Animate Any Object Along a Custom Path - After Effects CC 2020 Tutorial

Ever wondered how to make an object follow a road, or a path you've already set out? It should be easy right? Well actually it is! and today we're going to show you EXACTLY how to make any object follow a path in Adobe After Effects.
Want to help out the channel?
Get The "Lyric Video Creator Kit" Here: www.lyricvideocreatorkit.com/
What's Included
✅ 60 Animated Presets
✅ Bonus Thicc Marker + 4k Neon pack
✅ Premiere Ready
✅ Full Tutorial
No After Effects Skills Required
Get it here!: www.lyricvideocreatorkit.com/
IG : nickbenkhoo_motion
Got an idea for a tutorial? Send me a message on IG! Love to connect with you!

[@NickKhoo]

Get The "Lyric Video Creator Kit" Here: olufemiituts.mykajabi.com/a/4...​ What's Included ✅ 5 Premiere Pro Starter Projects Included ✅ 20 Animated Presets ✅ 10 Overlay Video Elements ✅ Premiere Ready ✅ Full Tutorial **No After Effects Skills Required** Get it for $19!: bit.ly/3qu1unD​ ***************************************************

[@muajin]

pretty cool. How do you get it to loop? mine stops after one cycle :D

[@user-zf1st3ww4h]

Nick, after watching more than 40 videos, i found yours the only one that is comprehensively excellent. Your voice tone, the fun you naturally have in your presentation, your mastery of AFET, your generous in teaching a bunch of nice and applicable techniques, all were excellent. You are the best Nick. Many many thanks.

[@edgeabbo9998]

Thanks for this Great complete explanation/tutorial in one video. This channel deserves a million subs!

[@IAmKimberlyHawthorne]

Very helpful! This is the only video I found that showed step by step how to animate a graphic along a path. Others use shapes they created in AE. Thank you for saying what you were clicking on and naming things. So unbelievably helpful when you did that. Other video tutorials assumed the viewer knew.

[@heisenberg8411]

It was the best ae tutorial i've ever seen!! great job!

[@VOTECHGURU]

Awesome. Thanks, Nick!

[@bandwagonbull]

Dude, I've been animating in AE for years and I've only now become aware of half the stuff you've mentioned here hah! Thanks so much! Subbed

[@cschbck]

This tutorial is killing it! Thanks a lot, exactly what I needed.

[@NickKhoo]

Oh Awesome! Glad it helped!

[@drnareshchauhan]

Thanks Nick! took a while to figure out that fill need to be set to none while using pen tool to create central stroke(dash line)!

[@Carsive]

Amazing tutorial man! Enjoyed it a lot!

[@ericcomstock4888]

This was an awesome tutorial. I just found your channel so I will check out more. Thank you!

[@imrulkayes4623]

Nice tutorial. Keep up your good work. I learned the shadow trick and other details work are so good. Thanks for uploading this valuable tutorial.

[@feriksadmadiredja4242]

Hi Nick, thank you very much for your tutorial. It is really cool! but I think you need to zoom it to let us see bigger each time you set the keyframe for example and any other features. That's just a suggestion. Anyway, thank you again for this tutorial.

[@Luckeydogs]

So simple and yet pretty dang awesome in the end. Thank you.

[@NickKhoo]

Aww thanks!

[@booooooooooooooooom]

Great tutorial, subscribed!

[@JJohnsonsE]

yo that's cool, i always used the time re-map to loop small comps but using this with a path and such is something new.

[@NickKhoo]

Yeah it works surprisingly well!

[@MsUmbra87]

This is amazing, thank you Nick!

[@NickKhoo]

You're very welcome Sandra!

[@mohamedsahraj]

Great Tutorial, Thank you Nick.

[@NickKhoo]

Thank you 🙏

[@Yusfi5150]

This is awesome. Thanks bro. You got 1 subscriber 😊

[@sandeepgupta-pb8wl]

Very very usefull amazing tutorial

[@epicmissionmedia]

Useful, thanks man!

[@nirajfilms1040]

Oh my god!! the drop shadow trick and bevel alpha trick was super cool...and the tracking the car top was next level....i loved it so much sir,,...

[@NickKhoo]

Thanks so much for watching!

[@vicoemo]

noooo the orient along path option was mindblowing, thanks

[@NickKhoo]

Glad I could help!

[@cath0dictube]

neat trick with the bevel alpha!

[@ETEDOthman]

Great tutorial, Keep going

[@mkzack1835]

Wow! This is amazing.Thank you so much.

[@NickKhoo]

You're very welcome :)

[@altoshirt6912]

thanks a lot for the tutorial 👍👍👍

[@BoyMoody_23]

very nice ^^ Thank you!!!

[@imalkarandev3516]

thank you

[@karimsayed2097]

nice and useful tutorial my man, i wouldn't mind having u as my mentor XD, keep the hard work senpai

[@ziaulhasanmozumder7152]

This is the first time ive came across ur video and loved it and already subscribed

[@ziaulhasanmozumder7152]

Could you like show or atleast explain how can we add 2d trees and stuff but make it look and feeel 3d?? I mean that car loooooks reallly gooood and feeeels 3d with those shadows and lighting

[@ziaulhasanmozumder7152]

And also i hope you get your hands on newton plugin, that helps with 2d physics

[@orangeflair]

Excellent video, really well explained and I look forward ti giving it a go….my next question for this is, how can we then add this to say a still or a video of an actual road using a drone shot for example…

[@niccolosacco5]

Thank YOU!

[@moularaoul643]

Thank you so much!!!

[@kendou-ks7fc]

YOU - ARE - AMAZING!!!!!

[@NickKhoo]

You’re too kind thank you.

[@filmfoxwell]

Awh yeah Micro Machines was awesome! - Great tutorial man

[@martinmcglone8456]

thank you well taught

[@chicken.productions]

Thank you for the tutorial. The problem is when I have 3D layers on on my objects it messes up with the path. Can you make the same tutorial for objects moving in 3D?

[@Assum88]

Awesome!

[@jaimemorenoruizdesign]

Does this copy-path-from-shape trick work for only images or could it be use to animate the path of a comp inside another comp? I say this because it is not working for me. Copying the path to the position field does not really add any keyframe.

[@kindredcosmetics3374]

Very nice video, thanks for your time.

[@NickKhoo]

Thanks for watching

[@longkernitz]

I'm also using a mac and had some trouble using fx console (cmd + space) as mac has the same shortcut key. How do I fix this so I can use the fx console?

[@patrickfennie4974]

holy sh*t this is cool- thank you Wizard

[@byrong1384]

Just a quick tip - instead of having to bring up the calculator, you can just enter /2 in the value box to divide the amount, or / and whatever number you want to divide by. Or you can use *2, *4, etc, to multiply by 2, 4, etc.

[@GeoFavTech]

A lot of people don’t realize a computer is basically a big version of a calculator.

[@NickKhoo]

😂😂

[@user-zx9ri1wf3i]

incredible, you saved me a lot of time !!!!!

[@NickKhoo]

Glad I could help!

[@Wa_Animation]

I like your tutorial. 思路很清晰，讲得很好！订阅了！

[@Zeval31]

Hello, interesting tutorial ! When I pair the camera with the null object (11:26), thenafter the car and null object seem to be following a path almost twice as large as the original road layer ?! I'm confused, what could cause that ? I have been folloing you step by step

[@sainigaurav11]

That's an Amazing Piece of Work. Thank you for the tutorial. Subscribed!!!

[@NickKhoo]

Thank you so much :D

[@tanton50]

Great tutorial. I am doing something similar but when I make the car a 3D layer it will messed up (it looks like it will go out of the screen) and when I try to adjust the axis it won't be adjusted properly. Why is this happening?

[@byrong1384]

It didn't work quite like that for me unfortunately. When I pasted the path on to the position of the car it changed the shape of the path and didn't line up perfectly with the track - I had to manually move it back into place.

[@vinaygunavante]

very useful .. Thank you

[@NickKhoo]

You’re very welcome

[@user-zf1st3ww4h]

And because of my over excitement, i can’t be quiet and leave here not asking my question from the master of After effects. Is it possible to change the camera angle so that it would be at the same level of horizon? I mean “side view”. (Consequently the movement would be “camera pan”).

[@arachne22]

Great tutorial! But one question: I'd like to add some slowing down and speeding up my object, so as you said I can use Time Remapping, but then how to adjust the camera to follow it? Should I change the path in the speed editor and then past it into the camera's null? I'm affraid to mess up all those keyframes, there should be a better way... and time remapping is unavailable for cameras/ null objects.

[@NickKhoo]

hmmm you could put the camera into the precomp as well. I haven't tried it but it should work theory

[@jeannefrints3587]

Awesome tutorial. Now I wonder how I can place objects to the side of the road and keep them there as if the car's passing it. Like trees and such.

[@alializadeh8195]

Thanx

[@osielpontes8170]

Muito obrigado, Nick - também estou seguindo o seu Instagram.

[@wolf6588]

Dope

[@DrBeastLimitless]

Nice tutorial

[@NickKhoo]

Cheers Dr Beast!

[@rezamehrzad]

Subscribed!

[@NickKhoo]

Thank you!

[@bizarreplace3327]

hi nice tutoril , for some reason after i add the camera and attach it to the null object, when i mve in the timeline the road moves not the camera do you know why?

[@NickKhoo]

You’ll need to turn on the 3D for the car as well

[@galejandro2003]

just a little tip, the copy and paste of the path wasn't working, so instead of just 'copy' it should be 'copy with property links' and then paste. That should do it! thanks anyways for the tutorial! very helpful!

[@hirenprabtani8796]

Wow

[@hirenprabtani8796]

Super

[@abrahamkouyate191]

I have a problem where when I try to Easy Ease the Time Remap Keyframes to make my object stop. The Easy Ease effect changes the speed of my object. Guesses, suggestions?

[@googlyzer547]

Could you have a camera in 3d follow thecar low view point etc Make a video of that

[@carolekraehenbuehl908]

I'm new at this. I believe my content aware is interfering. I'm not getting just the nice clean line I'm drawing, the space is getting filled. I tried everything to remove it. :( This is an excellent tutorial, and I'd like to finish it. :)

[@hemangbhagat6804]

For an object(car) do we need to use an illustrator file or will any vector file will do?

[@NickKhoo]

It can be anything really. Car is just an easy to understand example. But hey you could have a photo of a pickle racing on the road if you wanted!

[@HoMeP1able]

What shortcut did you use to change the background color?

[@NickKhoo]

Ctrl + shift + Y on PC. CMD + Shift + Y on Mac

[@kindredcosmetics3374]

Hi, Is there a way to run the car clock wise? The car is running counter clock wise... I key framed it clock wise, but it has a slight glitch at the beginning. How can I get rid of that. Thanks for your time. Gayle

[@NickKhoo]

Yes! You can just use the keyframe assistance and time reverse the keyframes.

[@imoteep4984]

átláthatatlan a videó össze vissza kattintgatsz nagyon idegesítő

[@simplysurfing]

Just a small suggestion.... when the actual method is explained its like a formula.... place here.... enter 190... turn 30 deg... duplicate this twice tap tap.... now parent one with pick while to layer 342... add multiplier 30.... open time range.... scale.... this is how 90% of them teach. Sure by following this i can maybe follow along and EXACTLY REPLICATE WHAT YOU DO. Thats it. No room for creating our own or using this theory... blessed be those who can do that from this... but if you teach the IDEA.... like what is going on in your head is very visual and block type... and if you express that before you run the formula at high speed. Im sure this is no biggie and ive done this in 3ds max... where its more complex... the object can bank and exactly follow a roller coaster type path. If i wanted i can explain that process this way.... draw a spline.... attach object.... enter 480... etc. But i know in my head that i can teach a school child HOW IT WORKS... it will hardly take a you a few seconds to explain your mind map...that is.... For example when you pick path...your just directly delve into the congloeration fo tools and pick a path and say adjust. We would like to know path of which object and in what way that will help, im sure in 5 more words you can explain that. You want to make a road...which will be a shape layer....then you want to link this object to that... so you need a second layer and we can hook this object to that... and so on... that will explain the IDEA...because in your mind you dont think oh id like to move a car along a road... 342 left duplicate 3 times... add track matte twice... precomp that,.... put it above the main layer..... DOES YOUR MIND TELL YOU THAT WAY. You first imagine a base idea... like explaining the parts or a machine and where that will go before just throwing it together. This will help us to understand the CONCEPT instead of flat formula... it will ony take you a few seconds.... believe me.... even the most complex bridge building can be explained by a good teacher to school children. Like what is cantilever... how it supports the weight of the bridge etc.. I dont tell the kids... order 25mm steelbars 850 numbers... 5 cranes.... 6 earthmovers...position here here and here.... lift and put.... our here... etc. Dont take it badly, your teaching excellent things.... but you can teach them with the base IDEA behind so that people can implement it in their own way. Your tutorial now will be helpful to me only when i have a situation with a car on a curved road, LOL. Maybe im finding it hard to understand all the number rattling at high speed which is totally away from creativity... sound more like math class to me, in which case excuse my comment please.

[@NickKhoo]

Fair enough. It’s a tricky balance to try and teach but not over explain everything but in this case I guess I didn’t explain enough. Sorry if it wasn’t your cup of tea this time.

[@bastianbo7978]

12:22 you can do the math directly in the high/width section. Just type 1080*3 in the box and it will calculate automatically.

[@NickKhoo]

ah good point. I always forget you can do maths in After Effects lol

[@ishnigma1601]

If I had a 3D model of a train in obj format can I get the 3D train object to follow path?

[@NickKhoo]

In theory I think it could work. I'd have to think about it

[@naomifuryama1060]

what is the shortcut for the camera tool you mention in 11:50?

[@NickKhoo]

C

[@kelvinhutt7974]

Great TUT mate, enjoyed it, however when I came to the stage of converting my 'road' layer and 'car comp' to 3D Layer the white dotted line appeared above the car??? No idea why!!!

[@NickKhoo]

Have you got your car layer above your road layer? Alternatively its possible that the 3D coordinates of your car are also placed below your road layer :)

[@kelvinhutt7974]

@@NickKhoo Yes car layer is above the road layer but I will look into the coordinates of each layer. Cheers mate

[@PhilMace]

Thanks for the tutorial. How can I attach an object along the path so the car appears to go past or pause? Eg. Like a traffic light?

[@PhilMace]

I have watched your tutorial a few more times and I think it is as simple as making the objects 3D and linking them to the track. 🤓

[@NickKhoo]

Nice. Glad you figured it out?

[@ivanmaya7458]

5:11 Can you tell me what keyboard shortcut can hold the mouse and drag the whole key at the same time ?

[@NickKhoo]

Hey Ivan, if you watch a few steps back where it pastes the keyframes from the path, it’ll paste them as roving keyframes which allows you to stretch the keyframes out using one keyframe. Alternatively you can select all the keyframes by drawing a box around them and then hold alt and drag them out as well

[@ivanmaya7458]

@@NickKhoo Thank you The first explanation understood when looking back at your previous steps. The second idea is not understood, "drawing a box around them and then hold alt and drag them out", please explain more.

[@kristofermens]

When you let the camera follow the car and set it to auto-orient, where are the reflections on the car coming from? Is that just because it's 3D now that the camera is added?

[@NickKhoo]

Hey Kristof. Later in the video I add an effect called Bevel alpha and I add some funky expressions to make the bevel move according to the camera

[@skraghav22]

Hi my path position does not paste properly on the object…object path position paste far from the. Actual path…where I am wrong …kindly help

[@NickKhoo]

Just attach the object to a null and move it into position

[@JoeBodego]

This was a F-ing good tutorial especiall the reverse function, just NASTY man....

[@NickKhoo]

Thanks! I’m glad it helped!

[@queenestherangel7034]

I'm trying to learn, but how can I when I can't even see what you're doing clearly?. Is there no way you can zoom the whole video so we can see the things you click?.

[@NickKhoo]

Yeah that's fair. I recorded this a while ago when I assumed people most of my audience watch this on large computer monitors. But thanks for the feedback!

[@ashalnoor1530]

👍👍

[@xiaobingsong8346]

cool

[@NickKhoo]

Thanks!

[@user-cx5jl8xw6d]

Can I download this and see how it works?

[@NickKhoo]

Sadly I didn’t make a project file for this one but hopefully the tutorial isn’t too hard to copy

[@naimlyssn938]

This video fucking enlightened me

[@basharmish]

awsooooooooooooooooom

[@Eliabel]

Hey ! Can someone give me the illustrator fold for the car ? BCZ i don't have illustrator :'( thxxxx !!!

[@NickKhoo]

You can pretty much use a rectangle shape for the same idea

[@irlandaise5631]

but you dont say how you do it and hummed as you copied the path..im new to after effects and basically i want to animate a png over a jpeg background that has roads on it..and it doesnt work..im lost with the key points..and we cant see what you do on the screen , it is blurry..

[@NickKhoo]

Can you give me a time code of where you are lost in the tutorial?

[@irlandaise5631]

@@NickKhoo 3.41 but then I see you created the road design in after affects..in my case it is an imported jpeg with a road

[@NickKhoo]

@@irlandaise5631 ah in that case, you would need to trace a path using the shape tool in a similar design to your road. Once you've done that just copy the path you've created and paste it onto your object!

[@irlandaise5631]

@@NickKhoo yes I did it and it wouldn’t work .. sorry do You think if I send you the jpeg and the png .. you could do it for me and send me Back the file ? I’m totally lost with tutorials even abode .. that way I’ll see exactly

[@c.c.8203]

In which country car drives over the dotted line !? 😂

[@NickKhoo]

clearly some crazy country

[@frankfornestig9895]

5:25 U are not telling how you "loop it" u are just doing it. Lost me there...

[@NickKhoo]

You're right can't believe I didn't explain that. To apply an expression you need to hold alt and click on the stop watch till the position field turns read. Then you can type in the expression loopOut("cycle")

[@frankfornestig9895]

@@NickKhoo thank you Nick! :) Me being really nooby. You’re doing a great job

[@dustinrolstad752]

What'd be great is if we could keyframe the car's offset position along the path. This seems like a very klunky way to do what should be a very simple thing.