Adobe 12040118 - After Effects Standard Tutorial page 265

Note: After Effects also includes a Write-on effect. (See Write-on effect.)
1. Select a paint tool in the Tools panel.
2. In the Paint panel, choose Write On from the Duration menu.
3. Drag in the Layer panel to apply a paint stroke to the layer.
As you paint, your movements are recorded in real time and determine the rate at which the resulting stroke is drawn to the screen for
output. Recording begins when you click within the layer in Layer panel. When you release the mouse button, the current time returns to the
time at which you started painting; this behavior is so that you can record more paint strokes for animated playback starting from the same
time.
You can animate the Trim Paths operation on a shape path to accomplish a similar result as animating a paint stroke with Write On. (See Alter
shapes with path operations.)
Animate a paint stroke path
1. Select a paint tool in the Tools panel.
2. In the Paint panel, choose Single Frame, Constant, or Custom from the Duration menu.
3. In the Layer panel, drag to create a paint stroke.
4. Using the Selection tool, select the paint stroke.
To momentarily activate the Selection tool, press and hold V.
5. Press SS to show the selected paint stroke in the Timeline panel.
6. Click the triangle next to the paint stroke name to expand its list of properties.
7. Click the stopwatch for the Path property to create an initial Path keyframe.
8. Drag the current-time indicator to another time.
9. While the stroke is still selected, drag in the Layer panel using a paint tool to create a paint stroke. A second Path keyframe appears in the
Timeline panel.
By creating a stroke while a stroke is selected, you replace the selected stroke, which is sometimes referred to as stroke targeting.
If you are not satisfied with the way that the path is interpolated, consider creating your path as a mask, using Smart Mask Interpolation
to fine-tune the interpolation, and then copying the Mask Path property keyframes to the paint stroke Path property. (See Animate a
mask path with Smart Mask Interpolation.)
After Effects interpolates a paint stroke (center) between two different shapes created with the same brush (left and right).
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