[Dan Ebberts]

Not sure about your setup, but play around with this:

rMax = 150;
decay = .3;
freq = 6;
aStart = 0;
aRate = 270;
offsetFactor = 10;

r = rMax/Math.exp(time*decay);
a = degreesToRadians(aStart + aRate*time);
offset = (r/offsetFactor)*Math.sin(freq*time*Math.PI*2);
center = [thisComp.width/2, thisComp.height/2];
center + [Math.cos(a),Math.sin(a)]*(r + offset);

Dan

[Dan Ebberts]

The best way would probably be to put together a script that would read a text file and replace all the text in the text layers.

If you don’t want to do that, you could do it with expressions. As an example, say you have a master comp with a master text layer with a comma-delimited expression for source text that looks like this:

“text 1,text 2,text 3”

In another comp, you could have a text layer with an expression that extracts the the third string (“text 3”) of the master text – like this:

txt = comp(“master comp”).layer(“master text”).text.sourceText;
txt.split(“,”)[2]

So the trick would be to put your text together in one string, separated by commas and then set up your other layers to extract the piece it needs using split().

Dan

[Dan Ebberts]

An more detailed example of what you’re trying to do would be helpful.

Dan

[Dan Ebberts]

You can’t access the variables in another expression, just the result. You could put a bunch of text in one text layer though and have expressions in the other text layers search for their piece of the text (assuming you identify it somehow in the master text).

There’s prabably a way to accomplish what you’re trying to do.

Dan

[Dan Ebberts]

This should do the trick:

C = thisComp.activeCamera;
v1 = toWorldVec([0,0,-1]);
v2 = normalize(C.toWorld([0,0,0]) – toWorld(anchorPoint));
angle = radiansToDegrees(Math.acos(dot(v1,v2)));
linear(angle,0,45,100,0)

Dan

[Dan Ebberts]

This modified version seems to work for rotation. It’s actually a little simpler than the position version because you don’t have to deal with vectors.

restAngle = 0;
damp = .95;
leader = thisComp.layer(“leader”);

fDur = thisComp.frameDuration;
currFrame = Math.round(time / fDur);

r2 = transform.rotation.valueAtTime(0);
v2 = 0;
for (f = 0; f <= currFrame; f++){ t = f*fDur; r1 = leader.transform.rotation.valueAtTime(t); delta = r2 - r1; a = 2 *(delta - restAngle) * fDur; v2 = (v2 - a) * damp; r2 += v2; } r2 Dan

[Dan Ebberts]

There’s always a way. 🙂

Are you talking about straight lines connecting 3D layers? Do they have to respect the 3D stacking order? For example, for a line connecting a layer close to the camera with one far away, you would expect the line to be obscured as it goes behind the closer object but you would see the attach point on the most distant object. With text I guess it’s even more complex – do you need to see the line between the letters of the forground text layer?

Depending on what you’re after, I may have a very nice solution for you, but I think it may be a little too complex to post in the forum but we’ll figure something out.

Dan

[Dan Ebberts]

You would normally use anchorPoint (which is always expressed in layer space), but cameras and lights don’t have anchorPoints so you just use [0,0,0]. You’re correct that if you use [0,0,0] with a regular layer, you’ll get the upper left corner.

Dan

[Dan Ebberts]

Not that I know of, but that’s a great idea. You should be able to modify the position expression to work for rotation. I’ll give it some thought.

Dan

[Dan Ebberts]

If Motion Math would work, this expression solution might be helpful:

https://www.motionscript.com/design-guide/elastic.html

Dan