Assorted Animation Tools - Adobe AFTER EFFECTS CS3 PROFESSIONAL User Manual

You can paste any of these paths into the Position or Anchor Point property for a layer, or into an effect control point's
position property. The pasted keyframes are set to rove in time, except for the first and last ones, to create a constant
velocity along the path.
By default, the duration of the pasted motion path is 2 seconds. You can adjust the duration by dragging the first or
last keyframe in the Timeline panel.
Copy a path to the clipboard:
1
• Select a Path property in the Timeline panel, and choose Edit > Copy.
• Select a path in Illustrator or Photoshop, and choose Edit > Copy.
In the Timeline panel, select the property into which to paste the path. The property must be animated—that is,
2
it must have at least one keyframe or an expression.
Place the current-time indicator at the time for the first keyframe of the motion path.
3
Choose Edit > Paste.
4
See also
"Copy a path from Illustrator, Photoshop, or Fireworks" on page 323
"About paths" on page 312

Assorted animation tools

Use motion blur
When you view one frame of motion-picture film or video containing a moving object, the image is often blurred,
because a frame represents a sample of time (in film, a frame is 1/24 of a second long). In that time, a moving object
occupies more than one position as it travels across the frame, so it doesn't appear as a sharp, still object. The faster
the object moves, the more it is blurred. The camera shutter angle and shutter phase also affect the appearance of the
blur, determining how long the shutter stays open and when the shutter opens relative to the beginning of the frame.
In contrast, in a single frame of a computer-generated animation, you may not be able to tell which objects are
moving because all moving objects may appear as sharp and clear as nonmoving objects. Without motion blur, layer
animation produces a strobe-like effect of distinct steps instead of an appearance of continuous change. Adding
motion blur to layers you animate in After Effects makes motion appear smoother and more natural.
You can use motion blur when you animate a layer—for example, moving a layer of text across the screen. You cannot
add motion blur to motion that already exists within a layer, such as live-action video. If you want to smooth live-
action video where you assigned a frame rate much lower or higher than the original, use frame blending.
You enable motion blur for each layer individually, and you also determine whether the motion blur is rendered for
previews and final rendering. Use the Enable Motion Blur composition switch
enable or disable motion blur rendering for previews. Modify the render settings in the Render Queue panel to
enable or disable motion blur rendering for final output.
Motion blur slows rendering, so you may want to disable the composition switch while working, and only enable it
when you need to see the finished result.
AFTER EFFECTS CS3
at the top of the Timeline panel to
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User Guide