[Derek Bass]

It works! Thanks so much!

[Derek Bass]

I see what you mean now. I’m having trouble applying this to my original expression. The original expression has the variable “flickerFrequency.” How do apply this random seed based on the comp name to this?

flickerFrequency =4;

op = value;
if(op > 0 && op < 100){
reverseAmt=100-transform.opacity;
wiggledAmt=wiggle(flickerFrequency,reverseAmt);
roundedAmt=Math.round((wiggledAmt/100));
roundedAmt*100;
}


[Derek Bass]

Thanks Dan. It sounds like I’d have to make 30 different compositions, which doesn’t work for my goal of keeping it simple. I was hoping there was a way to do this because there are other situations I would be able to apply similar effects to.

To accomplish this task, I think I will end up using one or more mosaics of changing colors and overlay the negative space with a shape layer to create the right shapes.

[Derek Bass]

Thanks for the reply Michael. With your expression, I still see 30 copies of the comp on the screen all doing the same thing at the same time.

There are other ways to do this besides using an expression, but I was hoping to go for a simple comp that I can duplicate. To keep my story simple, I didn’t mention every detail in the first post. To better explain, the comp has 3 layers:

1. Red shape with flicker expression
2. Light blue shape with flicker expression
3. Dark blue shape as the base – no flicker expression

The dark blue needs to show the most frequently, light blue, next, and red least frequently. The length of time that each shape shows is variable and random.

This comp is repeated 30 times to form an array in the parent comp. The colors only flicker for a specific duration. The rest of the time they are dark blue.

I feel like I’m making this a lot more complicated than it needs to be. Here’s an image of the output I’m looking for.

[Derek Bass]

This worked great. Being able to use these expressions adds so much to this composition, and I can’t thank you enough. Problem solved!

[Derek Bass]

Thanks – that makes sense. For position, x value is stationary for each layer, so I can find a solution for that. It’s the y value that moves and needs to relate to the object before and after. Currently, this is what I have:

y=thisComp.layer(index+1).content("Shape 1").transform.position.valueAtTime(time-thisComp.layer("slider - metascan color bars").effect("Metascan bar control")("Slider")*.005)[1];

I might still need to add some objects into the chain between others, so I want to make the expressions universal, so I wouldn’t have to go back and change each layer if, e.g., it changes from 98th to 99th from the leader. How would I use index witout cascading?

[Derek Bass]

Thanks, Dan! The objects do stop and then need to stay visible, so thanks for the more complicated expression.

I don’t think this will work for me, though. It worked at first, but when I apply it to all my 100+ layers, AE times out, gives me an error message, and disables the expressions.

I’m using a pretty hefty computer, but I think all the expressions overload my processor. To complicate things, I didn’t mention before that each layer already has an indexed expression, w/slider, to follow the previous layer in space and time, and it already takes a while to process:


x=thisComp.layer(index+1).content("Shape 1").transform.position[0]+ thisComp.layer("slider - first row distance").effect("Distance - firstRow")("Slider");
y=thisComp.layer(index+1).content("Shape 1").transform.position.valueAtTime(time-thisComp.layer("slider - metascan color bars").effect("Metascan bar control")("Slider")*.005)[1];
[x,y]


I think I’m overusing expressions in this composition. Do you think that trying to add the transparency expression on top of the other expression is a lost cause? In any case, the expressions you sent will help me a lot in the future because I’ve needed something like this more than once before, so many thanks for that.

[Derek Bass]

I didn’t know about the expressions forum. I’ll post it there. Thanks!