[Colin Braley]

unfortunately, you can’t really time remap something from something else, because expressions can only modify the parameter they are assigned to .

~Colin

[Colin Braley]

Winmorph is good, but if you are looking to morph some things in AE try out the reshape filter. Theres even a tutorial about how to do this right here on the cow. Check out https://www.creativecow.net/cgi-bin/page_wrapper.cgi?forumid=2&page=/articles/zwar_chris/morph/index.html

~Colin

[Colin Braley]

ALlthough I’m sortof unclear as to what you are asking I think I can help you with a few of your questions:
-Expressions CAN be used across comps, such as in this example where a layer acesses the position parameter of “layer two” located in “other comp”

comp(“other comp”).layer(“layer two”).position

-Im not sure what you mean by “making the playhead move” but you can access parameters at specified times by using the method valueAtTime( t ). Here is an example of how to acess the position parameter of “layer two” in “other comp” at a time that is .1 seconds less than that in the current comp

comp(“other comp”).layer(“layer two”).position.valueAtTime(time – .1)

Well, I jope that helps.
~Colin

[Colin Braley]

ALlthough I’m sortof unclear as to what you are asking I think I can help you with a few of your questions:
-Expressions CAN be used across comps, such as in this example where a layer acesses the position parameter of “layer two” located in “other comp”

comp(“other comp”).layer(“layer two”).position

-Im not sure what you mean by “making the playhead move” but you can access parameters at specified times by using the method valueAtTime( t ). Here is an example of how to acess the position parameter of “layer two” in “other comp” at a time that is .1 seconds less than that in the current comp

comp(“other comp”).layer(“layer two”).position.valueAtTime(time – .1)

Well, I jope that helps.
~Colin

[Colin Braley]

Well you are getting this error because the layers that make the box have to be the topmost layers in the composition. You could place the null below the box layers, and then turn back on the expressions that had the error but I have a better solution:

1 – Make sure you are working in a square pixel comp
2 – Apply the expressions to the layers and make the box
3 – Select All the box layers and press “ee” to bring up all parameters that have expressions applied
4 – Select these parameters and go to Animation > Keyframe Assistaant > convert expression to keyframes
5 – Now parent all your layers to a null, add light(s), camera(s) and you are good to go.

~Colin

[Colin Braley]

Well you are getting this error because the layers that make the box have to be the topmost layers in the composition. You could place the null below the box layers, and then turn back on the expressions that had the error but I have a better solution:

1 – Make sure you are working in a square pixel comp
2 – Apply the expressions to the layers and make the box
3 – Select All the box layers and press “ee” to bring up all parameters that have expressions applied
4 – Select these parameters and go to Animation > Keyframe Assistaant > convert expression to keyframes
5 – Now parent all your layers to a null, add light(s), camera(s) and you are good to go.

~Colin

[Colin Braley]

I have a quick expression you can apply to a layer to create a box, just make sure that each layer is the same size and is a square layer(use square pixels). Also, for the expression to work the layers that make up the box have to be the first six layers in their comp. It you want to move the box parent the layers to a null or something. If you want other layers to be above it precomp the box, bring it into another 3d cop and turn on the continuously rasterize/collapse transformations switch. Well with that said here are the expressions:

Here is the expression for position:

i = this.index;
if(i == 1){//front

x = thisComp.width/2;
y = thisComp.height/2;
z = 0;

}else if(i == 2){//Back

x = thisComp.width/2;
y = thisComp.height/2;
z = this.width;

}else if( i == 3){//Left Side

x = thisComp.width/2 – this.width/2;
y = thisComp.height/2;
z = this.width/2;

}else if (i == 4){//Right side

x = thisComp.width/2 + this.width/2;
y = thisComp.height/2;
z = this.width/2;

}else if(i == 5){//Top

x = thisComp.width/2;
y = thisComp.height/2 – this.width/2;
z= this.width/2;

}else if (i == 6){//Bottom

x = thisComp.width/2;
y = thisComp.height/2 + this.width/2;
z= this.width/2;

}
[x, y, z]

//–

Here is the expression for orientation:

i = index;
if(i == 1){//front

x = 0;
y = 0;
z = 0;

}else if(i == 2){//Back

x = 0;
y = 0;
z = 0;

}else if( i == 3){//Left Side

x = 0;
y = 90;
z = 0;

}else if (i == 4){//Right side

x = 0
y = 90;
z = 0;

}else if(i == 5){//Top

x = 90;
y = 0;
z= 0;

}else if (i == 6){//Bottom

x = 90;
y = 0;
z= 0;

}
[x, y, z]

//–

well there you go just apply that to a square ;ayer and duplicate it 6 times.

~Colin

[Colin Braley]

I have a quick expression you can apply to a layer to create a box, just make sure that each layer is the same size and is a square layer(use square pixels). Also, for the expression to work the layers that make up the box have to be the first six layers in their comp. It you want to move the box parent the layers to a null or something. If you want other layers to be above it precomp the box, bring it into another 3d cop and turn on the continuously rasterize/collapse transformations switch. Well with that said here are the expressions:

Here is the expression for position:

i = this.index;
if(i == 1){//front

x = thisComp.width/2;
y = thisComp.height/2;
z = 0;

}else if(i == 2){//Back

x = thisComp.width/2;
y = thisComp.height/2;
z = this.width;

}else if( i == 3){//Left Side

x = thisComp.width/2 – this.width/2;
y = thisComp.height/2;
z = this.width/2;

}else if (i == 4){//Right side

x = thisComp.width/2 + this.width/2;
y = thisComp.height/2;
z = this.width/2;

}else if(i == 5){//Top

x = thisComp.width/2;
y = thisComp.height/2 – this.width/2;
z= this.width/2;

}else if (i == 6){//Bottom

x = thisComp.width/2;
y = thisComp.height/2 + this.width/2;
z= this.width/2;

}
[x, y, z]

//–

Here is the expression for orientation:

i = index;
if(i == 1){//front

x = 0;
y = 0;
z = 0;

}else if(i == 2){//Back

x = 0;
y = 0;
z = 0;

}else if( i == 3){//Left Side

x = 0;
y = 90;
z = 0;

}else if (i == 4){//Right side

x = 0
y = 90;
z = 0;

}else if(i == 5){//Top

x = 90;
y = 0;
z= 0;

}else if (i == 6){//Bottom

x = 90;
y = 0;
z= 0;

}
[x, y, z]

//–

well there you go just apply that to a square ;ayer and duplicate it 6 times.

~Colin

[Colin Braley]

Well AE does have a rectangular mask tool you could try for this. Or you could create a small solid (Ctrl + y), lower the opacity, and change its position / scale until it is where you want it. If you know illustrator it is easier to draw complex shapes in there and import them directly into AE or paste in the Illustrator path as an AE mask.
~Colin

[Colin Braley]

Well there are multiple ways you can go about this:

You can use the Keyframe Assistant called “Convert Audio to Keyframes.” This will create a null layer called “Audio Amplitude” in your comp. The null will have sliders on it representing the left channel’s audio amplitude, the right channel’s amplitude and the whole layer’s audio amplitude. You can then link layer properties such as scale, position etc. to these via expressions.

If you actully want to see the audio waveform in your comp you could try the Render>Audio Waveform effect.

Lastly, if you want to link layer properties to specific aspects of a song (such as the drum part etc.) you will need a plug in by trapcode called “sound keys”. It is a great (and easy to use) plug in.

~Colin