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Using expression to link beam effect to mask, both on same layer
On a single layer containing video, I created and animated a mask, and, using the beam effect, I created a beam. I want the movement of the beam to be linked to the movement of the mask. I tried to create expressions for the starting and endings point of the beam and link them to the shape of the mask. I got an error message. Is that right? Is it not possible to do this, or did I do something wrong? Thanks.
Victoria -
2 Replies
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[Victoria Murphy] “I tried to create expressions for the starting and endings point of the beam and link them to the shape of the mask. I got an error message. Is that right?”
that sounds right, mask paths can’t have expressions.
there is a script at crgreen.com/aescripts called connect vertex to point that will link a mask vertex to a 2d point (like a beam point). you might give that a try. however, i think it works the other way around, meaning, you’d animate the beam points and that would animate the mask vertexes.
i’m not sure exactly what you are doing with the beam effect, but you might be able to accomplish the ‘beam’ with an effect like stroke, that uses masks to draw a line. as the mask animates so would the stroke. you can create the inner and outer ‘beam’ colors by using 2 instances of stroke on the same layer.
Kevin Camp
Senior Designer
KCPQ, KMYQ & KRCW -
Hi Kevin, Thank you for your suggestion. I’ve been pulled away on other projects so I won’t get a change to explore this till next week.
Victoria
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