Creating And Modifying Motion Paths; About Motion Paths; To Create A Motion Path; Keyframes And Motion Paths - Adobe AFTER EFFECTS 7.0 Manual

Creating and modifying motion paths

About motion paths

When you animate position values, After Effects displays the movement as a motion path. You can create a motion
path for the position of the layer or for the anchor point of a layer. A position motion path appears in the Compo-
sition panel; an anchor point motion path appears in the Layer panel. A motion path appears as a sequence of dots,
where each dot marks the position of the layer at each frame. An X in the path marks the position of a keyframe.
Note: The density of dots between the Xs in a motion path indicates the layer's relative speed. Dots close together indicate
a lower speed; dots farther apart indicate a greater speed.
You can control the display of motion paths by setting View Options in the Composition panel menu or Display
preferences.
You can modify a motion path either by changing an existing keyframe or adding a new keyframe. A motion path is
less complex and generally easier to modify when you use fewer keyframes to describe the path.

To create a motion path

1 In the Composition panel, position the layer at the point where you want the motion to begin.
In the Timeline panel, Press P to display the Position property, and then click the Position stopwatch to create an
2
initial keyframe.
Move the current-time indicator to a point later in time.
3
In the Composition panel, drag the layer to a new position. After Effects automatically creates another keyframe.
4
Repeat steps 3 and 4 until the motion path is complete.
5

Keyframes and motion paths

If you want to add a new keyframe to a motion path, make sure that the current-time indicator is positioned at the
time at which you want the new keyframe to occur. If you want to change an existing keyframe, make sure that the
current-time indicator is positioned at the existing keyframe; otherwise, After Effects adds a new keyframe if you
move the layer instead of moving points on the motion path.
The motion-path controls that you see in the Composition panel depend on the options selected in the Composition
panel menu. For maximum control over the shape of a motion path, use the pen tools and the spatial interpolation
methods.
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User Guide