the Null

[Steve Roberts]

It is a layer that you cannot render.

It is often used as an invisible parent of another layer, or the source layer for an expression.

For example, if you want more control over a camera’s x,y,z position, you can use an expression to tie those parameters to those of three separate nulls. That way you have access to the position motion graphs of each separate parameter. This technique has been described in the COW before. Search under “null” and “camera”.

I also use a null as the “holder” for various expression controls that affect a bunch of layers.

Basically, you could have probably done these things with solids, but you have to hide solids, and there’s always the risk that you might inadvertently make it visible.

If you want to see how they can be used, just search the COW on … “null”. 🙂

Steve

[Mark]

I use a lot of Null objects to parent the layers. Save a ton of precomps and often gets me out of jams. Huge fan of the Null.

Mark

[Accountclosed_no_realname]

thanks for that!!