Moving Layers in Isometric Projection in After Effects

Using a simple expression to move layers in isometric angles in After Effects
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You know what's really not fun to do inside of After Effects? Moving things at angles that aren't multiples of 90° is a pain. There aren't really any guides for isometric projection. It's not even easy to draw isometric art in Illustrator. Isometric art has been popular for quite a long time-ever heard of M.C. Escher or seen architectural drawings-so it's kind of annoying that it's difficult to work with isometric art inside of AE.
Well, I can help to make it a tiny bit easier to work with. Without sacrificing our ability to move layers anywhere on screen, we're going to build three sliders that will let us move our layers in angles corresponding to our isometric projection. This tutorial builds upon what we built in Tutorial 87: Angular Controls workbench.tv/tutorials/2017-09.... If you need more explanation on the math behind this, check that one out.
This one is pretty simple, but it will save you a ton of time. I had to build some boards with a lot of isometric art in it last week, and it probably saved me hours already. And that's why I built this! I hope it saves you time too.
If you need the code, it's posted at our website at the project link above. And we used Pseudo Effect Maker to make our controls instead of sliders (aescripts.com/pseudo-effect-m.... But you can do this with sliders too!
#AfterEffects #MotionGraphics #Mograph

[@IsionIndustries]

Thank you Workbench! Your channel has the most comprehensive After Effects Isometric tutorials on here. So I just want to show my gratitude for all the work you guys do

[@Workbenchtv]

Thanks! I'm glad they help!

[@KobayashisEgo]

OH MY GOD I LOVE YOU I'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR A TUTORIAL ON THIS FOREVER

[@Workbenchtv]

Perfect!

[@kenchikwong5909]

Just wanted to appreciate your work here: That Math.sin and Math.cos thing from here and the earlier tutorial took me 3 hours staring at your code and doing research to understand the idea completely. It was a pretty stressful 3 hours since my brain was running on full speed non-stop. And once I got it, I felt like my skillset just jumped to a whole new level like a video game. And this happened several times watching your previous tutorials. Really great work!

[@Workbenchtv]

It took me a bit to figure out. The more I use the trigonometric functions, the more useful stuff I have found. And like you, I feel the same thing-you grasp that stuff and you definitely level up. I honestly wish they would've taught those classes in school using this kind of stuff. I understand this math better now than I ever did then. Anyway, I'm glad I could help, and I'm glad you put in the work to figure it out!

[@Workbenchtv]

@Simply Thoughts To truly understand it, you'll need to look into the math. If you just want to set it up, go the the project file link in the description and look at the Expression Code section. I tell you how to set it up there as well and it might be easier to understand it as I wrote it.

[@kudjo24]

Brilliant, saved me a load of time and trouble, wish stuff like this was standard with AE but oh well Adobe.

[@Workbenchtv]

That would be nice. Glad to hear we could help though!

[@Simon886645]

You Sir... are an absolute King! Thanks for sharing this

[@Workbenchtv]

You're welcome! Put it to good use.

[@mavidesign]

great tutorial, thanks for sharing!

[@Workbenchtv]

Thanks for checking it out!

[@SonerAktas]

I would like to ask, how did you make 3 tabs Slider? Thank you.

[@Workbenchtv]

Oh sorry! I think I said it, but if you didn't know what it was it'd be hard to know what I meant. I updated the description, but I used Pseudo Effect Maker to make a pseudo-effect. aescripts.com/pseudo-effect-maker/ But you can just use sliders. The code is on our site at the project link.

[@IsionIndustries]

I imported my isometric AI shape file into AE and converted vector layers to shapes. But I noticed that in the tutorial 103 to control each shape (Top, Left, Right) the shape needs to be a parametric shape. When I convert my AI file into shapes it is converted into a bezier path so I dont have the option to edit the shapes "size" and "position" parameters. What should I do when I use those controls for AI files? Thank you for all your help

[@Workbenchtv]

That all depends upon what you're building. You could technically make an expression to only move certain points of your shapes, but that wouldn't be easy. You would probably be better off with a rig like the cubes I show at the beginning of this tutorial: workbench.tv/tutorials/2019-10-03_Forklift/ There's also useful stuff in the one following that: workbench.tv/tutorials/2019-10-11_BetterForklift/ Don't let the names fool you, there's rigging techniques that are helpful in both!

[@IsionIndustries]

I have learned some more things over the years so now I understand more of your tutorial but it still raises some questions. You mentioned that you have the axis controller is setup that way because most 3D programs have it in that setup. Is there a standard or "correct" orientation for the isometric axis or is like a per software thing?

[@Workbenchtv]

It all depends upon who develops it. I don’t recall at the moment, but I use C4D so I probably followed its convention. I believe most packages are similar, but then you get Blender which uses Z-up instead of Y-up. CAD follows that same convention too I believe. So I guess ultimately I just chose what I liked.

[@IsionIndustries]

After watching this it raises a question I have. If i design isometric designs in illustrator can I just import the AI layers into AE and use this rig to animate them since the AI designs are already in isometric perspective?

[@Workbenchtv]

Yes, depending upon what you need to do. I've built full animations using that method. You can do a lot with isometric, using just this positioning setup.

[@IsionIndustries]

@@Workbenchtv would love to see those isometric animations. Also another question I just thought of. Can you combine this setup with the setup in tutorial 103 to control the scale and position of the isometric elements?

[@Workbenchtv]

@@IsionIndustries I'm not sure I'll be able to share those unfortunately. Anyway, yes, those should be able to be combined. I don't see why you couldn't.

[@moboxgraphics]

Hey cool monitor!

[@Workbenchtv]

Thanks! It's the new LG 49". I dig having a continuous monitor setup. I did end up swapping the stand with an arm though. It was in my way.

[@leon-g]

Do anyone know if this works with lottie, or if it can cause issues?

[@Workbenchtv]

Lottie doesn't allow expressions. You'll have to bake the keys.

[@leon-g]

@@Workbenchtv Ah, ok. Thank you

[@Workbenchtv]

@@leon-g You're welcome! It is. By the way, you can use EasyBake to make it easier.

[@leon-g]

@@Workbenchtv Cool! Haven't heard of that before, but I will check it out!

[@nallabelipavan]

Iron man hud tutorials please ( c4d & after effect )

[@Workbenchtv]

Hi! You'd probably be better of searching for that as there's a lot out there already and it's not something that we'd tackle unless we could bring something new to it. Sorry.

[@saadshah7857]

Great. Just when I was gonna crash after a few beers. Oh well. Back to Fusion to see how to do this there. Gonna be another long night. Coffee.

[@Workbenchtv]

Haha, sorry! At least the math carries over!

[@jean-alexdube2704]

dope

[@Workbenchtv]

Thanks!

[@MadeByLoop]

This is ace! Another option could be to work in 3D and add an isometric camera - that way the standard 3D controls would work in a similar way. We made a script to help people add an isometric camera to a comp in seconds → madebyloop.co.uk/products/angle-streamline-camera-null-control-after-effects/

[@petrholusa5855]

Shit! I just want to animate and I ended up again with programming. :D :D

[@Workbenchtv]

A little bit of programming will give you a lot of time to animate, haha! I've used this a ton on my current project so far.

[@emaeshka]

like

[@Workbenchtv]

Thanks!