Taper stroke effect for Shape layers?

[Trent Armstrong]

I’m not too sure exactly what you are looking for but a very simple way to get a sort of tapered look on a stroke around a shape is to use the shape tool as a mask on a solid instead of creating a shape layer. Then apply VEGAS to the layer. It will look at the mask and give you tapered segments.

Set the segments to 1
Length to about 0.28
Width around 7
Hardness to about 0.5

Then use a negative rotation to get the stroke to move along the mask path in what appears to be positive direction with the tail trailing behind.

Let me know if that doesn’t give you what you are looking for.

Trent

Trent Armstrong – Creative Cow Leader
https://www.dallasaeug.com

[Jenia Ukraine]

I get what he means, and now in 2013 I’m wandering about that too.

My question is simple, is it posible to make by using other plugins or by some shape functions the taper effect? which already is in plugin 3D stroke (named – ‘taper’)

The reason why I’m wandering, cuz 3d stroke in precomp with ‘collapse transformations’ dosen’t move in Z access, and doesn’t rotating in Z. Which my main problem is.

[Scott Green]

7 years on from the original post and still no easy solution to make a tapered stroke line, very disappointing.

Music Videos, Motion Graphics, Creative Multimedia, Video Production, VFX and Graphic Design by Splurj Creative Multimedia

[Andrew Pabon]

2015 reporting in. Still no way to taper a shape line.

[Michael Szalapski]

Adobe doesn’t track feature requests in forum posts. There could be a hundred of us here saying we want something, but it wouldn’t do as much good as an official request.

If you would like to see this feature introduced to AE, please file a feature request! https://www.adobe.com/products/wishform.html

– The Great Szalam
(The ‘Great’ stands for ‘Not So Great, in fact, Extremely Humble’)

No trees were harmed in the creation of this message, but several thousand electrons were mildly inconvenienced.

[Christopher Dinardo]

There is a way to do it that is a bit of a hack:

Create a keyframe for your shape layer path.

Cut that keyframe

Open Illustrator and paste it into a new document

Apply a stroke color and adjust the stroke’s tapering to your liking

Expand the appearance of the stroke

Copy that object from illustrator

Create a new Solid above your original Shape layer in AE

Paste the Illustrator object onto your Solid

Use that Solid layer (That now has your Illustrator Object as a mask channel) as a Track Matte

[Kalleheikki Kannisto]

You can create a tapered mask path stroke with Video Copilot’s free Saber plug-in. Aside from many way more interesting things.

[Christopher Dinardo]

OH! I haven’t played with that one yet since it seemed to be all about the lightsabers.

[Joe Clay]

Great idea Kalle! I love alternate uses for plugins!

Joe Clay
Workbench.tv

[Jacob Peñaloza]

A shape layer line with a feather mask, that works for me, masks in shape layers is really helpfull