Animating Shape Layers

Adobe After Effects has a powerful feature known as shape layers. These layers are vector shapes that can be animated using multiple modifiers and shape layer properties. In this chapter, we will learn how to create shape layers and how to customize and connect shape layer vertex points with Null objects to create impactful results.

The main topics we’ll cover in the chapter are as follows:

• Creating shape layers
• Exploring shape tools
• Working with Bezier paths
• Animating shape and text layers
• Using Null for vertex points of Shape layers
• Merging the compositions

Technical requirements

The lesson files for this chapter can be found at https://packt.link/gbz/9781804617281.

Before starting the chapter, it is beneficial to preview the final output and end project file provided with the Chapter 4 | Lesson 4 exercise files. By doing so, you can gain a clear understanding of the desired outcome and have a visual representation of what you will be working toward throughout the chapter.

Previewing the final output allows you to see the completed project, which demonstrates how the various elements, effects, and animations come together. You can observe the overall look and feel, the arrangement of different components, and how they interact with each other. This preview serves as a reference point, giving you a target to aim for as you progress through the chapter.

Creating shape layers

We will look into how to draw shape layers in the composition. New shape layers are added in the composition of After Effects. We can apply Fill and Stroke to a shape, modify the vertex points of the path, and apply animation presets.

Before we start to work on shape layers and tools, let us create a new project with the composition as follows:

1. Go to File | New | New Project.
2. Now, click on the composition icon in the Project window, or go to Composition | New Composition….
3. Name it Start screen.
4. In the New Composition dialog box, select the HD.1920x1080.25 fps preset under the Preset drop-down option.
5. Set the duration to 10 seconds as follows: 0:00:10:00.
6. Select OK to create the composition.

The preceding steps can be seen in Figure 4.1:

Figure 4.1: Start screen Composition Settings

Now that we have created the composition named Start screen, we will look into the shape tools to create a...

Exploring shape tools

In the toolbar, we have multiple tools for creating different shapes as shape layers, which are as follows:

• Rectangle tool
• Rounded tool
• Elliptical tool
• Polygon tool
• Star tool
• Pen tool

Note

Vector shapes created by Adobe Illustrator can be imported/converted in After Effects into shape layers. We will look at this in Chapter 5.

These shape tools have two purposes – first, to create shape layers, and second, to create masks for layers. For now, we will focus on creating shape layers instead of masks, which will be covered later, in Chapter 6.

Creating a funnel shape

We will be creating a funnel shape using the shape tools to get an understanding of the tools and options, and then, at a later stage, we will be animating this shape using various controls and properties. To create the shape, we will follow these steps:

1. Before we start creating the funnel shape, it’s a good idea to enable grids in...

Working with Bezier paths

Now, we want to make it taper from the bottom, meaning the bottom should be narrow and the top should be wider to make it look like a funnel. So, for this, we will follow these steps:

1. We could just change the bottom vertex points in the coordinates, but since we did not select Bezier Path from the Tools panel options, it is showing us the Rectangle 1 properties, which does not give access to the individual vertex points. However, we can easily convert this shape into a Bezier path.

   To convert the shape into a Bezier path, right-click on Rectangle Path 1 and then select Convert To Bezier Path. You will see it becomes an editable path. It shows Path 1, which is what we will select to get access to all four individual vertex points of the shape path.

Figure 4.7: Shape Layer 2 converted to a Bezier path

2. Now, we need to select the bottom two vertex points together for Shape Layer 2. To do so, go to the Selection tool...

Animating shape and text layers

For animation, we will start with text animation and shape animation. But before we animate the shape layers, we need to make sure that the anchor points are adjusted. To do that, go to the funnel layers and change the anchor point position to the top center edge of each layer using the Pan Behind tool.

For the handle, you can keep it aligned on the right-hand side of the funnel.

Figure 4.24: Funnel layer anchor points adjusted using the Pan Behind tool

Now that we have adjusted the anchor points of the shape layer, we can start with the animation of the shape layers.

Animating shape layers

Let’s now animate the shape layers that we made in the Start screen composition:

1. We will start with the top part of the funnel. Select the Funnel Top layer and go to Transform | Scale. You can also use the S shortcut to reveal the Scale property.
2. Now, take the playhead to 00 seconds. Go to the Scale property...

Creating an info chart

Now, we will create an animated bar chart with text and path line animation, and we will learn how to easily control the path vertex points using the Null object in After Effects. Follow these steps to implement this:

1. First, create a new composition. This new composition will have the same settings we used previously, in the Creating shape layers section, which are Full HD, a frame rate of 25, and a duration of 10 seconds. Change the composition name to info chart and click OK.
2. Go to the Tools panel and select the Rectangle tool. Make sure the Fill color is set to white, and change Stroke to None. Then, make sure that Bezier Path is deselected as you do not need it for this shape.

Figure 4.30: Rectangle tool settings

3. Create a bar that you can click and drag to create a rectangular bar from top to bottom. Name the shape layer Bar.

Figure 4.31: Rectangular bar

What we intend to...

Creating a bar graph line

We will create a graph line using the Pen tool to indicate the graph values from 2020 to 2026. The Pen tool is a great tool for creating custom shapes and Bezier paths.

Follow these steps to create the bar graph line:

1. Select the Pen tool in the Tools panel and make sure Fill is set to None, Stroke is a white color, and the Stroke value is 10.

Figure 4.38: Pen tool settings

2. Now, make sure that no layer is selected in the Composition panel, then click on the bottom of the 2020 bar. We create a vertex point on the 2020 bar and place vertex points on all the years’ bars going from top to bottom and again from bottom to top. This depicts that the graph is sometimes going up and sometimes down, which is how a statistical graph naturally is. This is shown in Figure 4.39. Rename the layer Graph Line.

Figure 4.39: Graph Line created using the Pen tool

3. Go to the Elliptical...

Using Null for vertex points of Shape layers

To make the animation simple, After Effects helps us by giving us a script to run, which creates Null objects for the vertex points of the path. With this, we can control multiple vertex points with the Null objects. To do so, follow these steps:

1. Go to the graph line in the composition, open the dropdown of Layer | Contents | Shape 1, and then select Path 1 | Path.
2. Go to the Window menu, then select Create Nulls From Paths.
3. A window will pop up; select Points Follow Nulls.

Figure 4.41: Graph Line Path and Points Follow Nulls selected

Notice that each anchor point has a Null object created, so if we move the Null, we can see the points also move there. Going ahead, we can control the graph line and make the animation simpler to implement.

4. Rename all Null objects. Go to Null 1 (that is, vertex point number 1) and rename it Line Point1. Similarly, we will rename each of the Null points...

Animating the info chart

Before we animate the info chart, we need to manage the Timeline panel to hide the layer that we won’t be using for the animation. To do so, we can use the Shy option in the Timeline panel. For this, select all the layers from point7 to the graph line layer. We don’t want to see the graph lines and points in the Timeline panel, so enable the Shy button in the Timeline panel.

Figure 4.44: Shy button enabled on layers

Even after we enable the Shy option for the layers, we can still see them because, currently, the Master Shy button isn’t enabled. So, enable the Master Shy button to hide all the shy layers, so the Timeline panel doesn’t look chaotic and we have a neat space. You can disable the Shy button anytime to see all the layers in the Timeline panel again.

Figure 4.45: Master Shy button in the Timeline panel

For the info chart animation, we will first animate the text...

Merging the compositions

We will merge the two compositions we have in the current project (StartScreen and InfoChart) to create one final master composition.

Follow these steps to merge both compositions into one:

1. Create a new composition in the project by clicking on the New Composition icon in the Project window.
2. Name it Master and change its duration to 20 seconds, keeping all other settings the same.

Figure 4.59: Master composition settings

3. Now, drag the StartScreen composition into the Master composition and make sure it starts at 0 seconds.
4. Now, drag the InfoChart composition into the Master composition where StartScreen ends, but keep an overlap of 10 frames.

Figure 4.60: StartScreen and InfoChart compositions placed in the Master composition

We merged both the compositions in the Master composition but, to create a smooth playback between the compositions, we will add a transition between...

Creating a transition between compositions

We will now create a transition between the StartScreen and InfoChart compositions:

1. Select the StartScreen composition in the Master composition, then go to Effects | Transition | Venetian Blinds.
2. Now, go to the Effect Controls panel to customize the Venetian Blinds effect. Change its Width value to 120.
3. Take the playhead to 5:10 seconds and enable the stopwatch for the Transition Completion property in the Venetian Blinds effect in the Effects panel. Set the value to 0%.

Figure 4.61: Venetian Blinds effect settings and animation

4. Now, use the shortcut U to reveal the Transition Completion property in the timeline.
5. Take the playhead to 06 seconds and set the value to 100%.

Figure 4.62: Venetian Blinds effect animation

If you play it now, you will see that you have merged both compositions together – that is, StartScreen and InfoChart.

...

Summary

In this chapter, we have learned about shape layers and how to animate them using modifiers. We also looked at other properties of shape layers and text animation.

We have learned how to work with multiple compositions and how to merge compositions into one.

We have discovered how shape layers combined with text can help you create any type of motion graphics. Make sure to try other modifiers in the shape layers to see the amazing animations you can create with shape layers.

In the next chapter, we will learn how to import graphics from Photoshop and Illustrator to animate existing graphic layers in After Effects. We will learn how to convert Photoshop and Illustrator layers into After Effects native layers so that we can animate them using the After Effects modifiers and effects.