[Brent Taylor]

I have the latest CC version. So CC 2014.

It’s quite a lot of disk space. Almost 90 GB at this point.

[Brent Taylor]

Sometimes it’s nice to have an animation with a few elements wrapped up together so I can then move it around, resize it, apply effects as a single object, etc. Making it a precomp works great.

The only problem is that then this new element has a box that takes up the entire size of the composition window rather than, say, a quarter of the screen as it did originally. This is sort of annoying while I try click around the screen on other things.

I can go into the precomp and change the composition size, but then the object doesn’t remain in its original location. I can also just lock the new precomp, but that’s kind of annoying. I can also parent them to a null, which works in some cases (movement, size, etc) but not so great for others (applying a uniform effect to them all).

I wish I could just have the option to maintain the original size and location of the objects being wrapped up together into a precomp. This seems logical. But maybe not?

[Brent Taylor]

So Adobe’s support actually helped me solve this. I didn’t expect them to be helpful.

I guess you have to have the “A1” all the way on the left highlighted for this to work. It will still import the first one into the sequence without that, but that’s it. Weird quirk.

I wonder why I never encountered this before. On the one hand it’s a little embarrassing to have missed something so simple. On the other hand, I wonder why it’s necessary or why I never noticed it before… odd.

Anyhow, that’s the answer in case anyone else encounters it.

[Brent Taylor]

Old thread, but I am having the same problem, so I thought I’d ask also.

Here is the tutorial I was using: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEgLVHaalAY

He does not have the problem Sean and I are having. No expression or anyting… it just works. But for me, just like Sean, the effect stays in the same place even though the adjustment layer follows the tracking null just fine.

Any ideas?

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[Brent Taylor]

Thanks guys. Those answers will work – especially the first and third.

It’s funny, I thought I’d tried Micheal’s solution, but it wasn’t working. But now that I revisit it, it does just what I want it to.

Thanks!

[Brent Taylor]

Not really a solution, but a hacky semi-workaround…

Here’s what I’ve got so far:

1) Load the project into a new project using the “Load Multiple Files” option.

2) Open the folder with the compositions.

3) Load (most of) the needed compositions.

4) Close the folder and never look at it again.

5) Save the project with a new name.

What I’m realizing is that the problem is somewhere in the Project Window. There is a file at the bottom of it that, if it even appears on screen (you don’t have to load the comp, just SEE it in the Project Window) we get the Strange Situation and there is no going back.

For me, thankfully the file in question is at the bottom of the list. So I can load most of what I need without looking at it and then close the thing up.

If there were some way to load the project expressly without the project window open, I could probably get everything, but I haven’t figured out how to do that.

I’m not sure what caused the problem, but I THINK it has something to do with conversions from older versions of AE. The file in question was made with a previous version of AE and was converted.

Perhaps this, along with going through Dynamic Link, is causing some kind of problem. I’m not sure.

By the way, loading it on a-coworker’s computer does the same thing.

[Brent Taylor]

I tried cleaning both of those, yeah. No luck. 🙁

I’m using the latest version. CC 2014. It just updated a little while ago. I wonder if it’s a glitch with the new version. I can’t go back on this project now, though.

[Brent Taylor]

My impressions after the first couple days:

Minor New Features

So far the only new features I’ve really noticed is that when speeding things up in the timeline, it doesn’t chipmunk anymore. There is a new option (enabled by default) called “Maintain pitch while shuttling.”

I know there’s other features but so far this is the only one I’ve noticed.

Some Bug Fixes

Version 7 had a nasty habit where items would lock up on the timeline until I reloaded the project. I’d just suddenly be unable to move items on the timeline. Sometimes it would happen pretty frequently. This hasn’t happened yet in Version 8, which is nice.

Some New Bugs

Of course, what’s bug fixes without new bugs? In my case my entire sequence seems to have disappeared… only an old one is present. But if I close the old one, and then switch workspaces, my work re-appears. Oddly enough, a “Save As” as a new version does not fix the problem. I have to do it no matter what… awesome.

[Brent Taylor]

Thanks, everyone!

Was able to accomplish what I wanted by using a Guide Layer. The shape within it was just a rectangle, which I’m able to re-scale to my heart’s content without scaling the entire layer if I don’t want to.

Nulls are still good for when I just need a quick point in space, though.

[Brent Taylor]

Still does it.

I did figure out two things, though…

If I click specifically on the PATH of the object in AI (not on the layer) and copy, THEN it will import as a path… but ALSO as a mask. So then I have to delete the mask. It’s a start, I guess… but all I wanted was to import that path in the first place…