Motion Path Madness

More specifically, the start and end points of the motion path. They are driving me crazy. Maybe I am overlooking something that is so ridiculously basic I am not finding it, but here's my issue. I've got a motion path on an object. The start point has a position of X: -77, Y: 16. I'd like the end point to be X: - 77, Y: 50, but everytime I try to move the end point, it ends up moving the X axis to something ridiculous like -77.78, clearly and visibly making my path something other than a straight line. Is there a way to get around this? I experience this issue quite a bit and have been unable to successfully find an answer. Perhaps I am just not using the right search terms? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Hey Q*bert,
Thanks for the tip. I've also found that if you hold the Option key while dragging a point it seems to keep the coordinates at whole numbers. I was getting my problem with the snapping turned on as well, though I wasn't always at the beginning of the timeline when attempting a move.
I haven't been using keyframes just because I haven't really thought about it since getting Motion. The behaviors are just so much nicer to work with and the ability to scale and move them without worrying about the keyframe position is nice.

Similar Messages

Sometimes Circles -- Sometimes Bowen Knots: Motion paths made in Illustrator

I am doing a very meticulous animation in after effects CS6. To execute this project I made all paths in illustrator CS6. Think of the shape as being the Earth, and the motion path as being Earth’s orbit around the sun. I parented the shape (the shape that will follow the motion path; Earth) with a null object, the shape parented by a null object will then be parented by another null object (the path I created in illustrator CS6, at this point I paste the shape (motion path; Earth’s orbit) into Transform: Position.
The problem:
Some motion paths go around the originally made circle, in a perfect cyclical motion. This is what I want. Some motion paths go around the four paths in a square direction, resembling the command symbol on a mac keyboard, also know as the Bowen knot. I do not want this.
My questions:
How do I make every motion path (the perfect circle I made in Illustrator) to function cohesively and dissimilar to the original circle, and not like the command symbol? Why is the conversion doing this to some, but not all shapes?
Best,
Chris

Everyone – thank you to all who responded.
A personal thank you to Rick for spending time and executing a visual explanation.
It turns out my video wasn't published originally, if you need more information click: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1dba60_a-letter-1_creation
To answer your questions: the Earth's orbit refrence is a simile.
I understand the process seems irrational; I being with illustrator because I’m trying to find the exact angle to the center point, in addition to the size of the circle. In other words, a circle has four points, turn the circle the correct amount of degrees and one point starts on the center point (the black dot), the other half ends on the colored dot. The only way I know how to do that is by using a plug-in with illustrator (to get the angle from the colored dot to the center point, and the size of the circle), an analog of this plug-in is not offered in after effects.
My original question: why when I paste the circles (that are already made in illustrator) into the null: position in after effects, some give me a perfect circle, some give me a Bowen knot? I appreciate the suggestions about only in after effects, unfortunately the circle paths were already made in illustrator.
Best,
Chris

Flash CS4 - motion paths

Hi,
Im confounded to why this is happening and when it looks so much like a program error, it is sold on the shelves as a final product.
My frustration at CS4 is that the new motion paths are already on the object, identified by a dotted line which you can edit to change the direction of the motion. When I want an object to go from A to B and then on to C, trying to select the object and position it to B is impossible. I always seem to select a bezier point. After attempting to mvoe it to B and then C, zooming in to take a close look at the path its a mess, overlapping in many points and jsut a MESS.
Am i doing something wrong?
To get round the problem I've copied the object in it's location and made another layer and continued the object motion on to B or C.
I'm animating a mouse curser over my visuals and I've now got multiple layers of the cursor object because of this pathing issue.
Any advice would be gratefully received.
thanking you

The above advice is good. It sounds like you have created some kind of motion path, and you are wanting to further edit it. There are many ways to edit, and some will work out better than others. Editing a motion path differs greatly depending on what kind of path you have.
1) If you started with a path where you have pasted, say, a stroke as your path (you drew something with the pencil or pen, and pasted it onto your tween), you will be dealing with a lot of auto-generated keyframes -- especially if you used a pencil line instead of a pen line. If you drag your object around, where those keyframes are will affect the resulting path. What to do: Try to modify the path using the Pen tools, or start with a pen drawn path. This way you have fewer keyframes to accomodate for. If you have a pencil-drawn path, try removing keyframes and then adjust the path using beziers. Alternatively, paste the motion path as a raw path on a new layer, adjust it by bending, and then repaste it onto the tween.
When you ask Flash to auto-keyframe a pasted path, there's really no way around this. Flash has to create keyframes for you, and isn't able to know how you may want to further edit it. So the above ways are necessary, and unfortunately it's a bit of work whatever way you go.
2) You may have a path that you have curved, but you want a linear path "down the road" (later on the tween). In this case, the motion tween is inserting curve property keyframes, because you have curved the path. To make the line straight, you need to convert the points to linear points. You can do this on the path or in the motion editor using the Convert Anchor point tool. Or, you can go in the motion editor, right-click the keyframes and choose "Corner point" or Linear Left/right as needed.
3) You applied an ease and you're dragging the instance on the Stage. This can be tricky. What you've asked Flash to do when applying an ease is for motion math to take over an animate the position of the instance in relation to values (the original path). The instance is controlled by the ease, and Flash accomodates each time you move it. Oftentimes you can't really tell what's going to happen, especially on the Stage (Flash is doing what's mathematically correct and necessary, but it might not be what you actually want!). In this case you probably want to turn off the ease, create your motion path, and then re-enable the ease and see how that affects the path. Adjusting your work in the motion editor might be easier, as you can see the dotted eased values in the graph, which tell you what's actually going to happen to the motion (the "real" value post-ease).
4) You used the transform panel or Free transform tool on the motion path, which gave wacky results and then you're moving the instance and things are getting worse. This is one area where motion paths can have less desirable results, as it's using a traditional tool not really designed for the new feature on a new feature. My recommendation is to avoid the transform panel, and use the Free Transform tool instead. In a nutshell, the Transform panel traditionally deals with shapes, and the motion path is not a traditional shape - so there are a lot of calculations swapping back and forth behind the scenes to try and give you what you want. Things can get wacky here, so if you already have something very complex (such as a pasted path with tons of keyframes), your transformations may not be what you actually wanted. Free Transform is better, or even better, manually adjust the beziers. Another alternative is to, again, copy the motion path as a static raw path, transform it and make your adjustments, and repaste it onto your tween.
Let me know if you need additional help, or are running into something else entirely.
Thanks,
Jen.

"motion path" failed

hi
I made a movie with motion templates. When i render the movie make 37% and appear this follow massage "motion path" failed. what is error?
Can help me?
Thanks

I have the same problem. Each time when I send a clip from FCP to Motion and start the rendering in FCP afterwards I receive this error message.
Also hoping that someone can tell me what I am doing wrong.

Probleem Converting Motion Path behavior into keyframes

Hi,
i'm pretty new in motion. I've been working with FCP and after Effects for quite a while now. Now i startet to learn some stuff with motion. My first problem ist kind of weired to me and i could not find any solution yet.
Problem: I have the behavior Motion path linked to an objekt. The Motion path just goes from left to the right. Now i want to convert the motion path into keyframes. If I press Command K to this, motion makes hundrets of keyframes for the motion path. But it should only create 2. The beginning point on the left and the end point on the right. If i undo the function and redo it, motion converts less keyframes than before, but still something around 15 keyframes.
Does anybody had a problem like this before and has a solution? I've already tried to play around with interpolation and splines etc. Still get the same results. Same problem.
Does anybody has a solution for this problem?

yes, i've already tried that out.
Actually, i can just delete the keyframes.
The thing is, I don't understand, why Motion makes that many keyframes. It is just an linear Animation, that only requires 2 keyframes. The other confusing thing is, that a friend of mine tried it out on his Mac ans he told me that it worked just fine. His Motion made 2 keyframes. I saw that function on a Videotutorial, i bought, on this Tutorial 2 keyframes. I also deleted the preference file to reset Motion. But still on my Machine, Motion produces at least 15 keyframes for a linear Animation between 2 points on the X-achsis.

2D animation. Motion path+Appearing/Dissappearing Object

Hey everyone, Looking for a simple (Flash is very complex-Power Point is too simple to do what i want) 2D animation software with Motion Path and "Appearing/Disappearing" objects. I have been looking for something that is actually easy to use but everything i find has a learning curve the size of titanic... I'm new to the subject (2d animation) and had no idea where to ask for help :/
- I made a GIF showing something similar to what i want, it's a very simple GIF but should give you an idea of what i want to make.
After watching i hope you will also understand why i am not happy about having to learn how to use something like Adobe EE or Flash.
http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=39aic&s=8#.VPTr-PmG-PY
Thanks!

Are you asking for help in learning AE or are you asking for an alternative animation tool?
If you want to learn AE, it's pretty complex, but not impossible. I'd go through these resources first: Getting started with After Effects

I am trying to use motion tracking to have text follow a section of the background.The text box follows the motion path, but the text just sits there. What am I doing wrong?

I am trying to use motion tracking to have text follow a section of the background.The text box follows the motion path, but the text just sits there. What am I doing wrong?

Motion basically looks at the the source footage and it's timing (in the timing section of the Inspector) when analyzing for tracking. Filters are basically ignored by the tracker. Retiming actions, like time re-mapping, or retiming behaviors that are applied before the tracker should be used by the tracker. Did you change the timing after doing the tracking? If so this would also require you to re-track the shot. Understanding that you found a workaround, describing the effects you applied would help to explain why you ran into problems.
Cheers!

How can I mass move symbols with their motion paths without creating new keyframes?

I want to move a lot of symbols all at once if they are off centered or just need to be moved around to see differenr styles across the document, but I can't seem to move a lot of the symbols at once, only one at a time slexting their motion paths. It's rather annoying when I have items coming in at different times and have to re line everything up one by one if I want to move things even over by 1 px. Every time I slecect all my symbols and try to move them it just creates a new keyframe that they follow. Is there any tool or certian way to select the symbols and/or thier motion paths and move them without creating new key frames?

Hi,
There's no direct way of moving all the symbols/ motion tweens begining at different frames altogether, but the following steps should help you do it -
1. Select a motion path on stage, goto Properties panel > Options menu (top left corner) and enable - Always show Motion Paths.
2. Enable - Edit Multiple Frames option in the Timeline.
3. Adjust the frame-markers in Timeline to show all your symbols, motion paths etc.
4. Now that you see all your symbols and motion paths together, Select-all and Move them together. Or, use Shift + click to selectively select the Motion paths/objects and move them.
Let me know if you have any doubts..
Regards,
Nipun

FCE HD, confused by Motion Path (I want to change the speed of movement)

I am a huge FCE noob, let's get that out of the way. I have also been a member here since May of last year, but for some reason it now shows that this is my first post. (????) Anyway, I have figured out how to use a motion path, including curving the path, but I can't figure out how to alter the speed that a "motion path" video enters, or leaves, the screen.
While I'm here, I also want to learn how to use shapes (as in a circle/triangle/custom shaped border to a video clip) and I have not been able to find that info. I have Lisa Brenneis's "Final Cut Express HD for Mac OS X" book and have not been able to find the answers to these two questions there.
Thanks in advance for your useful help!!
BILL

The first and last keframes can have Ease In/Ease Out applied to smooth the start or stop action.
Clicking between two keframes on a a motion path should give you Bezier Handles. There a four blue dots on them, the inner two will control speed. Dragging an inner dot along the handle either slows or speeds the action.
Al

Tween or Motion path for blank keynote with animated stars?

I create star particle effect from this tutorial: http://www.schoolofflash.com/2008/03/flash-cs3-particle-effect/ and got help from this discussion: http://forums.adobe.com/message/5518425 in order to get what I wanted. My code is:
var starsArray:Array = new Array();
var myTimer:Timer = new Timer(50);
myTimer.addEventListener(TimerEvent.TIMER, addStars);
myTimer.start();
addEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, moveStars);
function addStars(e:TimerEvent):void
          var star:Stars = new Stars();
          star.x = stage.stageWidth / 2;
          star.y = stage.stageHeight / 2;
          star.alpha = Math.random() * .8 + .2;
          star.scaleX = star.scaleY = Math.random() * .8 + .2;
          star.xMovement = Math.random() * 10 - 5;
          star.yMovement = Math.random() * 10 - 5;
          starsArray.push(star);
          addChild(star);
          star.cacheAsBitmap = true;
function moveStars(e:Event):void
          for each (var star:MovieClip in starsArray)
                    star.x += star.xMovement;
                    star.y += star.yMovement;
                    star.alpha -= .01;
                    star.scaleX = star.scaleY -= .01;
                    if (star.scaleX <= 0)
                              kill(star);
function kill(star:MovieClip):void
          starsArray.splice(starsArray.indexOf(star), 1);
          removeChild(star);
However, I wanted to move the star particles around. The problem is that the star isn't on the screen, but is called in the actions in the blank keynote. I don't know what I should do next to get the result. I looked up online for tweens and motion paths but all i see is that they required the star to be right on the screen, I think? I also heard something about the compiled clip but I don't know how I should go about creating one and using it to move around the stars while it's animated with all the actionscript. All I wanted is for the star particles to float around the screen (on a path that I can draw out if possible).....

Each star is created in the addStars function. Its position is set in the first two lines:
     star.x = stage.stageWidth / 2;
     star.y = stage.stageHeight / 2;
So, to move each star to a new location when it appears on the stage, you'll need to change the x and y property values for each star. One simple way to do that is to use that same Math.random() function.
Try changing those first two line to:
          star.x = Math.random() * stage.stageWidth;
          star.y = Math.random() * stage.stageHeight;

FR: Ability to move entire Motion Path (as in After Effects)

If you like this Feature Request, please copy/paste on Adobe's Feature Request page to get your voice heard: www.adobe.com/go/wish
*******Enhancement / FMR*********
Brief title for your desired feature: Ability to move entire Motion Path (as in AE)
How would you like the feature to work?
The same way it currently works in After Effects: ability to move an entire motion path by selecting all of the motion path's keyframes before click-moving one of the selected keyframes in the Canvas/Program Monitor.
Why is this feature important to you?
This feature makes it so much more efficient to move a motion-animated asset to a new location without inadvertently changing the motion path. This tremendous workflow efficiency works wonders in AE and could work equally well in Premiere Pro.

When previewing, make sure that you're using RAM preview to get real-time playback:
http://helpx.adobe.com/after-effects/using/previewing.html#use_ram_preview_to_play_video_a nd_audio
See this regarding the issue with your output file stuttering:
http://forums.adobe.com/thread/684381
Most important, start here to learn the basics:
http://adobe.ly/AE_basics

Is it possible to edit a path made with wacom tablet?

i have a path (made with pressure using the paint brush) that has segments that do not handle a calligraphic style well.
1. Can i somehow edit the path thickness of those segments? cut segments and redraw?
i believe the line thickness is screwing up the calligraphic style. It could be a combination of the path thickness in conjunction with the calligraphic style as well.
2. anyway to rotate a path style around the path to see if it looks better repositioned?
TIA

>1. Can i somehow edit the path thickness of those segments? cut segments and redraw?
Once a pressure-sensitive stroke has been create you cannot change the relative thin/thick quality of the stroke. You CAN cut the stroke or add points to the stroke with the regular pen tool, or drag over a selected stroke with the brush tool to reshape it. To simplify the stroke with the brush tool, hold down "Option" as you trace the line with the brush tool.
You can also cut the path using the scissors tool, then delete the portion you don't want. This method leaves the stroke width unchanged at the cut points. If you want the ends to appear more natural, add a point then delete just the point. The remaining two line segments will maintain a more natural thin/thick appearance. Don't bother using the eraser tool (CS3) on pressure sensitive strokes, as the pressure effect is lost.
>believe the line thickness is screwing up the calligraphic style. It could be a combination of the path thickness in conjunction with the calligraphic style as well.
Changing the stroke width of a brush stroke is one way to affect it's overall width. It also rounds the ends of the stroke, which may not be preferable. The other way to change the width is to change the setting of the brush itself, using the brush panel.
>2. anyway to rotate a path style around the path to see if it looks better repositioned?
Not sure what you mean. You can rotate the object the brush is using by editing the brush setting (double click the brush icon in the brush panel).

Errors with interactive pdf containing motion paths

I have created an interactive pdf in indesign with simple motion paths. In the preview in indesign it works perfect, but the animations do not work in the exported pdf. This is created in CS6 and I have the creative suite standard installed.

I have tested with both Acrobat Pro X (10.1.1) and Acrobat Reader XI (11.0.0.). Due to IT restrictions I am unable to use such "transfer files" providers, so I am bit stuck. I have tried to put the different animations in layers and in one layer only, with same results. I am
beginning to think that there are internal restrictions that make this happen

Multiple motion paths in CS5?

Hi-
I'm new to Flash and have a question. I'm creating a Helium atom for my technology class and am trying to get 2 electrons to circle the nucleus. I've successfully created a classic motion path where one electron circles the nucleus. How do I create another (duplicate) motion path for the other. I'm not sure this can be done, hence the question.
Any suggestions for the newbie would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Mark

Select the frames where your motion path is being placed on, right-click and select "Copy Frames" and paste them on a new layer

Using Light as Motion Path for Trapcode Particular

Hi,
I am trying to make an animation for a project, but I cannot figure out some things. I am trying to create the effect that a person is throwing money out the back of a car. I have the live shot of the person in the car, but I cannot get the money to behave how I want it to. I am trying to use the Trapcode Particular, but I can't get the particles to follow any motion path. When I set the settings to motion path, it prompts me to create a light. I create a light, but can't figure out how to make that light have an actual path rather than simply being a spot light. Please help! I'm sorry if I don't make any sense, please ask me to clarify if you need it.
Nicole

KWNWY wrote:
I am trying to use the Trapcode Particular, but I can't get the particles to follow any motion path. ...
Because you are doing it all wrong! If you wanted to use the Motion Path option in the Air physics model, your light would have to be exactly named like that - Motion Path 01. It's not what you want, though. I'm 100% certain of that. You are looking to create a conventional light emitter, which is a whole different thing. For that, your light should be named Emitter (or whatever other prefix you define in the plug-ins Options/ Settings panel). Then you must set the emitter type to Light. If you use spot lights and want your money to emit directionally, you need to set the emitter to Directional as well. Apart from that, Particular will use the light's color, cone angle and intensity to colorize and eject the particles. After that, you can animate the light in 3D space to whatever you need it to do.
Mylenium

Motion Path Madness

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