How To Create Animated Arrows In After Effects (easiest method - no clickbait!)

How To create an animated arrow in After Effects:
1. Draw a stroke path with the pen tool
2. Add a trim path to the stroke and animate
3. copy the path
4. Create a triangle shape
5. Paste the path into the position parameter of the shape
6. right-click and select 'Transform - Auto Orient' - Orient Along Path'

[@LookingForTheTop]

Dude I just want to thank you, I've seen many tutorials on how to animate an arrow and I always thought it was so silly that something so simple was complicated, but your tutorial is short and effective, perfect!

[@videomarknet]

thank you :)

[@emmacarmichael6027]

Thank you so much! So glad I discovered you early on learning After effects, I will just go straight to your channel and search from here on in! Simple, clear instructions, good pace. I appreciate you!

[@videomarknet]

thanks, Emma! That's exactly what it's made for. Quick progress for beginners. If you have any specific ideas feel free to suggest in the comments as well.

[@KerryMAllen]

Excellent method. Just found out this works perfectly even if you're converting an illustrator file into shape layers. After effects was even nice enough to automatically separate the arrowhead from the path automatically.

[@kayonji]

Dude, thank you so much for the clear tutorial. People tend to overcomplicate when it comes to After Effects, but you went straight to what mattered. I am going to subscribe to your channel :)

[@videomarknet]

Thanks, Kayo! Appreciate it.

[@neil_lich]

If you're trying to center the anchor point and using a Mac whose keyboard doesn't have a home button: Step 1: Select “Layer” in your top menu. Step 2: Select “Transform” from the dropdown menu. Step 3: Select “Center Anchor Point in Layer Content”

[@videomarknet]

good point! Thank you.

[@jackcampbell1394]

OR cmd double click the anchor point tool

[@ruangjarak9827]

@@jackcampbell1394 im always doing it this way, quick and easier

[@srikkanth-tech]

Nice explaination,, I did shadowing your tutorial and could accomplish it.. I had some problem with the arrow going faster than the path... i had to adjust the key frames a bit but it worked nicely.

[@kickheavy8982]

Quick and handy! So much simpler than the other methods here on youtube

[@NebMotion]

your tutorials are great, subbed

[@videomarknet]

thank you

[@user-ws5gt2ze9y]

Has anyone else had the problem of after pasting the line's path the triangle does not match?

[@Walid.Hammas]

The same problem

[@Walid.Hammas]

Did you got the solution ?

[@deepakroshan7548]

Create a Key Frame before pasting the path, the path will be pasted after that don't forget to auto-orient, there are some changes we have to make in the path it is not perfect to the line sometimes. Hope this is helpful😇

[@Alan-vu3wp]

I had the same issue, then I tried the keyboard shortcut to get the position option to appear, press "p" then paste . . . hopefully that works for people.

[@jolien200]

For me the issue was that I scaled the path to be bigger and thus the path copied was smaller. To avoid this do not scale (or do any transformations with the path) and then apply the arrow head. Precompose both layers together and then you can do the transformations you like

[@tkwolik]

Thank you! Yes this is so much easier than other tuts I've seen.

[@Genius_Artist12]

Hey man!!! thanks for the help. I was searching and I got no of videos but they're all complicated. I subscribed your channel. I hope you will keep it making more easy thanks again. A lot of love from Pakistan

[@videomarknet]

thanks, much appreciated!

[@michaelore4786]

Thank you so much for this, easy, straight forward, and to the point. Appreciate the help

[@videomarknet]

thanks, Michael!

[@BayWeli]

This is awesome! Thank you so much for sharing. Very helpful 😊

[@michb6074]

I hope you get a lot of views. This is so much easier than other tutorials. I had older iMac and just decide to create animated graphic with photoshop and Illustrator. Thanks. AE 2020 version worked too.

[@videomarknet]

Thanks Mich

[@michb6074]

@@videomarknet I imported SWF file and animation is not showing. Should I just import FLA file to AF? Is that why not many people use Animate? So hard to convert to gif. It has option to convert but nothing works from animate.

[@videomarknet]

@@michb6074 best workflow to create GIFs is doing that in Photoshop ...sounds weird but that's your best bet. When I need animated GIFs I do that in Photoshop

[@michb6074]

@@videomarknet Thanks. Just realized Photoshop doesn't open SWF file. One more question, How can I change fill color to transparent in AF 2020 version? I figured it out before and I can't find it. Your video is 2022 AF I believe.

[@GoChopsticks]

OMG this is the easiest method with the clearest explanation I came across so far !

[@videomarknet]

thanks, Team Chopsticks!

[@giovannidigitalart]

An elegant solution! Thanks!

[@rizzo-films]

Nice! The only thing I would say in support of using the pickwhip is if you need to edit the path or trim paths value over time, make tweaks, i.e. a client wants you to move something or a designer sends you updated designs or any number of changes you'll have to make gradually, if it's pickwhipped then you just need to change the values on the line, those changes are reflected on the arrow and you don't have to keep copying and pasting the path every time you need to make a change.

[@yashvivora4039]

This is so helpful, thankyou!

[@dandelatv]

Thank you very much for this tutorial easy and not confusing.

[@ARCHIPLUSINTERNATIONAL]

this is very very useful and super simpler than the expression!! thank you very much!

[@danielazahalka4871]

OMG I have been doing this the hard way all this time. Thank you!

[@videomarknet]

Yep because the KZbin algorithm is not always pushing the right content. But thanks for checking out my content.

[@jeremycowan2696]

My man. This is precisely what I needed and yes, simple!

[@jeremycowan2696]

I will only say that, I imported my paths from Illustrator, and for some reason, when I pasted my path to the position of the arrow head, it didn't snap to the actual position of the path in the composition. Rather, it moved it off canvas but still following the curves. It just set it's starting point way off. Also, I tried doing this to nested "contents" within a layer and had trouble. Does this only work well with paths and elements created directly in AE?

[@videomarknet]

@@jeremycowan2696 Paths copy pasted from Illustrator have their own center point. When you create a shape layer from the menu, add a path from the 'add' menu and paste the Illustrator path there it will not offset the path anymore.

[@jasonk9770]

Wow. I just used the null along path/pickwhip method to animate an arrow. This is so much easier. Subbed.

[@videomarknet]

thanks, Jason!

[@raw_pc]

Perfect explanation. Subscribed! 👍

[@videomarknet]

thank you

[@constantadi]

lovely, straight to the point. thanks!

[@personaltomato7131]

You're the BEST! THANK YOU!

[@rabby85]

It's just life saving. So many thanks

[@videomarknet]

thank you

[@williamvargas4179]

awesome tutorial, thanks for sharing bro!! Seamless explanation

[@videomarknet]

thanks, William!

[@henriquergarcia]

Thank you from BR man!!! Very simple!

[@videomarknet]

thanks, Henrique!

[@muhammadfahmifachrurrozy1210]

Dude you so awesome !!! i am so appreciated !!! you help me to do some project wich used after effect, thanks you so much!!

[@videomarknet]

thank you, Muhammad!

[@ahmedmounir6327]

grat one! so simple thank you

[@himalay7]

damn, I had been using so complicated methods in the past, thank you! Now I can also easily turn it into a precomp and use just import in other project :)

[@himalay7]

However, one problem I am facing is when I copy path from the line shape layer to the position property of arrow head layer, the key frames generated in the arrowhead layer don't align well with trim path start and end position of the line layer. The arrow head is slower than the line, and I have to manually adjust the key frame so that the start and end position is same.

[@condoningdrones]

Thank you. Easy ease!

[@jamierosen8594]

How do I do this if I want the arrow to go in a perfect circle (Like along the ellipse path)?

[@darkgiro5622]

thank you man, you helped me a lot with my school project

[@videomarknet]

sure thing. Good luck with your project.

[@ravib6107]

My man. on point. loved it

[@videomarknet]

thanks, Ravi!

[@sophieleighfisher]

You are Literally the Best! Thank you so much!!! Sophie

[@videomarknet]

thanks, Sophie!

[@airborneradar-8939]

great video man thanks

[@jackieh3888]

Super helpful thanks Mark!

[@videomarknet]

thanks, Jackie!

[@xmatias9]

Thanks you so much, new sub for sure, you're amazing

[@videomarknet]

thanks, Matias

[@johnleighdesigns]

great this is just what i was looking for! Wonder how you might go about adding 2 arrowheads one on each end to have a line where each arrowhead moves on x axis on left and right to show a width or widen or measure concept - would you just duplicate and flip? many thanks!

[@videomarknet]

If you want to utilize the same technique, I would just precompose everything, duplicate and mirror from same origin.

[@johnleighdesigns]

@@videomarknet i always forget about precomposing/grouping - I was just fiddling around with duplicated layers and awkward reversing paths rotating and should have done exactly as you just said! thanks so much

[@laurabrown1775]

Thank you! So simple.

[@videomarknet]

thanks, Laura.

[@EditorYeazun]

So easy. Thnaks

[@draxxuchiha949]

best tutorial ever on this topic 🥳

[@videomarknet]

thanks, Draxx!

[@nicolasvillarruel4208]

Underrated. Thank you.

[@videomarknet]

Thanks, Nicolas!

[@marpandz8483]

Subscribed for this hahaha you should do more of this

[@baldusfilm5148]

Brilliant! Thanks a lot :D

[@videomarknet]

pleasure, Baldusfilms! thanks for the comment

[@sentastudio]

Amazing tutorial.

[@ambientmoonday9004]

Awesome! Thank you, genius! :)

[@krokodilpil8335]

Nice. Might use this method.

[@markepstein8460]

300,000 chumps, more like it!! thanks dude!

[@DemandMarketingltd]

Yassssss, thank you my man 🙌

[@videomarknet]

Let's goooo!

[@officialuze]

Thank you so much for this, but can you explain why I can’t make my line smoother, it’s just a path like as if I am using navigator or gps

[@videomarknet]

when using the pen tool click and drag to get bezier handles for smooth paths. If you just click it will create a corner point. To smooth an existing corner point use the convrert vertex tool (looks like a triangle or chevron) which is also where the pen tool is just click and hold to see the other tools.

[@christiancarruthers635]

excellent tutorial

[@AbhijeetRanjan-cb4fq]

Thank you for sharing

[@beaking101]

dude I know its been a year but this is life saver for my chinese tutorials

[@videomarknet]

thank you. Glad it's helpful. Greetings to China.

[@fouziabaig78]

Very awesome trick without expression, I have use your trick in my project thank you

[@videomarknet]

Wonderful. Glad it was helpful. Thanks for the comment!

[@CraigWhiteIllustration]

awesome! Thank you!

[@videomarknet]

Thanks, Craig! ...Love your illustrations.

[@smoshi2884]

hi man, thanks for sharing this useful tutorial. I did as you said in this video and now I have a problem with my project. I have two shape paths, one shape is regular and the other shape is the same but flipped horizontally. when I want to apply this animation to the second shape's path (flipped one) the positions points that come to arrow shape is not flipped as the main shape, I would be thankful if you can help me fix this out.

[@videomarknet]

Hey, thanks for describing your problem. Right away I would assume your properties are flipped so the best thing is probably to pre-compose that flipped asset and perform the steps on that new composition.

[@UFOLOUCO]

TY nice bro

[@devmankar4580]

You are amazing ❤️🤩

[@TinyTorgue]

Any way to have additional keyframes using this method to speed up/slow down the arrowheads? I've got 2 arrows going different completely separate paths and need them to intersect at a common point at the same time, but as it is right now one arrives and passes way earlier than the other.

[@videomarknet]

Since this is meant to be the easiest method, when I want to have more control over the animation I would probably use a different approach. At some point expressions still make sense. It's just a matter of how far you want to take it and how much control you need.

[@TinyTorgue]

@@videomarknet Fair enough, still a great easy method that'll do the job. Actually, I just realized I can probably nest the layers and just manually manipulate the timings. Great tutorial!

[@graceyudha]

OMG THANK YOU!!

[@viktor-moor]

Auch tolle Videos 👍

[@wiloliver2873]

Thank you!

[@tylerfrazier8262]

Thanks for simplifying! Wasted a lot of time before I came across your video.

[@videomarknet]

thanks, Tyler!

[@muratz1]

Thanks for this nice tutorial. However you have to delete, copy and paste from the beginning whenever you want to make any change on your path. The other (add a null tracing path) method does not require to make any change whenever you revise your path. In special cases like preparing templates or cooperative works we may need that a little harder way.

[@videomarknet]

Yes ...and as stated in dozens of comments...the title says EASIEST method. Not BEST method. I could go ahead and show you the most complex and versatile rig...but a) no one would watch it and b) most people need a quick solution. So yes this solution is not super flexible...because it's EASY.

[@user-gp3mg3ig3w]

very good thanks

[@ArtAmeer]

Sooper and simple

[@MegaSina777]

Thanks

[@jackcampbell1394]

This is great but I'm having trouble making changes afterwards. The only way I can figure out how to move the animated arrow after the fact, is to delete the original path and draw a new one and then copy that path to the position of the triangle. Do you have a better method for relocating the arrow?

[@videomarknet]

yes as this is the 'easiest' method, it's definitely the most flexible one. In order to tweak the path afterwards, I'd choose a different approach which would need a tutorial o it's own. Again that's why this tutorial is titled 'easiest' method and not 'smartest' method.

[@jackcampbell1394]

I figured it out. You just have to link the path (shape layer 1) as the parent of the arrow head(shape layer 2). Then any position changes to the path bring the arrow head with it, while preserving the animation. Or you can link them both to a common parent layer and move that.@@videomarknet

[@Tomasrrb]

Man, i had to change the animation so I came back, re-watched the tutorial and went in again. Did everything but now my path is moving faster than the arrowhead and I have no idea why, considering I did the exact same thing as the last time :(

[@videomarknet]

you can line up the paths in case they are offset ...just hit the U-key to show keyframes when the layer is selected ...then you can compare the keyframes on the path and the arrowhead

[@NikiBarolini]

oooooo snap! THANK YOU!

[@BusserollesPierre]

Thanks, super easy

[@videomarknet]

thanks, Pierre!

[@mohamedoussamaboutout3579]

ty man

[@kristennelson9512]

Thank you!!!

[@videomarknet]

thanks, Kristen!

[@vcreativ8689]

Love it

[@SailorThugCuzSailorWasTaken]

Thank you

[@PAHADIBABAJI]

not so flexible expression can make it more flexible to reuse again and again and also it can be in one layer to simply copy one layer and paste then change only path .

[@videomarknet]

read it with me...'EASIEST method"....not 'most flexible' or 'reusable'. I can put expression together that you probably never heard of before after using AE for 20 years...but no one would search that and it would get like 5 views.

[@PAHADIBABAJI]

@@videomarknet sorry for that but I am searching for reusable that's why really sorry sir and great respect ❤️❤️

[@zeroyt5282]

omg so sick

[@user-bj8wg6yp6e]

What is the home key on a mac laptop? Not sure how to center the centerpoint on the arrow

[@videomarknet]

I'm not a mac user but as far as I remember the equivalent is cmnd+ left/right arrow ...or ....fn+left/right arrow

[@tarba2ha-885]

Brilliant

[@stevenweii]

it's strange that when you copy the path at the first there was no keyframes with that path, but when you paste on Position of arrow, there appears keyframes, can you please explain this??

[@videomarknet]

I don't know the technical process behind it, but that's what AE does when you paste path information into the position value.

[@winord-ua]

Hello, good tutorial, but if i want a png file to be a arrow head, what should i do?

[@videomarknet]

just the png file instead of the arrow head shape as seen here 2:40 ....paste the position into the PNG position ...rather than the shape position I'm using here.

[@winord-ua]

@@videomarknet It's didn't work for me. But i create a null path for this, and it's works :D

[@x24140]

Yes, This is much much easier!

[@simplysurfing]

May i ask.....what processor....GPU card and how much ram your using to do these projects ?

[@videomarknet]

I personally am on a high-end PC (2 x 2080Ti GPUs) since I create 3D animations for product advertising for a living. But these techniques are very simple and don't require a lot of processing power. Should work fine on a standard PC even laptop or macbook

[@RapidBlindfolds]

arrow key at 1:44 doesn't seem to work in my AE. it just distorts the edges rather than adding more or less

[@videomarknet]

keep the mouse pressed when using the arrow keys. Also what am I supposed to respond to 'doesn't work'.

[@Novamute]

BOSCH! cheers

[@sajidahnaf]

doesn't seem to work for me for some reason. the arrow head and line doesn't sync. though I have to admit that I am a complete noob in the ways of after effect

[@videomarknet]

try to follow each step one by one. Compare settings, values etc. if they match

[@Aleurrehman]

wow!

[@edgarspavlovics3540]

When I paste the path, the motion is much shorter than that of the original path. The arrow head moves much faster, what did I do wrong?

[@videomarknet]

just drag the second keyframe to match the timeline position of the original keyframe.

[@videomarknet]

since no keyframes are set just yet the time span defaults to 2 seconds (60 frames) if your trim path animation is longer you have to adjust the endframe to match. In my case I did operate within 60 frames so it matched automatically.

[@ukuleo99]

How do you animate the path? When I do this method, the line is not animated

[@videomarknet]

It's always an option to start over again. It's a 4 minute tutorial. All I can tell you is ...follow each step demonstrated in the video.

[@ukuleo99]

@@videomarknet Yea no, it doesn't work. It just makes a static line. Doesn't move when I play it back

[@Tomasrrb]

M8 I feel so stupid. I've followed your instructions to the letter and yet, I cannot make the triangle move. I have copied the path by using command+C and then i got to position and click command+V and absolutely nothing happens. What am I doing wrong?

[@videomarknet]

maybe you did draw the arrow into the same shape layer ...in the video you can see it's 2 seperate shape layers. When you paste position in the same shape layer it ....well...shares the same position...nothing happens. Uncheck the first shape layer (the path) before drawing the arrow head (the second path) ...that will create a new seperate shape layer

[@Tomasrrb]

@@videomarknet it was this exactly. First time using after effects, silly mistake. Thankfully we noobs have you helping us! Thanks man

[@videomarknet]

@@Tomasrrb thanks, Tomás!

[@persimmonswillis4320]

why my arrow did not connect to the end of the of the path. Tq

[@videomarknet]

I have absolutely no idea

[@Trabasi]

When copying the path and paste it on the arrow head, for some reason the arrowhead and the line don't align. The position and the timing of it just doesn't sync. Any hidden buttons that you pressed?

[@videomarknet]

hm actually it's exactly the process demonstrated in the tutorial. Nothing else. Maybe some settings on your end are different?

[@Trabasi]

@@videomarknet What I found out was that the arrow head had more key frames than the line. They're probably necessary as they turn around the arrow head, but that makes it hard to sync it up with the line. Tried some other things but I found an other effect to replace. Thanks for your reply.

[@vallejosalyssa2926]

@@Trabasi Can I ask how you fixed the problem? I am also encountering the same problem now.

[@Trabasi]

@@vallejosalyssa2926 I did know of a solution, but I havent used this technique in a while.. So I can't tell you right now. Might update you on this if I ever encounter this again.

[@pre-dawnraid9037]

Make sure your playhead is aligned exactly (synced) over the shape's line path STARTING POINT. So shape 1 and shape 2 key frame paths should start at the same point on the timeline.

[@danilorodriguesart6588]

AWESOME tutorial, I was literally giving up till I found your tutorial, thanks man !

[@videomarknet]

thanks, Danilo!

[@ttemidayoo]

Hi, Help me out, I pasted the Path but i did not see any keyframes

[@videomarknet]

not sure. Did you copy it properly first? Did you select the right property to paste it into?

[@ahmetyasintatar]

Dude, copy "path" with the clock symbol.

[@vincentsequeira3723]

👌🏻👌🏻🙏🏻

[@gregoryphipps2321]

This is the easiest solution I have found, but when I wrote the steps out to make sure I didn't leave anything out, it came to 16, including a couple notes. That's a lot of points of potential failure and it speaks to how silly it is that something seemingly so basic should require this many steps. That's on AE, not you, btw. And I'm still facing two issues. 1. arrowhead is visible before line starts moving, and. 2. at the last keyframe the arrowhead turns upside down. I checked the alignment of the keyframes and they match, but for some reason when I choose a longer length for the line drawing (like 4 seconds), it seems to put the pasted keyframes in a 2 second window, so I have to stretch them to match the original four second length.

[@videomarknet]

Well since we're disecting details on atomic level here obviously....let me reiterate what exactly I said ...quote '2 or 3 clicks, couple of steps' ....you could of course go ahead and count every single thing you do to get there ....including turning on your computer, the monitor and firing up After Effects and end up at 72 'steps' ...OR ...you could understand it as 'relevant steps' which is a) creating a trim path and b) pasting that arrowhead onto that path. Then we're much closer to what I actually said. To answer your question ....in order to keep these tutorials as short as possible I have to assume some basics are clear ...like work area, trim path etc. ...I've had people complain about tutorials of 90 seconds (yes 1,5 minutes!) being way too long for their taste. So explaining every little thing along the way didn't work as good as actually targetting specific tasks (like animate an arrow).

[@christine3071]

0:57. I tried to copy the path and paste it on the second shape layer. It did not work.

[@videomarknet]

Did you copy the path first as demonstrated 0:57? I pressed CTRL/CMD + C to copy. Did you click / highlight the according values (Path and Position as demonstrated)?

[@christine3071]

@@videomarknet I used cmd c, then I tried cmd shift c, I copied the path as you showed, then cmd v to paste on shape 2’s path. (I also tried on the position). I tried different variations of copying and pasting. But I couldn’t get it to work. I wish this step could have been broken down a bit more as somehow I’m missing something that you did. Perhaps one of my settings in Preferences may be off? Anyways I reviewed this step about a dozen times and it still wouldnt work

[@videomarknet]

@@christine3071 It's a pretty straightforward step actually so I'm not sure how much further it could be broken down. Maybe the problem is somewhere else. Have you tried a new blank project?