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slide anchor point numerically
Is there a way to change the anchor point manually as if you are using the pan behind tool?
This just happens often enough I feel like I’m just missing a tip.
I move an object to where I need. Then I realize I need to scale it from one edge or something. So I just need to zero a number, or make it the same as the object bounds. Easy….only, that moves the object.
I was Hoping I could just use the pan behind tool when changing the anchor point. No such luck.
And yes, I know several ways to accomplish the task to work around this, I don’t want to add a transform effect or create a null object. I am just looking for a hotkey, or some quick way to change the actual numbers of the anchor point while moving the position in opposition so it is effectively the pan behind tool. I feel like this is obvious enough that it exists, and I just can’t find it because I don’t know what to search for or something.
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3 Replies
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I wasn’t clear enough.
I hinted at the fact that this is the way I’m already doing it in the title “numerically” but I didn’t explain that.
That’s actually Not fast. Faster is zooming in a ton and using the pan behind tool. The bad part though is that the info doesn’t update as your moving, so you have to frequently let go.
I need to move position in opposition to the anchor point, which is exactly what the pan behind tool does. If I just move the anchor point property the object moves. but I only want to move the anchor point.
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There are ways of doing it, just not built into the software.
For one, if it let you adjust 2 values at once, problem solved. So really it’s just a matter of the product designer not thinking of something. It wouldn’t really be a “magic wand.”A magic wand would be something like taking video of text and having AE automatically create a camera from it, convert all of the text to 3D text as a replacement, and adjusting the footage to appear as if it has no text on it.
Doing something like, “allow me to change position and anchor point at the same time,” is more of a “why the heck didn’t someone think of that” sort of thing.
Realistically, all they have to do is allow you to select multiple properties (they already do) and adjust one of the values, and at the same time adjust the other values in the same amount (what they are missing). This would also be useful in other ways. Say you want to adjust only the Z position of 15 layers at once without parenting them. Select, adjust, done….instead of having to select them one at a time and adding the same value. Parenting might break some things elsewhere.
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This one would be script-worthy. In my spare time!
I have found that Pan Behind with snapping on covers most of my own use cases for “fast precision adjustments” with the anchor point, as it I’m almost always trying to hit the edge of the layer itself, or an intersection with another layer.
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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