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.

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Motion Path flatness question

Hi All, I was trying to use a motion path behavior with a particle emitter as seen at the Motion Smarts web site. So I've added points to the path, turned those points into smooth points (you know with Bezier handles). But when I run it in the timeline the smooth path seems to become a series of flat small connected lines. Like if you were to adjust the "flatness" setting of an Illustrator path to get a series of connected flat lines. Does anyone know of a way to adjust the flatness of a motion path behavior?
Thanks in advance.
PS. If I could convert the behavior into a spline path I think that would work, but how.

Never mind I used a b-spline instead of the motion path behavior. Which lead me toward the right direction of what I was trying to achieve anyway.

Controlling speed along motion paths

I have created a motion document in which still images are given keyframed motion paths (in 2 dimensions). I would like to vary the speed at which the images move along their paths in between those keyframes.
I tried to apply variable speed time remapping using bezier curves (with the same keyframe locations as those on the x and y motion curves), but it seems to have no effect whatsoever.
If I first render the animation and, in a new file, apply time remapping, variable time remapping works perfectly, but I am trying to do this before rendering.
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Howdy,
This is where the Motion Path behavior really shines over traditional keyframing of position. If you use Motion Path to animate your object, you can set the behavior's Speed to 'Custom', which lets you set a single progress keyframe. This makes it ridiculously easy to control the speed, as well as do reversals, etc. You'll have a single velocity curve to animate in the Keyframe Editor.
Motion Path is one of Motion's biggest unsung heroes for animators.

Motion Paths

when I create a motion path, Motion has this annoying habit of creating a default path that starts in the middle of the canvas and ends one canvas length away from its origin.
I'd like to have it so my path originates in the middle of the affected layer. How can I make this happen? Also, how can I add points to my motion path's bezier curve?

The motion path behavior's default path always begins at the layer's current position. That is typically the center of the layer (unless the layer is text or you've moved the layers anchor point).
You can always draw a bezier shape and then assign that as your "motion path" in the behavior parameters. When you create a bezier shape, you can right-click any point in the shape and assign it as your "start point"
Andy

Motion path red line missing?

Hey.
I've been using Motion 1.0.1 for about a year now and everything has been going great. Today I had my first problem. When I opened up motion and added the motion path behavior to one of my objects, the red line did not appear. I have played around with all sorts of view setting, window options, and looked though "Motion Help" as well. Nothing I have seen has worked. I just can't figure out how to get the red line to appear again so that I can edit it and continue with my project.
Thanks for any help!
-----prismi

Ok. I've managed to be able to find the red line. It only appears if these conditions are fulfilled:
1) I have done command slash to show the overlays
2) When I control-click on the object to which I am adding the motion path I select "transform"
3) My pointer tool must be the topmost transform/select tool (shift s)
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-----prismi

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So I drew a balloon in Motion... I applied the wriggle parameter to the rotation and position to make it look a little like it's floating in place (though I do find the movement a little too sharp)... Anyhow that's not really the problem I am facing...
Next I drew a path with the paintbrush tool... To the balloon group, I added the Motion Path behavior (changed the shape to Geometry and applied the path I drew to the well) and then Snap alignment to Motion behavior...
However, my balloon is now horizontal rather than starting off vertically...
Anyhow, this is just not working....
Any ideas or tips on how to get it to work so it actually looks like a balloon that is deflating?
Thanks

Here is what I ended up with... balloons are at the beginning and the end... (hope you don't mind it's in Spanish)
http://youtu.be/8qQBYM6dg3M
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How to convert a motion path in After Effects to CNC G-code

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Copy&paste position as path to Illustrator
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FCX & FCP: Keyframing and Motion Path

I need to find out if keyframing and motion paths are accomplished pretty much the same way in FCP as in Express. Someone is going to help me with keyframing and motion paths but works only with Final Cut Pro. Anyone know if that will be a problem?
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Lee

Your FCP person should know how to do this in FCP.
I believe he does, and I think I can figure out that part of it (eventually) in FCX.
The "walking forward" means that, at the same time the image is scaling up, the right front lower corner of the image moves forward, then the left front lower corner moves forward, etc giving the appearance of the image "walking." I don't know if that makes any sense. What's more, I don't even know if it is possible in FCX.
It was suggested I start the image as a square or rectangle and change it into a trapezoid giving the illusion of its "moving." While I understood it as a theory when explained, actually doing it in FCX is another story.
Lee

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

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.

Convert Mask path to shape path?

Can I convert a Mask path into a shape path in AECS4?
I am running into a problem with resizing my layers - I am animating a signature, and part of it was done as a shape, part of it as a mask that 'reveals' a signature (someone else created the original) when I try to enlarge the whole thing, only the shape portion enlarges without artifacting (vector) the mask portion gets blocky and ugly if enlarged.

The After Effects CC (12.2) update makes creating Bezier paths easier and more obvious.
option for creating shape layers based on Bezier paths:
When a shape tool (Rectangle, Rounded Rectangle, Polygon, Star, or Ellipse tool) is active, you can use the new Bezier Path option in the Tools panel to create a new shape based on a Bezier path, as opposed to the default of creating a new shape based on a parametric path. Holding the Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) key while drawing a shape causes the opposite behavior—i.e., if the Bezier Path option is enabled, holding the Alt or Option key causes the shape tool to create a parametric path; if the Bezier Path option is disabled, holding the Alt or Option key causes the shape tool to create a Bezier path.
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You can convert a parametric path to a Bezier path after the parametric path has already been created by context-clicking (right-clicking or Control-clicking on Mac OS) the property group for the parametric path (e.g., Rectangle Path 1) and choosing the Convert To Bezier Path command from the context menu. If the parametric path is animated (keyframed), the converted Bezier path is a static path based on the parametric path at the current time; keyframes are lost.
IMPORTANT: When you use the Convert To Bezier Path command to convert a parametric shape path to a Bezier shape path, the Bezier path that is created does not animate well (i.e., interpolation between paths behaves strangely and unpredictably). This is related to path direction and how transformations are stored. For now, you should not use these converted paths for animated paths (interpolation between paths); but, if you do want to try, you may be able to work around the issues by reversing the path before conversion.

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!

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.

Motion path on rotated ellipse?

Hi, I'm an experienced animator (with Flash) but relative newbie to Motion, and so finding some things very frustrating but also empowering. I've got a series of ellipses kind of like an atomic symbol which I'm trying to rotate small objects (spheres) around in 2D - pretty basic - just three orbits. At first I tried drawing a path and then attaching to the sphere graphic (as in Flash) but then found Add Behaviour > Basic Motion > Motion path which was actually much easier and powerful than Flash. But now I have an 'angled' ellipse (45 degrees) but I can find no way to rotate the motion path to match the angle. I can adjust each of the circular path's axis, but no way to rotate about a central point. All I want is an angled elliptical path! Is there any easy (or difficult) way to do this? Thanks for any help.
Chris

You're going to love how easy this is:
Add Behavior/Basic Motion/Motion Path to your sphere. In the behaviors tab, change the path shape to Geometry. Drag the elipse layer into the Shape Source well and make sure the Attach to Shape button is checked.
Now the sphere will follow around the elipse no matter how it's positioned. And if you change the shape of the elipse, it'll update in the motion of the sphere.
Also, in the behavior you'll see areas to change the interpolation of the motion, as well as a Looping parameter for multiple orbits.
Hope this helps.
Andy

Motion path changes gets larger when copied to Shape Position parameter

Hello There,
Richard Gerard has been helpful, and well as other people.
I have sorta figured out how get a stroke to follow a motion path.
I (so far) am unable to get a shape to follow the same motion path.
My shape is a small ellipse commonly known as a circle!
I have seen this post - http://forums.creativecow.net/thread/2/959085, which is interesting,
but does not work. My shape layer consists of name, "Blue Circle", and two properties below that:
Contents and Transform. If i copy the path into the Transform-Position property the path is about 2
times bigger than the path I want to use, and does not start at the correct spot.
After reviewing the post above - I added a "path" to the ellipse in the "Contents" area, I can see the path, it is the correct size,
but the circle does not follow this path. If I try to copy this path to one of the position properties, no dice,
the path completely displaces the shape to the wrong coordinates.
I must be missing something basic here, but have yet to find out.
Any tips will help.
Thanks,
eholz1

The position path is offset because your Black Solid with the mask isn't in the default position. Both Anchor Point and Position must be reset. Parenting can also foul this up. Here's how to fix it.
First of all, before you copy and paste the path remove parenting and return the solid with the mask to it's default position by resetting Anchoe Point and Position. Now when you paste the path to your Blue Ball it will exactly match the path on the solid layer. Once the path is set you can redo the parenting and reposition the layers but you must include the blue ball. If it were me I'd create a null and make that the parent of the Black Solid, the Blue Ball, and the Map. Now you can animate the position of the null to scroll across the map and the blue ball will follow.
To match the timing of the stroke to the blue ball you simply drag out the right most diamond keyframe on the blue ball position until it matches the last position of the stroke.. That's all there is it. Your timeline should look something like this:
One last question. You have a non-standard composition size. It may not render correctly. What is the reason for the odd size. NTSC D1 Widescreen should be 872 X 486, It's acceptable to also have a comp that's 872 X 480. MPEG compression requires an even number of pixels so your 853 dimension is very likely to cause problems or be automatically resized to a standard frame size.

Probleem Converting Motion Path behavior into keyframes

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