Simple Problem? Text animation on path. (really frustrated)

[Chris Evans]

Man, that is the weiredest problem. I tried to duplicate your issue, but the only way I could do so was by shifting the baseline in the Character Panel. The only thing I can do is ask some questions, go through the steps I’d do to troubleshoot this. I googled it and got nothing, so that won’t help, I’m sure you did that anyway. First, of course, check your character panel and see it the baseline shift has been changed. If you create a new project, does the problem occur there? In the new project, reset every value in the character panel, possibly change them to drastic values and see if that does anything. You can’t invert your mask because it isn’t closed, but inverting the mask shouldn’t do anything anyway. There is a setting under the text path called “Reverse Path” try changing that, see what it does, though I don’t think that’s your problem or your text would be backward. Change all the options there, see if that does anything, under “More Options”, make sure Grouping Alignment is set to 0.0%. Check your Paragraph panel, change settings there, see if it works. Try drastically different masks, make one going from left to right and right to left, use the rectangle tool. Do you have an adjustment layer on top making it do something. Is it 3d? Your other text has per-character 3d enabled, could that somehow be the culprit? Is something parented causing problems? Is your scale reversed? Double tap ‘L’ to see all the things that have been changed from their default settings, make sure nothing’s weird.

Wall of text, I know, and you’ve probably tried several of those things, but those are all the things I’d suggest looking at and checking. Sorry I can’t be of more help.

[Sascha Hoffmann]

Hi Chris Evans,

Thank you for your reply! Your post makes me happy and sad at the same time. I am happy that it is probably not my fault, but I am sad, that I still haven’t got any solution to this really annoying problem. Yes you are right, I tried to google my problem with no (!) result. It is one of the rare times that I did not find any help. That is why I am posting here.

I would like to provide yet another screenshot 😉

https://postimg.org/image/opdm06hjz/

I will answer to your suggestions:

– I opened a new project and a new comp (still the same problem).
– I tried to draw a path from right to left (result is in the screenshot)
– I reset everything from character to paragraph and all attributes (as seen in the screenshot) are unchanged.
– I selected the alignment to show the anchor points of the characters are on the bottom.
– I made sure no superscript is activated and that the baseline shift is untouched (see character window in screenshot)
– I did not select any 3d options.
– Reverse path only results in a flip, with the same outcome.
– No adjustment layer.
– My screenshot shows that my Comp is the bare minimum of 1 text and 1 path.

I should note that I am still a beginner in After Effects, but I know PS,Ai,Id and Flash pretty well, so I don’t have big Problems in my learning process – well, until now.

I just can’t believe that this is a bug, I mean it is too simple, isn’t it? There must be SOMETHING in the settings? I am really running out of ideas 🙁

[Chris Evans]

This is the weirdest thing. I’d honestly recommend reinstalling. I think it’s a bug. I can’t think of anything else that might effect your text in that way and if changing none of those things solved your problem, then I’m pretty sure nothing else will. The strangest thing is that there’s no evidence of other people having this problem, which kinda suggests it’s a bug actually, if it was something simple, somebody else who is new would have had the same problem and asked like you did but got an answer. Since that obviously didn’t happen, I think it’s a bug. When you uninstall, delete all your After Effects related folders that might contain settings, clear your settings in Adobe Cloud as well in case it syncs from there. Then reinstall. If that doesn’t solve your problem, you’ll have to contact Adobe Support.

Sorry man.

[Sascha Hoffmann]

No worries. I appreciate your help!

I uninstalled and reinstalled and yet no success… :-/

I noticed that when I change the font size, it is also doing so from the top line and not from the bottom line.

[Sascha Hoffmann]

May I ask you to replicate the following?

What happens, if you you make a text box /bounding box with the text tool first, then typing in the text (word) and then apply the mask/path?

very curious…

[Thomas Leong]

[Sascha Hoffmann] “What happens, if you you make a text box /bounding box with the text tool first, then typing in the text (word) and then apply the mask/path?”

I tried, and get what you get – text is aligned not from the base line, but from the top line.

To get baseline alignment, do not create a text box.
Either –
a) select T from the menu, and type the text in the comp; OR
b) insert a Text Layer, and type the text in the comp

Then,
– draw your path (seems more logical left-right than right-left);
– select Mask 1 as the Mask/Path

[Chris Evans]

I just tried it too and it aligned the text under the path. That’s crazy. I’m not sure I ever knew you could create a box with the text tool, I always just clicked. Sascha, if that’s your problem, looks like it’s solved. How’d you figure it out?

[Sascha Hoffmann]

Hi, yes, that was my problem.

I actually uninstalled and installed AE several times with different Updates and even tried a different Trial version. That is how desperate I was.

I have also been writing on a different forum, where I got the usual replies (baseline shift, reverse path etc.). So I replicated my problem again halfheartedly with screenshots in the hope that somebody would have the answer to my problem. I was in bed already, half asleep doing my usual screenshots for the discussion when suddenly the text was on the path. I could not trust my eyes and deleted the layer and tried again and again. Under the path, under the Path, under the path, ON the path. There it happened again. So I repeated the process again maybe 20 – 30 times, memorizing every single step until I narrowed it down to the simple fact that the culprit was the bounding box. It was definitely the result of consulting people like you, who challenged me until I coincidently DID NOT create a bounding box.

I think one of the problems was that AE does not show the bounding box after you apply the path and it is therefor impossible to see the difference. I come from print design and I ALWAYS used bounding boxes, even if I have a single word, because it is “cleaner”. So my print design “habit” was the problem.

I guess you need bounding boxes in AE if you have longer text and paragraphs. Bounding boxes are good, because you can always change size without scaling the text itself.

And now, if you think about it, everything makes sense, because a bounding box (and the text within) has to have the “starting point” at the top left (our reading is from top left to bottom right.). If you change the font size in a bounding box the text will also always move to the top left. So it absolutely makes sense that a bounding box connects with the path on the top. The problem was that I was not “aware” that I was creating a bounding box, because I just used one word and it did not show the bounding box once I applied it to the path. That would actually be a good thing to include in After Effects, so it is visually obvious that you have the text in a bounding box.

Anyway, last night at 3 am I felt like Einstein and I am very relieved.

Thank you again for trying to help me,
Sascha

[Chris Evans]

Well, I’m super glad you figured it out. And I learned something too! Today is a good day!