Connect an Object to a Trim Path in After Effects

I got some great questions on my creating a path from CSV data video and there’s one question in particular that I wanted to pull out into its own tutorial since it covers something essential in how After Effects works. And that question is: “is there a way to get an object or shape to follow the path” that we create with our CSV data. The answer is yes! So in this video I’m going to show you how to do that while also diving a little bit into composition space versus layer space.
I know the audio is terrible. I promise if these videos ever get monetized I'll buy a mic.
Create a path from CSV data tutorial: • Create a line graph fr...
An addendum:
Yes, you can create another shape on the shape layer where you have your trimmed path and you don't have to convert to composition space using toComp(). However you're going to run into a few issues if you're doing anything other than creating a dot the same color as your path. This method divorces your arrowhead/shape/object from that trimmed path's layer and gives you lots more options.

[@victorpapou]

var path = thisComp.layer("Target Layer Name").content("PATH").content("Shape 1").path; var trimPath = thisComp.layer("Target Layer Name").content("PATH").content("Trim Paths 1").end /100; var targetLayer = thisComp.layer("Target Layer Name"); var point = path.pointOnPath(trimPath); targetLayer.toComp(point)

[@angelaw7963]

Fabulous tutorial!!!! Just what I was looking for and worked perfectly. The explanation for understanding how the expression works was also super clear.

[@lua.motion]

Thank you so much Daron! It helped a lot, the fact that you explain how the expression works, made me be able to animate something that was not exactly the same problem you shared, but had the same solution. I needed to connect the center point of a light to a path, and it worked perfectly! Your tutorial was a real life changing!

[@alexcarey8279]

Your explanation was sooo good/easy to follow, thanks so much!

[@canaya1]

Oh my God, Thank You!!! I've been looking for this for so long.

[@Pandorac]

This is fantastic and just what I needed. Thank you so much for sharing this knowledge.

[@nikyabodigital]

Great. I am working with thicc stroke. This is massive value you're offering Daron. Thank you very much.

[@verykozi]

This one is great! Follow up to any out there trying to allign circle (doughnut transparent in the middle) to the trim path: Right-click on the Doughnut > Transform > Anchor Point... and find some spot where line is straight to allign it correctly. God speed!

[@mohamedmoussa1477]

very good tutorial this exactly what i got tired searching for. thank you very much indeed wish you best of luck

[@studiopictures9315]

I've been looking for ages for this, thanks!

[@nahuelcardozoesper]

Thanks!! Was very useful! I was struggling to do this and you solved it! Thanks!

[@raduantoniu]

Wow thanks so much! You the real MVP

[@musicandscience6807]

Amazing tutorial, thanks GoDaron!!

[@richj1151]

Thank You. Super informative!!

[@pblarriba]

That was so helpfull! Thank you so much !

[@Scabloonshki]

Very useful tutorial, though I cannot understand for the life of me why achieving such a simple effect requires this much work. There should be a feature that allows you to easily add a new shape/image to a line cap. It shouldn't need to be basically coded in like the way it is shown here.

[@galaga00]

This will be said at least once by me every single time I use After Effects.

[@angelvazquez5538]

Thank you so much, you saved my life.

[@mghhgm20]

Very Well! by this tutorial, you have a flexible motion. because when change the path, your child path was changed! NICE. Thank you

[@WalidDingsdale]

awesome expression tutorial. thants for sharing

[@solideshalbwissen]

Great stuff.

[@romainamphyon]

Thank you very, very much 😘

[@christiaannel5504]

Lifesaver! 💖💖💖💖

[@crisislab]

Thank you for saving me a GAJILLION hours. You're a wizard. :)

[@aliciajoohee]

THANKSSSSS A Millionnn !

[@Max77189]

Thank you

[@flaviatavares5503]

Great thanks! I did it with the object I had already and it didn't work, the position was following but outside the comp. I created it again in a new layer and it worked fine.

[@DMGFXink]

Thank ya

[@alenlenia]

Thank you. do you also know how to involve an offset value made by trimpath into the codes so that the arrow head or triangle doesn't fall behind or move forward?

[@Audumbar_shinde]

thanks madam you save my day

[@_jhoansalazar]

👋 thanks a lot, just I wanted to ask you something, I'm doing right now an Info Video with trim path and the camera must follow it, do you know an easy way to do it, because if have to put a lot of keys and trying that the cámara move to sync with it.

[@flaviatavares5503]

It's so rare to see women doing AE tutorials, thanks for being here! And long life to your channel!💜

[@jounikuuva763]

Cool! Hey you should at least have a donate-button somewhere, this is valuable stuff.

[@DarkRiderMotovlogs]

Thank you for this! Super helpful. I have one question though. When my trim path gets to the last key frame, the rotation of the arrow changes to 90 degrees to what it was before? But the orientation value doesn't change, it still shows at 0 degrees, but visually its been rotated by 90. I'm not sure how to fix this. Any ideas?

[@nattenborough]

I had the same issue and had to rectify it by adding a keyframe one frame later to correct the rotation at the very end. Not ideal, but was a quick fix.

[@stevelamb3531]

Had the same issue too. Keyframes on the trim path line help. Annoying as I had two points where there was no movement so had to do a 0.1 change which looked static but had a very subtle change.

[@editoromroepgelderland]

I'm getting an error saying - path.pointOnPath is not a function What can I do?

[@PhookaAnimation]

This would be so cool but it's just not working for me :/

[@Winxamitosis]

i'm using a closed path for this, and i've offset the trim to start in a different place on the path. how do i apply the same offset to the following arrow to take into account the offset?

[@luisvb24]

Replace the var trimPath line with all this (Be careful with the Comp.layer and content names): if (thisComp.layer("OrbitPath").content("Trim Paths 1").offset/360 < 1) { var trimPath = thisComp.layer("OrbitPath").content("Trim Paths 1").offset/360 } else { var trimPath = (thisComp.layer("OrbitPath").content("Trim Paths 1").offset%360)/360 }

[@nickperry3255]

this is just the effect i needed. however, what if my trim path has an offset? how do i have it so the object starts at the offsetted point?

[@marimotion22]

Just add "+value " into your last line of code. Should look like this: targetLayer.toComp(point) +value; I think this should solve the problem.

[@marimotion22]

Then you can move the Object to the destination needed and it will still work with the expression.

[@user-wz4ub2kz2m]

Hi, I've got this to work but my path has been reversed, so now the shape object follows it but in reverse to the trims path, ie as my line draws in from the left my shape starts at the right! Is there a way around this using an expression to counter it?

[@mattrossi7955]

This is so helpful! Is anyone having an issue with the shape rotating near the end of the trim path animation?

[@sirajudheenkv8501]

yes, i have the same issue... how we can fix ..?🙃

[@Bloodnick]

Great tutorial! But I tried doing this to a 3D layer, and it messes with the Z-position of the null object and sends it back several thousand values. Any idea on how to fix this issue within the expression?

[@godaron104]

You'll need a different expression for that -- You use toComp() when you're working with 2d layers, and toWorld() when you're working with 3d.

[@Fads]

Thanks for this! Works great in 2D, but when I change the layers to 3D, the object no longer seems to follow the trim path - any idea why this might be? I'm basically trying to attach a null object to a trim path so I can track it using a camera.

[@godaron104]

You'll need a different expression for that -- You use toComp() when you're working with 2d layers, and toWorld() when you're working with 3d.

[@Fads]

@@godaron104 amazing, thanks !!

[@hakonmarcus]

@@godaron104 I did this, and the object follows the correct path, but it seems to be offset by quite a lot, do you know why this could be happening?

[@micheliochoa2085]

Na, increible

[@TheBestgoku]

Why did you channel stop making videos?

[@nikkiritmeijer4562]

I'm doing it exactly as your instructions but I'm getting a "Undefined value used in expression (could be an out of range array subscript?)" error when I try adding var path or var trimpath to my expression, can't figure out for the life of me why!!

[@contrail33]

I have the same issue. Can't get past the first step. Unfortunate because this would do exactly what I need 😩