6
votes
After Effects distance between two points
Hate to spoil all your good work, but it's a lot easier to use the built-in length() function:
length(pointa, pointb)
e.g.
length(thisComp.layer(1).position, thisComp.layer(2).position)
or
...
- 13.7k
5
votes
How to import 2D position data into After Effects
Found the answer here.
Copying any positional keyframes out of After Effects generates a text file like this:
Adobe After Effects 8.0 Keyframe Data
Units Per Second 25
Source Width 100
...
- 7,585
4
votes
Accepted
After Effects: Make beam effect go over end/beginning
You can't do it with the beam effect as it stands. But…
A workaround would be to move your start and end points further out along the line that they define. A bit of maths and an expression will do ...
- 13.7k
4
votes
random copied and being truly random
The random number generator in AE seems to be linked to the layer index, but generates the same results for every composition. To demonstrate here's a comp with a shape layer where the vertices of the ...
- 13.7k
3
votes
Can an expression parse a text file or the expression of another property in After Effects?
Yes, since expressions are basically JavaScript, you can load and evaluate external source files. Unfortunately the location needs to be hard-coded, since (AFAIK) expressions do not have access to the ...
- 241
3
votes
Physics and Chemistry Animations in After Effects
There are a number of physics engines and related scripts available in the Physics Simulation category at AEScripts.
However, without a more specific question about what kind of animation you're ...
- 241
3
votes
Accepted
changing this code to check for a collision from a specific layer
Yes, checkLayers() is what is performs the collision test, and compares every layer in the Comp against the one running the script.
To check against only one layer, you could re-write that function a ...
- 241
3
votes
Accepted
After Effects: controlling slider in ExtendScript
I found out - .value after slider.effect("Slider Control").property("Slider") and it works.
var a = slider.effect("Slider Control").property("Slider").value
- 151
3
votes
After Effects distance between two points
I figured it out. The syntax and/or order of operation could not handle squaring two numbers before adding them, so I added parenthesis to isolate each number and square them BEFORE adding them ...
- 185
3
votes
Accepted
AE Counter Switch (Mins > Hs)
Make three text layers with a slider on each. Call the layers value 1, value 2, and value 3.
In the source text of each of the text layers put this expression, to display the slider value and round ...
- 7,585
2
votes
After Effects: Increment a Variable over time
You can loop over the range of frames from the start of the comp to the present and calculate the value along the way.
function myFuncf(theTime){
//whatever the function you're using to create the ...
- 13.7k
2
votes
Accepted
How to automatically pull text out of a video
I do not know of any existing solutions for this in Premiere or AE.
However, if you know a little about programming, you might be able to write a script using OpenCV that runs Tesseract OCR on video ...
- 241
2
votes
Accepted
Create an animation of a slider-crank mechanism system
The setup is reasonably simple, built in functions, trigonometry and some Pythagoras will get you there. Have a look at the diagram below:
The orange solid is the crank, with its anchor point shown ...
- 13.7k
2
votes
Accepted
set scale in pixels in After Effects using Expressions
The size in pixels is easily computed as the source's original dimensions multiplied by the scale. Or in other words
p = d × s
where p=pixel dimensions required, d=source dimensions, s=scale.
So ...
- 13.7k
2
votes
Accepted
Control key frame value with slider control
You were close.
if (numKeys > 1){
t1 = key(1).time;
t2 = key(2).time;
v1 = [95, 95]; //or if it's 3d [95, 95, 95]
slider = comp("INPUT").layer("CONTROL").effect("Zoom intensity")("Slider");...
- 13.7k
2
votes
Accepted
Link audio to opacity effect of an image in After Effects
The easiest way to do this is to use an expression. First you convert audio to keyframes. Then set an expression on your opacity channel. If you drag the pick-whip for the expression to the audio ...
- 13.7k
2
votes
Accepted
Can an expression parse a text file or the expression of another property in After Effects?
You can't put the expression on a null object, but you can use a text layer.
Following @bobtiki's eval() tip I tried using the source text of a text layer and running eval() on it. Initially I had no ...
- 13.7k
2
votes
Accepted
Is it possible to modify a single precomp instance via scripting?
Scripting can do anything you can do with the UI. This isn't something you can do with the UI, so no, you can't do it with scripting. If you change the colour of precomp1.layer1.simpleRectangleLayer ...
- 13.7k
2
votes
Accepted
Limit the scale of a pick whipped object
You need to do a linear map as an Expression.
So the example below would take any value between 0-100 and map it between -100 to 100.
input = effect("Slider Control")("Slider");
...
- 7,585
2
votes
Accepted
After Effects Prevent Widows in Text
There is not much information about this. I have found a discussion where someone said there could be a bug with regex lookahead, maybe it's not even implemented (source).
Instead, you could capture ...
- 1,401
2
votes
Accepted
Color textbox with consistent height
Make a text layer called “Text”.
Align the text centrally using the
Paragraph controls.
Make a filled rectangular shape layer beneath it.
Add two sliders to the shape layer called "horizontal ...
- 7,585
2
votes
Accepted
After Effects Trim paths offset corner position based on rectangle width and height
In order to align the lines to each corner, I was able to do this:
Bottom left corner:
No offset
Set trim start to 50%
Set trim end to 50%
Set expression on trim end to be 100 minus the trim start or ...
- 196
1
vote
Accepted
using images as text characters in after effects
The Characteristic plugin for After Effects is built specifically for this:
https://aescripts.com/characteristic/
You can set kerning and spacing parameters for each character. Check out this ...
- 363
1
vote
Accepted
How to translate face tracking offset values into a 3D null position
You can access the position of a point in a mask with expressions (in AE CC 2017+) with expressions. To access the first point of a mask called "Mask 1" on layer called "my Layer" you'd use
pts = ...
- 13.7k
1
vote
Animating particles with collision avoidance?
I solved this using the built in Foam particle render - it does have basic collision avoidance
- 7,585
1
vote
After effects position expression issue
You're making it hard for yourself basing it on the time rather than the position. Here it is using the bounds of the comp rather than the time it takes to reach the bounds of the comp, which just ...
- 13.7k
1
vote
After effects position expression issue
I don't think you need an expression to achieve this. You could just loop a cloud moving across the screen inside a precomp.
- 7,585
1
vote
Adobe After Effects: Keying layers based on other layers
There is a way of doing per-pixel logic such as what you want, by using Blending Modes. Basically the different transfer modes in AE can be though of as Boolean logic operations that go on at the ...
- 13.7k
1
vote
Parent Pick Whip Not Showed On Effect Transform Keyframing
Expressions aren't parented. They use the same kind of widget but it's not the one in the parent column.
You need to enable expressions on the property by alt-clicking the stopwatch. Now you'll see ...
- 13.7k
1
vote
Accepted
What properties of After Effects project can be edited without opening the application itself
To my knowledge there is no tool available for editing After Effects project files other than After Effects itself.
However you can script After Effect using Adobe's Extendscript language, so that it ...
- 13.7k
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