[Jeff Hinkle]

No calculator required. Just a little pickwhipping. Okay, one tiny bit of calculator. Again, this will simply keep Pin 2 the same distance from Pin 1 no matter where Pin 1 goes. For this example, we’ll make Pin 1 the pin you’re animating and Pin 2 the pin that’s following Pin 1.

At the start of your comp (or wherever the base “rest” pose is; before you’ve animated any pins), twirl down the Position property for both pins and calculate the difference in position in both X and Y. Simple addition/subtraction: if Pin 1 is [800,500] and Pin 2 is [700,700] your difference is -100X and +200Y. Then Opt/Alt=click the Position property for Pin 2 and type:
pupX=

Then pickwhip to the X parameter of Pin 1’s Position property, which should give you something similar to this:
pupX=effect(“Puppet”).arap.mesh(“Mesh 1”).deform(“Puppet Pin 1”).position[0];

You’ll need to add the semicolon to the end. This creates a variable called pupX and sets it to be equal to the X value of Pin 1’s Position at every frame. Do the same with the Y position and a second variable:
pupY=effect(“Puppet”).arap.mesh(“Mesh 1”).deform(“Puppet Pin 1”).position[1];

You now have two variables, each matching the value of one parameter of Pin 1’s Position. If you just set them as the position for Pin 2, Pin 2 would exactly match Pin 1 wherever it went:
[pupX,pupY]
this just says Pin 2 X position = pupX = Pin1 X position and Pin 2 Y position = pupY = Pin1 Y position

Now you just need to adjust those numbers by the difference you noted earlier:
[pupX-100, pupY+200]
this says the same thing but subtracts 100 from Pin 1’s X value and adds 200 to Pin 1’s Y value, then sets them as Pin 2’s X and Y value

So, final code:
pupX=effect(“Puppet”).arap.mesh(“Mesh 1”).deform(“Puppet Pin 1”).position[0];
pupY=effect(“Puppet”).arap.mesh(“Mesh 1”).deform(“Puppet Pin 1”).position[1];
[pupX-100, pupY+200]

Sadly you can’t just copy/paste this code as your layer names and value differences won’t be the same. I wasn’t aware you needed to move Pin 2 independently of Pin 1 at various times. I thought you just needed Pin 2 (3,4, etc.) to maintain relative difference to Pin 1 throughout its move. If you need variable on/off animation control, pretty sure that’s possible but will take someone smarter than me.

—
It is easier to destroy than to create.
More fun, too.

[Jeff Hinkle]

I’m no puppet or expression wizard so maybe someone has an easier/more elegant way to do this, but I’d think if you figure the difference in distance between your parented pin and the other pins at the initial “rest” pose, you could add a simple expression to maintain that distance. So let’s say Pin 1 is parented to your null and has a position of [800,300] and you want Pin 2 to maintain its position to A and it has a position of [700,200]. So 2 is 100 pixels away from 1 in both X and Y (just to keep the math easy).

Set an expression in the pin Position of 2. Set a variable for the X value and pickwhip to Pin 1’s X value, resulting in something like
pupX=effect(“Puppet”).arap.mesh(“Mesh 1”).deform(“Puppet Pin 1”).position[0];

Do the same for Y:
pupY=effect(“Puppet”).arap.mesh(“Mesh 1”).deform(“Puppet Pin 1”).position[1];

Now you have your two variables, pupX and pupY that equal X and Y of Pin 1 and you know you want Pin 2 to always be 100 less than that, so a final line of
[pupX-100,pupY-100]
should maintain that distance no matter where Pin 1 goes.

—
It is easier to destroy than to create.
More fun, too.

[Jeff Hinkle]

You could export or import the image flat, but yes, that would eliminate the layers. But if you’re not moving the individual layers or placing video in front/behind specific layers, the layered file may not even be necessary. Could be a simple, flat file is all you need. Or just one layer if you’re doing a frame insertion or something. What is your desired end result?

—
It is easier to destroy than to create.
More fun, too.

[Jeff Hinkle]

Sounds like Photoshop is seeing your layers as timeline objects with one layer shorter than the rest. In Photoshop, go to Window>Timeline and see if it shows your layers as a series of colored bars. This shows how long Photoshop, and by extension AE and PPro, think the layer should be visible. Then either extend the trouble layer to the end or, if you don’t need the timeline function, just Delete Timeline from the Timeline flyout menu. That should turn your PSD file back into a regular ol’ layered graphic with no inherent duration.

—
It is easier to destroy than to create.
More fun, too.

[Jeff Hinkle]

Are you using paragraph text (dragging a text box before typing)? If your text box isn’t tall enough, all your text will disappear if the vertical size is too large for the characters to fit. Likewise, if you type beyond the horizontal boundaries, Photoshop has no place to flow the extra text so it appears to disappear. You should see a tiny plus sign in the lower right square of your text box indicating hidden text. Just drag your text box larger with the text tool to give the text room and you should see everything you typed.

—
It is easier to destroy than to create.
More fun, too.

[Jeff Hinkle]

Looks like After Effects has a BUNCH of STD’s.

—
It is easier to destroy than to create.
More fun, too.

[Jeff Hinkle]

Are you making selections with the Pen tool, by chance? Could be it was changed from Combine Shapes to Subtract Front Shape, which, when converted to a selection, will select everything outside of itself, which sounds like what you’re describing. Just change it back to Combine Shapes and it should behave as expected.

—
It is easier to destroy than to create.
More fun, too.

[Jeff Hinkle]

Pop them open in Illustrator and check the Links panel to see if any placed artwork is listed there.

—
It is easier to destroy than to create.
More fun, too.

[Jeff Hinkle]

Are they true vector files or do they contain placed raster artwork?

—
It is easier to destroy than to create.
More fun, too.

[Jeff Hinkle]

Place your cursor over your Project window and hit ~. That’ll make that window go full screen which should give you plenty of real estate to swap things around.

—
It is easier to destroy than to create.
More fun, too.