Animate along a custom path in After Effects (2019)

Did you know not only can you paste a shape path to a position of another layer, but you can use Auto-Orient to cause the rotation of that layer to follow the path!?
Animating by hand can be tedious. Fortunately, using the often overlooked auto-orient feature of After Effects will help speed things up and will result in some incredible animations. Instead of trying to get the rotation and easing just right, make After effects do all the work for you!
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[@seandawkins1782]

"sometimes you're in the middle of a project and you just don't have time" - My guy! How accurate you are. ✊🏾

[@daffertube]

I love how short and simple this video is!

[@aarav3184]

Amazing! man, you said right that sometimes we are stuck in between some project and we don't have time to watch lengthy videos for some small stuff. Hope you are always here for us. Thanks once again.

[@TheKeyframeAcademy]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@squareinsquare2078]

When I check tutorials for some exact I want to know I always choose the shortest one. If there's no speaking, even better. Some bits of comedy, bonus. Good work here, ticks all the boxes. Subscribed.

[@TheKeyframeAcademy]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@KBH4]

YOU......... SAVED MY LIFEEE!!!!! :') been stuck so baddd graciassss

[@FunKayyy]

Awesome! Removeing my Keyframes then enabling Auto-Orient just makes it a static asset on my composition, not what I want but so cool I know how to do that now...

[@UpHillCinema]

Always making things happen. Thanks for your time.

[@TheKeyframeAcademy]

I can only hope to be as prolific as you one day

[@orlandovives6441]

Thanks for the amazing and short tutotrial!!! I'm kinda new....can you please tell me where do you get menu for the trim path? THANKS!

[@firebraingames]

exactly what I was looking for and the reason why I was looking for a video this short

[@TheKeyframeAcademy]

Glad you found it!

[@chloeleeks2964]

That was really helpful! I'll have to give it a go!

[@birdbrainsolutions6112]

What an idiotically funny and useful tutorial (especially the noooo part), subscribed!!

[@rafaelmartins9263]

God i love this short life saver tutorials.

[@agfirs_o2579]

He is making a funny video and a tutorial at the same time, love it

[@TheKeyframeAcademy]

Glad you liked it!

[@nateratchet9091]

What an interesting way of approaching a tutorial. Nice

[@TheKeyframeAcademy]

Glad you think so!

[@ahmedzaki1112]

amazing this short video shorten me two tutorials 10 and 9 minutes thnx a lot

[@djsaifeebeats]

I have subscribed just because u used the word scrub, and i like the word scrub 🤣🤣🤣🤣❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@RedRosemaryDoll]

I like how my the line thingies that help you make the lines more curvier dont even show up for me...

[@TheKeyframeAcademy]

You may have the setting path turned off. Click the hamburger menu at the top left of the composition menu, and then go to view options

[@baikkuma]

Auto orient path was the answer I was looking for... Thanks a lot!!!

[@TheKeyframeAcademy]

Happy to help

[@theonewhomadeyoucry1059]

You are a beautiful person and you saved whole lot of time by creating this fantastic short video

[@TheKeyframeAcademy]

Glad it was helpful!

[@capturebyparitosh]

For the plane you show in the end, How did you make it rotate in dimension with auto orient?

[@TheKeyframeAcademy]

I keyframed the shape paths

[@capturebyparitosh]

@@TheKeyframeAcademy Thanks 👍

[@plixplop]

So quick to the point

[@bobbradleybell]

Thanks, nice content. Clear to the point. Quick question, what's the name of the song?

Nice ! Thanks for the reminder -> Short and efficient indeed ;)

[@TheKeyframeAcademy]

Glad it was helpful!

[@MeltonECartes]

A "Viola" is a stringed instrument.

[@mikele8476]

the best clear, simple.

[@wheredidhugo9594]

at :44 he highlights the keyframes, they dissapear, and then he gets a bunch of options. Someone pls tell me how to get there

[@dmf8676]

Impossible to follow

[@TheKeyframeAcademy]

disagree

[@ipetale2154]

agree

[@mattjames]

My shape isn't following the path when I paste it, it's not making keyframes, any help here?

[@TheKeyframeAcademy]

Where are you trying to paste the keyframes? Are you just selecting the layer and hitting "ctrl + V"? what kind of shape are you trying to use for your shape to follow?

[@VOTECHGURU]

Nice

[@jimmytexas5496]

Susbscribed!!! more tutorials like this is what internet need

[@stevebrown1343]

Great video! One question, can the object change size or other attributes? Or even rotation rate as it follows the path?

[@mohammadalzuraiqe]

how to "trim paths?"

[@user-sn2iv6oh3u]

Thank you for the lesson! Can you please tell me, did you animate an airplane in the same way and do you use shape path morphing?

[@indagaytan6939]

Love the short video!

[@0shaad]

how to do these follow path on moving background or moving camera

[@Ahmedmtantawy]

perfect....just perfect

[@TheKeyframeAcademy]

Thank you sir!

[@scop8036]

I see tons of people teaching and teaching this same "everybody knows" thing, but none of them teaching how to do this same thing with the camera - a way to make the camera follows a "pen tool path", flying towards the path.

[@gustavsrensen177]

you are amazing!

[@lumiin3d]

How do I create a path? 😭Which tool? 😭

[@pugmoovie]

thanks dude!! very good!

[@TheKeyframeAcademy]

Thanks for the compliment! Means a lot!

[@Slide-Loc]

Good quick tip, went by too fast though. Needed to slow play speed way down to follow though.

[@TheKeyframeAcademy]

Noted!

[@blerghzerhg]

how come when i copy the paths there are no keyframes?

[@TheKeyframeAcademy]

are you pasting the path data to the position property?

[@blerghzerhg]

@@TheKeyframeAcademy thank you for the reply! found out it was pasting on the shape property and not the position property. got it working! new subscriber here!

[@TheKeyframeAcademy]

@@blerghzerhg awesome, glad you got it figured out!

[@explainer4805]

nice video first A look at this kind of informational video just in 2 mints

[@j.t.creations7048]

Wonderful! And had me laughing the entire time

[@cheesecake8094]

LOVED THIS. YOURE DOPE

[@divyansh1139]

My object doesn't follow along with path it goes outside of it. Plz help

[@TheKeyframeAcademy]

You need to adjust the your position keyframes so they match your path.

[@qubafootbag]

I came looking for copper and i found gold

[@louisebises3654]

i followed the tutorial, but when i paste the path to my object's position, the object disapears... can somebody help me?

[@TheKeyframeAcademy]

What is happening is that when you paste to the position property, its moving the entire path outside of your composition. Zoom out with your layer selected and you will see the path highlighted. To move it back, you can make sure your play head is on either the first or last keyframe, and then select all the keyframes on the position (highlighted blue) and then adjust the position property until the path is in the composition.

[@KamranKhan-hc2sp]

Thanks for amazing tutorial

[@TheKeyframeAcademy]

Glad you liked it!

[@acholadennis3277]

hello, nice tutorial..just 1 question- How do i edit where along the path the animation should start?

[@dublinphotoart]

I believe you can add a point with the pen tool '(if you need it) right click 'set first vertex' 🤔

[@Viko3d]

Thanks Bro, was great useful!!!

[@TheKeyframeAcademy]

No problem!

[@chesspaws]

0:11 how is the path create (which tool)?

[@leonte3339]

THANK YOU SO MUCH

[@elimarburger3934]

hey where did you get this music? can i Use this music for my school project?

[@thegoproproject2591]

Amazing video! Thank you! Do you know how to rotate a motion path? Thanks.

[@TheKeyframeAcademy]

Yes. 1. Create a null object. 2. Parent the layer you want to rotate to the null layer, and then 3. rotate the null layer.

[@cesarurbano4970]

New subscriber here! Amazing job, thanks for share!

[@TheKeyframeAcademy]

Thanks for the sub!

[@itsnotraunaq]

I am getting stuck at the part where we have to paste the path on the position property of the triangle. I did it but I don't see any keyframe coming onto the position property of the shape nor do I see the shape change position to the first vector point of the path. Can anyone please guide?

[@TheKeyframeAcademy]

What kind of shape are you copying?

[@itsnotraunaq]

​@@TheKeyframeAcademy elliptical. for the path of an electron. I'm making a atom animation

[@TheKeyframeAcademy]

Okay, do you know how to convert to bezier path?

[@itsnotraunaq]

@@TheKeyframeAcademy Yep. Right click on the path. It's greyed out though. also, quick appreciation for replying so fast here!

[@TheKeyframeAcademy]

Hmm it's greyed out. Is it already a bezier path? can you grab the points of your ellipse and move them around?

[@kasracuts7349]

i love u. saved my ass

[@KL_motion]

Thanks. It was valuable and cooool!

[@TheKeyframeAcademy]

You're welcome!

[@andresb9006]

Thank you so much man!

[@TheKeyframeAcademy]

Happy to help!

[@treyzhoo9561]

Nice video

[@TheKeyframeAcademy]

Thanks

[@sajjadabouei6721]

perfect short helpful

[@gavinchapman720]

Perfect thankyou

[@foadahadi]

Thank You brother 🙏

[@CheqkoO95]

Love it!

[@HowToAnimateTutorial]

thank so much pro

[@TheKeyframeAcademy]

Any time

[@hegow5025]

so helpful bro

[@argopambudi6345]

thank youuu so much!!!

[@TheKeyframeAcademy]

You're welcome!!

[@yasuologitech1084]

wait i spent 15 minutes animating the rotation of an airplane.png along the path, then i saw this video :) Anyway thank you so much, this (auto orient) is gonna save me tons of time in the coming projects

[@TheKeyframeAcademy]

Yeah, its a surprisingly lesser known feature.

[@mustafahesari4006]

Thanks man

[@TheKeyframeAcademy]

You're welcome!

[@rchiproportion]

⭐️

[@TheKeyframeAcademy]

👏

[@Repentee]

thank you sir!

[@TheKeyframeAcademy]

You are welcome!

[@SarahStair]

Can I animate a VIDEO along a path? Like say, I want a tv screen with a video playing in it (a video of my choosing), can I draw a path and have the tv move in a certain path I want with the video playing in as well? So it would be a multi-layer thing. I don't use Adobe, but am finding my current video editor (power director) is limited in some of it functions....any help would be greatly appreciated.

[@TheKeyframeAcademy]

Yes, you can make any kind of layer follow a path by copying the path and pasting it to the layers position. So in your case, you'd paste the path data you drew out with the pen tool and paste that to position property of the TV layer.

[@harpreetsingh6802]

Thanks for amazing tutorial, But when i copy path and paste it into shape position it's get smaller not the exact size what i have created or actual one. I usually face this problem when i draw a circle with shape layer or adding shapes. Do you have any solution for this to copy exact path as i draw or created. Thanks :)

[@TheKeyframeAcademy]

Have you modified the scale of the layer you copied the path from? AE will only copy the path data, but it doesn't copy that data relative to the scale of the layer itself. So if you draw out a path, and then set the scale of the layer to say 120% than when you copy the path over to the position of the new layer, it will not copy the path data + 120%. Thats the only reason I can think why your position path is smaller than the path you drew. If not, I'm not really sure why it would be doing that.

[@harpreetsingh6802]

@@TheKeyframeAcademy yes you are right this is the solution thanks have a great day :)

[@TheKeyframeAcademy]

@@harpreetsingh6802 Cheers! Glad you were able to figure it out!

[@Dossell]

I found this incredibly amusing 😂🥹😂🥲

[@akstotia9192]

is epicccc

[@waelalzahaykah6972]

thank you

[@TheKeyframeAcademy]

You're welcome

[@matteforza]

followed this tutorial. Doesnt work. Dunno if its bc i originally created my shape in 3d in after effects

[@TheKeyframeAcademy]

Which part didn't work?

[@matteforza]

@@TheKeyframeAcademy also made a plane, however the front tip doesnt align after making the auto orient.

[@TheKeyframeAcademy]

@@matteforza What does it do? Is it no different than not having auto orient on?

[@matteforza]

@@TheKeyframeAcademy it follows the path, however it doesnt rotate, keeping the tip the front of the path running

[@matteforza]

prob bc i created the paths with 3d cube selected i guess?

[@y2laud]

how to make the plane look 3d? is it another animation?

[@TheKeyframeAcademy]

I animated the shape path to look 3D. You can see the process in this video kzbin.info/www/bejne/oJ69k5apns1jf7c

[@y2laud]

@@TheKeyframeAcademyWow!! Thank you very much. Glad to find your channel on youtube.

[@TheKeyframeAcademy]

@@y2laud Thank you for watching! subscribe as I have lots more videos coming out soon!

[@y2laud]

@@TheKeyframeAcademy Already did it.

[@yakuza7400]

🔥🔥

[@shubhamsrivastava2848]

lol, If you like to waste time.... this was quite hilarious

[@bupi7hills]

0:29 🤣🤣🤣

[@user-lt9rf3vs3j]

This tutorial is sucks. 0.52 suddenly pop up bunch of selections and you don't tell me where they comes from and end up with I need to go other video and search how to add trim path. You do this video for beginners and don't aspect a beginner know everything!

[@TheKeyframeAcademy]

I never claimed this video was for absolute beginners did I?

[@user-lt9rf3vs3j]

@@TheKeyframeAcademy Ya, absolute beginners like me cannot watch this video because it's not for absolute beginners. So you can make it as fast as possible, no problem, go ahead. I'm just giving opinion, if you can't accept it's fine.

[@TheKeyframeAcademy]

@@user-lt9rf3vs3j I can accept this video is not for you. No problem.

[@user-lt9rf3vs3j]

@@TheKeyframeAcademySo you think your tutorial is perfect is it? Cannot accept any criticism??? If you cannot accept criticism, quit youtube please.

[@felipedesign1103]

You cut too much =(

[@RK-ii9mj]

👋Hello, your tutorial is really interesting, but I could not understand because my English is not good. If possible, please speak in all your videos so that I can use subtitles.🫀

[@mira-graphics]

Nice

[@TheKeyframeAcademy]

Very nice