””>hisRight=….
Could this be due to changes made to the code since then?

PS : And a huge thank you for your work and your contributions to the After Effects community. It’s been so many years now that I’ve been learning thanks to you.

[Dan Ebberts]

Ah yes. All the code from the old days got mangled when they did some kind of conversion on this site (don’t remember when that was exactly). All the quote characters and minus signs got messed up. This should be better:

gap = 20;
L = thisComp.layer("other layer");
r = L.sourceRectAtTime(time,false);
hisRight = L.position[0] + (r.left + r.width - L.anchorPoint[0])*L.scale[0]/100;
r = sourceRectAtTime(time,false);
myLeft = position[0] + (r.left - anchorPoint[0])*scale[0]/100;
delta = hisRight - myLeft;
value + delta + gap