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Random order of the numbers 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8
Dear all,
I have a composition with 9 colored squares next to each other, and I want to randomly change the order of these squares every second. I’ve created nine expression sliders with integer values that I have related to the position of the squares (multiplied by the pixel width of the squares, so square 0 has X-position 0*1024, square 1 has position 1*1024, and so forth).
The challenge is getting nine random numbers without duplicates (because then two or more squares would overlap). How could I get nine random numbers without duplicates? Basically, how could I get a random order of the number series 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 every second?Thanks in advance!
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3 Replies
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In essence you need two loops, one that fills the array with a random number and another inside that which checks if that number has already been used and keeps adding one (or wrapping from 8 to 0) until it finds an unused number.
Kalleheikki Kannisto
Senior Graphic Designer -
The trick is to get all the layers to cooperate on random numbers. To do that, you need to do the random calculation in a single place, and publish the results for all the participating layers to reference. One way is to create a text layer (named “control” in this example), move it to the bottom of the layer stack, and add this Source Text expression:
period = 1;
seed = Math.floor(time/period);
seedRandom(seed,true);
a = [];
for (i = 0; i < 9; i++) a[i] = i;
for (i = 0; i < a.length; i++){
idx = Math.floor(random(a.length));
temp = a[i];
a[i] = a[idx];
a[idx] = temp;
}
a.toString();
(You can turn the text layer off once you get everything set up). For the next part, I’m assuming your participating layers are layers 1-9–if not, you’ll have to modify this position expression:
str = thisComp.layer("control").text.sourceText.split(",");
idx = parseInt(str[index-1],10)
x = idx*1024;
[x,value[1]]
Dan
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Thank you for your very elaborate suggestions! I managed to make it work!
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