[Mike Clasby]

Dan has a nice expression here:

https://www.motionscript.com/design-guide/basic-audio.html

Here is a hack of that, in terms of percent of Scale:

minAudio =5;
maxAudio = 15;
minStretch = 50;//minimum in percent of scale
maxStretch = 200;//maximum in percent of scale

audioLev = thisComp.layer(“Audio Amplitude”).effect(“Both Channels”)(“Slider”);

s = linear(audioLev, minAudio, maxAudio, minStretch, maxStretch);

[s,s]

Twirl down the Both Channels Slider and see what the min and max audio is, then fill in the blanks or use values to clamp the expression.

[Mike Clasby]

If you put this Dan Ebberts expression on the Source Text, then mask off the two zeros to the right of the decimal, I think that’s got it. (Copy the expression, Alt-click the Source Text Stopwatch, Paste, click outside the box)

numDecimals = 2;
commas = true;
dollarSign = true;
beginCount = 603187;
endCount = 603187;
dur = 4;

t = time – inPoint;
s = linear (t, 0, dur, beginCount, endCount).toFixed(numDecimals);

prefix = “”;
if (s[0] == “-“){
prefix = “-“;
s = s.substr(1);
}
if(dollarSign) prefix += “$”;

if (commas){
decimals = “”;
if (numDecimals > 0){
decimals = s.substr(-(numDecimals + 1));
s = s.substr(0,s.length – (numDecimals + 1));
}
outStr = s.substr(-s.length, (s.length-1)%3 +1);
for (i = Math.floor((s.length-1)/3); i > 0; i–){
outStr += “,” + s.substr(-i*3,3);
}
prefix + outStr + decimals;
}else{
prefix + s;
}

His expression is very flexible and from here:

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

[Mike Clasby]

To answer your camera question, set the camera up the distance away from the Null you want, looking at the Null, then parent it to the Null. It will follow.

[Mike Clasby]

Yes you can!

Here’s I think my favorite of all the Cow tut’s, Building Your Own 3D Particle Generator:

https://library.creativecow.net/articles/ebberts_dan/particle_gen.php

Download the project file, then choose a comp that simulates what you want, probably “Moving Emitter 1 or 2”. You can sub in your own particle, make one in Photoshop (with alpha transparency), Dan uses mostly 128×128 psd’s.

This whole project is truly a Gem. Enjoy.

[Mike Clasby]

Can you just use a plugin for the 2D kaleidoscope, THEN PUT THAT LAYER, AFTER A PRECOMPOSE MAYBE, ON cc sphere? (Sorry for the Case problem)

Pete’s plugin has a freebie set of plugins, with one named Kaleidascope. I highly recommend getting it, I like it better than than the standard issue AE one.

https://www.petewarden.com/

[Mike Clasby]

I think this will do what you want also:

https://www.motionscript.com/mastering-expressions/follow-the-leader.html

[Mike Clasby]

I’m not real clear on what you’re doing. Is layer A the Parent of Layer B? And you want to lock down the x and y or Layer A?

To move only the z of Layer A, assuming it’s 3D (little box checked), just scrub the z, the third set of blue numbers. The x and y aren’t “locked down” but only the z will move.

To lock down the x and y, here’s one way.

Add a slider to Layer A (Effect>Expression Control>Slider Control). Name it something like “Z” (double click the slider and rename).

Alt click the Position Stopwatch and write in an expression like this:

[360,240,0]

That will lock the x value at 360, the y at 240, and the z at 0.

Now highlight the “0” in the expression and pickwhip (looks like an asterisk, the middle button just below the now red expression numbers) and pickwhip to the Slider to get an expression like this:

[360,240, effect(“Z”)(“Slider”)]

Now the z is controlled by the slider. If you need to change the range of the slider (0 to 100 by default) Right-Click the number on the slider (up in the Effect Control Panel) and set a new min and max slider range.

Is that what you want?

[Mike Clasby]

“now i have to make a logo dance randomly across the screen to music.”

Define “dance”. Do you want it to assume a new random spot on the beat or move in a continuous way, from spot to spot with the beat?

If you want to jump in on your own, here is a page on making things happen to the beat:

https://www.motionscript.com/design-guide/audio-trigger.html

He is a series, four pages, on random expressions:

https://www.motionscript.com/mastering-expressions/random-1.html

For the quickest, if you got the “hold time” to match the time of the beats, here are two expressions from that last page that would do the trick:

holdTime = .5; //time to hold each position (seconds)
minVal = [0.1*thisComp.width, 0.1*thisComp.height];
maxVal = [0.9*thisComp.width, 0.9*thisComp.height];

seed = Math.floor(time/holdTime);
seedRandom(seed,true);
random(minVal,maxVal)

and for continuous movement

segDur = .5;// duration of each “segment” of random motion
minVal = [0.1*thisComp.width, 0.1*thisComp.height];
maxVal = [0.9*thisComp.width, 0.9*thisComp.height];

seed = Math.floor(time/segDur);
segStart = seed*segDur;
seedRandom(seed,true);
startVal = random(minVal,maxVal);
seedRandom(seed+1,true);
endVal = random(minVal,maxVal);
ease(time,segStart,segStart + segDur, startVal, endVal);

[Mike Clasby]

On that Tracking Amount, to slide the keyframes proportionately, just select all the keyframes and Alt-Drag the end one to lengthen all (proportionally).

I just got that from Antony Buonomo above. Can’t believe I didn’t know that, thanks Antony.

[Mike Clasby]

1) With the Pen Tool?

2) Copy, Paste… but this from the Help files:

“To make the data copied from Illustrator compatible with After Effects, the AICB option must be selected in the Files & Clipboard section of the Adobe Illustrator Preferences dialog box.”

Or just import the Text/Graphic from AI, with it alpha, then in AE when its been dropped into a layer:

Layer>Auto Trace (set Tolerance and Threshold to 1)

or if it is just Text, Import it then:

Layer>Create Outlines