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simple shape question
So I drew a rectangle and wanted to grab a corner point. I was under the impression that I could just grab the arrow tool hold down command (mac) and get the white arrow and then I can grab the corner point. This doesn’t work. I googled it and I found that when creating the rectangle you need to hold down the option key. Ok so I make the rectangle holding down the option key but I still cant grab the corner point, I have to now grab the pen tool and select the corner point. If i just draw a shape none of this is a problem I can just grab the corner with the arrow tool.
This seems really convoluted is there a way of just converting a rectangle/circle to be editable instead of having to hold the option key down when I first draw the rectangle? How on earth would a beginner know to do this? what is the purpose of not letting a rectangle be editable right off the bat?
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8 Replies
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Well maybe someone can answer the question “can you turn a rectangle/circle into an editable shape”
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Ok I now see there’s a “Bezier” checkbox.
I’m sure you knew that dave. I guess when people ask questions you just condescendingly send random tutorials.
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Accurate.
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Learning from tutorials, and reading the manual, are how a man learns to fish so that he can eat for a lifetime, rather than being given a fish so that he can eat for a day. So said Confucius, or one of those other wise, annoying guys.
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I agree with you on that point but I hope you agree that not everyone remembers every little thing in after effects that they saw in a tutorial. the page he linked me to wasn’t a tutorial on my specific question it was just a bunch of general tutorials. if I know 80% of what is in those tutorials should I watch all of them just to find the one small question I had?
Isn’t this forum for answering questions and saving time? If i had a question about expressions or motion tracking would you send me to a bunch of tutorials that might have the answer at the end of one? I wouldn’t, I would answer your question as best as I know how or send you to a specific tutorial.
I could understand if I posted here everyday asking a bunch of basic questions but I don’t. I actually googled the question and looked around before I even came here.
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It was just a friendly little jest, with no intent to upset anyone. You are absolutely correct that any forum is for questions, and I hope that no one turns you off to looking for answers here.
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So I guess it’s time to serve up a fish, Chad:
https://cgi.tutsplus.com/tutorials/the-wonderful-world-of-shapes-in-after-effects–ae-9659
Joe Bourke
Owner/Creative Director
Bourke Media
http://www.bourkemedia.com -
[chad demoss] “what is the purpose of not letting a rectangle be editable right off the bat?”
A rectangle is a parametric shape. Rather than having a path that can be directly manipulated, it has a few editable properties that define the path indirectly: size, position, and roundness. You can adjust these parameters to adjust the rectangle shape — without losing its “rectangleness.” You can tell Ae “I want this to be a perfect rectangle that’s 500px wide and 200px tall, with perfectly symmetrical rounded corners with a 20px radius” and you will get exactly that.
A Bezier path (made either by Alt/Opt at first, or by right-click and “Make Bezier path” after the fact) can be directly manipulated. You can push the points around anywhere you want. But because the “parameters” of a Bezier path are the positions of the points and their tangents, you’d be completely responsible for ensuring “rectangleness.”
Why are parametric shapes the default? The math only works one way. You can easily say, “make the path that fits these rules,” but you can’t necessarily say “make the rules that fit this path.”
Walter Soyka
Designer & Mad Scientist at Keen Live [link]
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
@keenlive | RenderBreak [blog] | Profile [LinkedIn]
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