[Max Haller]

Hey I think i got a set up that should work for you. You’ll have to set up the layers exactly like this for it to work though.

So in my example i have three text layers: Left , Center, Right. The anchor point for the Left layer should be bottom right corner, It should be bottom center for the Center layer, and bottom left corner for the Right layer. The Left and Right can be set to left align text (paragraph option tab) and Center needs to be set to Center Text.

In the position property of the Left layer use this:

s = thisComp.layer(“center”);
xw = s.sourceRectAtTime(time-s.inPoint,true).width/2;
x = thisComp.layer(“center”).transform.position[0];
y = thisComp.layer(“center”).transform.position[1];

[x-xw-20,y]

and in the right layer use this:

s = thisComp.layer(“center”);
xw = s.sourceRectAtTime(time-s.inPoint,true).width/2;
x = thisComp.layer(“center”).transform.position[0];
y = thisComp.layer(“center”).transform.position[1];

[x+xw+20,y]

This will lock the side layers to the center layer’s Y position while snapping them to either end of it’s width. The “+20” part of the expression is the padding that you can adjust.

[Max Haller]

Im not seeing anything odd in the video I don’t see anything jittering or aliasing problems.

[Max Haller]

interesting effect i’d be interested in knowing how to do it too,besides manual animation. And Dan is the legendary expression wizard and tech lord of this forum.

[Max Haller]

i’ve never seen that effect before, might be a plug in used in the tutorial. There are a lot of ways to squish a bouncy ball though you’ll probably have luck experimenting with other effects.

[Max Haller]

Not to ask obvious questions, but are you certain there’s no hidden/shy layer on top of the text you’re trying to select and the text layer isn’t locked or controlled with an expression or anything like that . I’m not having any issues with the selecting text myself. If its not working in multiple versions it’s gotta be something with the comp.

[Max Haller]

First thing to do is open up the preview panel and drag the bars down so you can see the extra options. There you should see a checkbox for full screen previews which you can disable. Also from your screen shot it looks like you wanted to play back one of the video layers in your project. You can drag that window off of the main ui and resize it however you want or move it to a second monitor. Just to note if you’re planning on editing those videos you’ll have an easier time using premiere than AE.

[Max Haller]

when you click the video layer and hit M to bring up the masks. Click down on the arrow to see the Mask path and feather and other options.

To get the mask path to a solid layer all you have to do is select the mask path property from the video and copy it. Then make a solid layer and just paste onto the solid and you should see that mask pop up. Now you can use the solid as a matte for the video track.

Just make sure it’s right on top of the video layer in the layers panel. You should see the option to set a track matte on the right half of the layer panel next to the blend mode drop downs. You may have to turn on the mode column if you don’t see it up already.

[Max Haller]

I too would recommend heavily researching the move to a PC. You just get so much more bang for your buck, i’d only go mac if it was needed for something specifically. One big benefit for myself is ease of upgrading, but if that’s not going to be a big concern and if budget isn’t much an issue than I say go with what you’re most used to. Any machine with those specs will do well if money’s not your main issue

[Max Haller]

If they truly refuse to reshoot theres a ton of stock footage you could replace that with.

[Max Haller]

you’ll probably need to adjust the anchor point in the repeater 1 transform. that’s the pivot point which the copies will rotate around. Also adjust the position like Steve recommended.