[Roei Tzoref]

take a look at this project file:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/gow5oaf6zd6mfsn/loop.aep?dl=0

it has a precomp with movement from the left to the right.
in the master comp there’s the expression.

see if your setup is the same.

[Roei Tzoref]

describe your situation specifically and what exactly are you doing.
if you can then with screenshots or maybe provide the project file (no need for footage)

[Roei Tzoref]

the solution I found is in the Puppet Pin Tool Parameters in the Tools window
if you change Expansion or triangles parameters you will get your pins back
(be sure to click on your mesh in the timeline first).
change it to something else (add a point or something) and change it back.

it happened to me too when I reset the puppet tool and clicked undo,
and couldn’t find the solution online. what I noticed was when you reset the tool itself-
you change the expansion and the triangles to the their default
and then when you click undo it changes back to what you had earlier.

what I did was add another number (say instead of 50 to 51)
and voila! the pins are back. then I changed it back to what it was.

[Roei Tzoref]

Dan Explained it well. I will elaborate:
whenever you use loop expression on a TR layer/precomp,
you should bear in mind that Time remapping creates the last keyframe one frame after
the last out frame of sequence.

it does this to because after effects assumes its an interlaced movie
so it creates a “freeze” at the last frame for the second field…

so if you loop it as is – you would get a blank keyframe.
basically if you just go to that last keyframe you can see its blank.
(even without looping)

most people override this by creating a keyframe one frame
before the last TR keyframe, and then delete that last TR keyframe.
That would create a loop but as loop cycle expression does it duplicates
the keyframes over and over and thus skips a frame every loop
if you want a loop that doesn’t skip a frame
(just as if you would duplicate the precomp and place it one after the other)
you should duplicate the first frame after the last one and then use the expression.

this is the recipe:
1. Set a keyframe one frame before the last TR key frame.
2. Copy the first key frame over the last TR key frame.
3. Set the loop expression you desire

[Roei Tzoref]

hi. thank you for your comment.
yes I was aware that I was looking for a miracle 🙂
but I wanted to see if that is possible…

I have both versions but the problem was that the costumer
had only the cs3 version and he wanted the project file.

and on a personal note:
thank you for your time Ive read dozens of your posts in the
last few years and there’s something that I have always wondered about you
and that is: is that your real picture?
because it always seemed to me that its a picture of someone who looks like he knows stuff 🙂 and I wondered if someone on a forum would just put that kind of picture because it suits the type of character he wants to portray :).

Roei

[Roei Tzoref]

hi. I am trying to apply this incredible solution (if it works) to my project. I just cant find the right string to copy and the right string to replace it by… the file is too messed up.

is there an “end command string” that I should be looking for?
like say “copy until the phrase “$#$3kkdff _ H” and find the same on in the cs4 file…

can anyone help me with selecting the exact match in both projects and replace them?

here are the link to files:

cs3 notepad screenshot (an almost blank project):
https://www.gazezetmovie.com/upload/aefix/cs3_screen.jpg

cs4 notepad screenshot (just the start because the file is big)
https://www.gazezetmovie.com/upload/aefix/cs4_screen.jpg

the cs4 project:
https://www.gazezetmovie.com/upload/aefix/cs4_project.rar

any help will be much appreciated,
Roei