scaling and rotating a motion path

[Todd Kopriva]

You can copy and paste motion paths to and from mask and shape paths. This means that you can use all of the tools and techniques that you would normally use to transform mask or shape paths to indirectly transform a motion path.

There are instructions for copying from a motion path to a mask or shape path and back again in the “Motion paths” and “Creating a mask or shape from a motion path” sections of After Effects Help, including some extra tips and a link to an animation preset in the comments.

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Todd Kopriva, Adobe Systems Incorporated
putting the ‘T’ back in ‘RTFM’ : After Effects Help on the Web
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[Bartek Skorupa]

I don’t know the simple way, like: “select, move, scale, done”, but:

1. Create a solid.
2. make a mask – whatever shape.
3. select all the position keyframes you want to manipulate, and Cmd-c.
4. Select the “path” property of the mask you just created – Cmd-v.

You get the mask of the shape that is exactly the same as the path of your movement.

5. Manipulate the mask the way you want. Scale it, move, rotate, whatever.
6. Select the “path” property of your mask, hit Cmd-c
7. Remove all the keyframes of the position of the object you manipulate, select “position” property and hit Cmd-v.

This is not simple manipulation, but it works fine.

Bartek Skorupa
Warszawa, Poland

[Roland R. kahlenberg]

YOu can use a Null as a parent to scale and rotate another layer’s (child) path. Just remember that the Null has to be centered along the path before the parenting and that you scale the child inversely after scaling the Null.

Cheers
RoRK

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