[Yoan Boisjoli]

Hi Martin!
I might be wrong since I haven’t tested your setup directly, but I think the core issue is that linears[] isn’t a function. When you do:

linears[i] = linear(time, t0, t1, 100, 0);

linear() is evaluated immediately, so each linears[i] just stores a number for the current frame. There’s nothing to “call” later.

Your range checks also look inverted. You probably want:

if (time >= t0 && time < t1)

instead of

t0 >= time && t1 <= time

A simple pattern that might solve it is to calculate the ramp only for the active section:

for (i = 0; i < section_time_cumulative.length - 1; i++){
    t0 = section_time_cumulative[i];
    t1 = section_time_cumulative[i+1];
    if (time >= t0 && time < t1){
        value = linear(time, t0, t1, 100, 0);
        break;
    }
}
value;

Hopefully that points you in the right direction.

[Yoan Boisjoli]

I know this thread is pretty old, but I ran into the same problem recently. Dan’s jsxbin approach still works, but the performance hit can be pretty rough on heavier expressions.

I needed something simpler for client deliveries, so I ended up building a small tool called Hugly. It doesn’t hide expressions completely, but it uglifies them enough that they’re not readable at a glance, and you can also beautify them again when you need the clean version. It keeps the comp running normally since it doesn’t rely on eval tricks or binary includes.

If you’re curious, here it is: https://aescripts.com/hugly

Might help someone else landing on this thread years later like I did.

[Yoan Boisjoli]

Man, this thread is old! I landed here a while back with the same problem and no real solution, so I ended up building one.

It’s a script called Hextractor. You can paste any text with hex codes, or extract colors directly from shape layers, text, solids, and color controls. It builds a clean palette, and you can save it or generate color guides in-comp.

If it helps, here it is: https://aescripts.com/hextractor/<br data-start=”699″ data-end=”702″> Let me know what you think.

[Yoan Boisjoli]

yes change the 3 to a 5. Basically this is the time when the animation is over. 😉

so this:

var s = sourceRectAtTime(5, false);
[s.left + s.width/2, s.top + s.height/2];

You could even write 6 if you want to be safe!

[Yoan Boisjoli]

Ah I see, the position is being animated through the Text Animator so the sourceRectAtTime is always recalculating. In this case you could replace the “time” in sourceRectAtTime(time, false) by the time when your text is done animating. So if at the 3 second mark, the the animation is done, you could write sourceRectAtTime(3, false).

that would look like this:

var s = sourceRectAtTime(3, false);
[s.left + s.width/2, s.top + s.height/2];

[Yoan Boisjoli]

You’re right about protected regions getting in the way here. They lock the timing, so anything driven by a slider or time offset won’t behave the way you want once the clip is stretched.

For what it’s worth, I’ve been dealing with the same issue in my own MOGRTs, and I ended up creating a small script that builds the timing controls and expressions so the start point is fully driven by a slider in Premiere. It avoids linear() getting distorted by rate-stretching.

If you want to try it, you can test it for free and see if it helps with your setup.

here’s the link:

https://aescripts.com/keyless/

aescripts.com

Keyless

Animate any property in After Effects without keyframes. Ideal for MOGRT creation and for those who are over the linear() function. It applies Penner easings and the right controls automatically..

[Yoan Boisjoli]

Hi Helen! I think it would work better with sourceRectAtTime Try it on the anchor point and let me know if it worked. This is usually what I use.

var s = sourceRectAtTime(time, false);

[s.left + s.width/2, s.top + s.height/2];

Cheers.

Y.

[Yoan Boisjoli]

Hi Helen! So basically you’d like to control the speed of the start or end range for the animator?

You could add a slider and use this expression on the start property:

var s = effect(“Slider Control”)(1).value;

linear(time, 0, s, 0, 100)

It uses the slider to determine at which second the animation is complete.

I also did a script for these kinds of situation. You can try it in a free trial and use it how you want. It might help you if you do MOGRTs. Here it is:
https://aescripts.com/keyless/

Let me know if you got questions! Cheers!

Y.

aescripts.com

Keyless

Animate any property in After Effects without keyframes. Ideal for MOGRT creation and for those who are over the linear() function. It applies Penner easings and the right controls automatically..

[Yoan Boisjoli]

And I understand your confusion! Actually, this is for a MOGRT. I’ll have different shape configurations and they will transform according to the path selection (keyframe).

[Yoan Boisjoli]

using points(), inTangents(), and outTangents() is so clever!

That’s exactly what I needed!

Thank you Dan, again and again. 😅