Become a Master of After Effects Shape Layers in 2022

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If you're here, it's probably because you've tried After Effects in the past, and like me, you've been overwhelmed by it. Its tons of features can be hard to navigate and its workflow can be hard to learn. In this video I go over 7 tips that will help you master shape layers in After Effects and get a lot more out of one of its most powerful but hidden features.
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[@avidrationalist7281]

For those not understood how he made copies of elipses at time lap 6:43, ...you need to press Ctrl+D to duplicate the shpapes. and to loop the zig zag line at 15:34 need to input "loopOut()" expression to both "position " and "Offset" kay frames.

[@donp244]

I really appreciate your skill of explaining why you set the parameters for effector that was used

[@andrewlindemann6427]

GREAT video. seen a lot of this info before but in piecemeal fashion scattered across dozens of videos. This video can be a source of truth and revisiting for a lot of motion designers. so thankful you are doing this kind of content, I see lots of subscribers in your future.

[@orkanbasar]

I couldn't really wrap my head around merge paths, now I feel a little bit more confident thanks :D

[@editcreative01]

These are some of the best AE techniques tutorials for intermediate users I've seen on YT. I love how direct and efficient your explanations are without getting bogged down in long pre-ambles or basic interface usage. SUBSCRIBED.

[@TheKeyframeAcademy]

Glad you're here!

[@alexfreedomroad]

Thanks for posting a video on this topic, I've been looking for learning more about shape layers in After Effects.

[@TheKeyframeAcademy]

Check out my first video of You haven’t already. Link is in the description!

[@TimandLauren]

bro..i've never seen this type of advanced informaton all mapped out like this thank you man!

[@TheKeyframeAcademy]

Glad it was helpful! Thanks for the kind words!

[@pixeljuggler01]

More please :D I’ve watched your shapes layer beginner video also, and would love more. Do you teach a class somewhere on shape layers? Fantastic video!

[@jushur9913]

first time here, and already loved your way of explaining stuffs. thanks for sharing wonderful tips

[@jeorc]

Packed with great information. Thanks for sharing. As a newbie in AE I had to close closely and take notes about all those widgets you have there. That is a neat UI!

[@TheKeyframeAcademy]

Great to hear!

[@OFGAnimationStudio]

Great tutorial as always. It would be awesome if you post more detailed videos regarding to morphing. Thanks a lot :)

[@TheVideoShopLondon]

Great video. I avoided shape layers for AGES (mainly due to lack of shortcuts) but using them more and more. 3:10 it's worth pointing out that if you only want to morph from square to circle and not more complex shapes, then keyframing the roundness is easiest way. When you set it to half the dimensions of the square it makes a circle

[@TheKeyframeAcademy]

This is true, but the look of that morph does look different that morph the paths.

[@user-yo5yr9yr2h]

When using merge paths i highly recommend parenting the paths of shapes to a master shape whenever you got a lot of duplicate shapes. trust me it will save you a bunch of time if you ever need to adjust a design after the fact. (for instance the shadow of the rocket)

[@orduenshambe4891]

Great tutorial. what scripts are open in your workspace

[@akthammusa3336]

Thanks a lot

[@Metta-MAN]

your videos are very easy to digest. Thanks for the help

[@TheKeyframeAcademy]

So nice of you

[@SilentRONIN26]

Cool vid. Very useful when making shapes in AE. I couldn't get the shadow for the rocket to work though.

[@thebandokimovies]

je te suis depuis Kinshasa, merci pour les cours en tout cas

[@Roosterhoot2024]

these are great

[@leovilaeu_]

Great video! Brand new subscriber here, from Brazil! Great content!

[@TheKeyframeAcademy]

Welcome aboard!

[@GYANSupportforEverything]

Nice and very helpful video

[@TheKeyframeAcademy]

Glad you liked it

[@MotionbyMesh]

please how can we get the "Take_shape" Plugin you have there?

[@Kwanbluegem]

QQ: on the first example, when have multiple triangles, how can I 3D rotate them in space. or break multiple content path shapes to own shape layers?

[@prashantchoudhary7297]

Awesome

[@NullStaticVoid]

this alt+up arrow /down arrow. Is there a Mac equivalent? I tried ctrl/option/CMD and none of those seem to do this. Not a big deal, it would be nice to change point number on the fly though.

[@artyvipul984]

great ,

[@glenncogan8109]

do you mind if I ask what the script you use here at 9:22 is - ie TAB = Motion (Trim Paths)?

[@TheKeyframeAcademy]

scripts called motion

[@d_Howard]

Geez! Alt up arrow while holding the mouse button down is extremely awkward!! I didn't come with enough hands for that! Plus, when I finally got it, I didn't get a triangle. I got a square. Could this be because you had previously used the tool set up for 3 vertices, and I didn't?

[@mguitart3]

Where is "the little menu right here" with the merge paths? It is not clear in the video. Thank you!

[@Twenty10sMedia]

I feel like we are going to be best friends.....2:45 minutes in and I am convinced you speak my brains language LOL

[@afrographixstudio]

Please list me your plugins list

[@videozappa]

we need a discord server to keep talking

[@TheKeyframeAcademy]

If there is enough interest, I'll consider setting one up!

[@oluwaseunakolade2295]

Am up for this

[@mcsanch1]

Where can I find the script that you are using called, Take_Shape. There are features I can see that could be very useful in my workflow. Thanks

[@abuhamzaalsafadi]

it's a private script developed for him. he might publish it soon but it is still not finished

[@pixeljuggler01]

I could really use this too!

[@artemtsenev]

Hi, John. Is it a short version of last stream?

[@TheKeyframeAcademy]

not really

[@artemtsenev]

@@TheKeyframeAcademy Good tips. Only for morph I found more elegant way than in your example

[@TheKeyframeAcademy]

Please share

[@artemtsenev]

@@TheKeyframeAcademy 1) layer-new-shape layer 2)add-ellipse-convert to Bezier 3)add-rectangle-convert to Bezier 4) add-fill 5) rotate ellipse path for 45 degrees with shift 6) copy ellipse path to rectangle path. For this example it will work perfect.

[@louisselmer]

HELP ! at 5:35 when you rotate the shape path: it's rotating my square entirely, I can't just rotate the final path... i don't understand, do u use any shortcut to rotate only the final path ?

[@TheKeyframeAcademy]

Double click the path, that brings up the free transform box then rotate the path.

[@O2-studios]

@@TheKeyframeAcademy I'm with Louis. I've been doing this over & over - double clicking on eclipse, -> using transform handles to rotate, and it rotates both the ellipse AND the rectangle.

[@TheKeyframeAcademy]

@@O2-studios is your ellipse a bezier path? Remember I said that this kind of transformation is only if it is a bezier. Then you need to double click on the vertex, not just the shape. If you double click just on the shape, you’ll only be rotating the shape group and not the path itself.

[@O2-studios]

@@TheKeyframeAcademy Yes, using bezier paths. Ah!!! Double-click on VERTEX! Thank you! That worked. Double clicking anywhere else on the path does not work. The video says "Select my shape path...." Thanks for clarifying.

[@trickticklerschmoove]

this is gold, both the question and the answer

[@mishy4eyes]

MoBar - we all know what is it. But your custom Path Tool at the right side is absolutely need to be released, sir.

[@jeremybischak6640]

at 2:24 when i create my square the anchor point or center point you mentioned is not in the middle of the shape its in the bottom right corner, how do I fix this?

[@TheKeyframeAcademy]

ctrl+alt+home (cmd+option+home for mac) Or right click and go up to transform and select center anchor point. There is also a setting in the preferences to always center the anchor point to the layer by default.

[@jeremybischak6640]

@@TheKeyframeAcademy thank you for the help! Also, how did you make the 2 circles spiral in like the example? I was trying to recreate it but not quite getting it.

[@Movieshome1762]

AIR PLEASE I NEED YOUR HELP

[@amirthalingam9771]

🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

[@avidrationalist7281]

Yout interface is soooo different?? What after effect version is this??

[@TheKeyframeAcademy]

I'm always using the most current version of After Effects. What you're probably referring to is the different scripts or extensions i have docked.

[@mikeburke1993]

Everything shows on my AE, except the path line item. No path line

[@Movieshome1762]

Can you please help me

[@avidrationalist7281]

Animating star at 12:20, I feel the way you key framed it, is wrong. Both start and end values should be 100 at the starting key frame, and should be 0 at the end key frame, and then if you offset, you will get this animation. I did the way you explained,but it messed up..

[@TheKeyframeAcademy]

I'm not sure how you can say I did it incorrectly when the animation is working as inteneded after I went through the steps. You may have missed the parts where I created a keyframe on the start property that lined up with the second keyframe on the end, and then dragged that new keyframe on the start over (because the value is was set to zero.) Admittedly I could have probably explain this better. Both of the start and end properties start at 0 and end at 100. (basically the opposite of what you're proposing) Regarding the Offset. It is not appropriate for this animation beacuse A. once both the end and start are at the same value, there is no line to "offset" and B. Offset loops the line back around to the start so you can't use it to make the line disappear.

[@crysaliya]

Thanks for the great Tutorial. But in future please avoid adding that background music. It really makes it hard to listen tthe video.

[@Movieshome1762]

I want to make a video but I cant make I searched alot but I cant make it

[@substate000]

nice video very informative. But rethink the repetative music loop, kind of annoying and distracting. but I subscribed. Thanks!

[@TheKeyframeAcademy]

Noted

[@Rebellalliansen]

Good explanations but music is annoyingly loud and stressful.

[@LKBL8]

nice tutorial and thank you. the question which still stays in the air is - why the f... Adobe still make AE in 2023 working like that? Who ever wanted morphing shapes like that - flipping? Why it cant work as people need? There is so many things which sucks, over 20 years. Please - someone - buy the Adobe and make it great again, make AE working like people expect in 2023. Thank you! It is really annoying teach it and to new people always say - ...but it is not working, so you need first do this and this... And people ask - why? Me - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ?!

[@theunusual7724]

Background music so distracting

[@mikeburke1993]

Dude, you'd be really good, slow down, this is a beginner class. And don't skip steps.

[@mohammadhashash9329]

[@MarkCliffeIsGay]

Little note for those wondering, if you don't see the "Bezier Path" checkbox, go into your Preferences -> General -> Default Spatial Interpolation and make sure that option is NOT selected.

[@nikolaslurken9226]

As far as I know, that option has nothing to do with the "bezier Path" check box. However, in fact, it can save you a headache if you do have it selected. It affects how keyframes, especially position (spatial) keyframes behave in between each other.