[Filip Vandueren]

You can add a slider to the Essential graphics that controls the keyframed properties with expression like valueAtTime(time + offsetSlider). Individual timings of keyframes would take some more work with increasingly more complex expressions

[Filip Vandueren]

If you want a precomp to have certain values depending on its context,
you should look into “Master Properties” via the “Essential Graphics” palette in After Effects.
It’s a rather new feature that’s designed specifically for your problem.

Master properties can also be included in .mogrt exports for changing inside of premiere

[Filip Vandueren]

To combat jittering for all possible dates, you should use a monospaced font:

https://fonts.adobe.com/fonts?browse_mode=default&filters=cl:ms

edit: and make sure the kerning of the text-layer is not set to “optical”

[Filip Vandueren]

Try this (doesn’t work in older versions of After Effects or with the Legacy expression engine)


startDate = "Apr 05 1940 08:19 AM";
endDate = "Apr 09 1940 02:23 PM";

d1 = new Date(startDate);
d2 = new Date(endDate);

d1Milli = d1.getTime();
d2Milli = d2.getTime();

t = d1Milli + (effect("Slider Control")("Slider")/100)*(d2Milli-d1Milli);

Intl.DateTimeFormat('en-DE', { day: "2-digit", month: "short", year: "numeric", hour: '2-digit', minute: '2-digit', hour12: 'true'}).format(t).replace(/,/g , '');

This would just interpolate the slider from 0=startDate to 100 =endDate with the formatting you need.
It isn’t entirely clear if you actually wanted a true “speed” control, but I don’t think it makes sense in this case.

[Filip Vandueren]

You mean as a bar graph ?
If I understand correctly, i this scenario you would have bars that have actually different lengths, revealed by just one trim path on the whole group ?

In theory yes… Though when the paths are curved, it’s harder to be precise: you first have to run a loop to “measure” the length of each path in pixels.

[Filip Vandueren]

Alternatively, you might do it with a text-layer full of dots.

This expression on sourceText will quickly add them:

(“•”.repeat(48)+”\r”).repeat(40);

Then you can use leading and tracking to space them.
Then text animators to do other stuff with it.

[Filip Vandueren]

Every Effect has Compositing Options, which are only viewable in the timeline. (Because, Adobe reasons… it’s an effects setting, why on earth would they put that in the effects window :-/ )

There you’ll find an effect opacity that can just as simply be controlled by a checkbox as a layer’s opacity.
The effect might still take processing time when at 0 though, it’s just not “mixed in”

[Filip Vandueren]

This would work:


l = thisComp.layer("Bar Chart 1");
p = thisComp.layer("Bar Chart 1").content("Shape 1").content("Bar 1").path;
tr = thisComp.layer("Bar Chart 1").content("Shape 1").content("Trim Paths 1").end;

extra_margin = [0,-30]; // an extra 30 pixel margin

pos = l.toComp(p.pointOnPath(tr/100) + extra_margin);
if (hasParent) pos = parent.fromComp(pos); // take care of parenting

pos


[Filip Vandueren]

Hi Carl, it is not something that expressions can do easily.
You will have to check the order not just now, but at different times and interpolate or average between them manually.

[Filip Vandueren]

AFAIK, he hasn’t shared his precise method yet, and it is scripting based so I think it just creates “manual” keyframes as well.