aescripts + aeplugins

Gabriel Valente Ferrão

how do I blend between custom shapes/paths?

Matt Wilson

You need to add keyframes to the blend shape of the path property for all the shapes you want to include in the blend. Next you need to select the path property keyframes and hit the Add Button in the UI panel. This will create a slider on both the start and end controllers and if you edit the values your shapes will blend between the shapes keyframed. Make sure you update all the blend objects when you add the keyframes and expressions. Here are some screenshots. 

emil Ple

how can i blend between let's say a square and a morphing/distorting shape. i tried that just every copy applies distortion differently , basically a blend of the value of the effect not the shape itself. To put it differently blend between square vertices and bezier shape vertices maybe in 3d?. 

Like in this image here

Matt Wilson

So what you need to do is make the square a bezier path instead of a rectangle path (see screenshot) Add a keyframe on the path property to preserve this then add another to the shape you want. Then add the Path information to the blend system using the add button and update your shapes. here is an example project for you to look at:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/rtjefamblu99ffi/Organic Blend.aep?dl=0

I hope this helps.

Matt

emil Ple

Hey Matt thanks that was quick and in the right direction.i now can do 2d stuff like rotation , skew. The question is how do i animate the vertices themselves, and the "formed shape" to update itself. I should have the same number of vertices?  Square stays fixed also the number of intermediary steps are fixed too 20-25 maybe. i just want this "veil"/ outer layer to update accordingly to the position of vertices. i can see the vertices and their handles just locked.

to put it in a simple question.

how can i change just the end blend shape (vertex position) and the rest to follow?

Matt Wilson

Unfortunately as far as I am aware what you're asking isn't possible due to the way expressions work. You cannot use expressions to effect the interpolation of path information. This means that Blend is limited to states set by the keyframes

emil Ple

thanks, i was afraid that is not possible. i'll try with a programmer or something. I appreciate your effort. Cheers and be safe.

Robert Francis

Hello I have a VERY simple question.. is it possible to link the controllers to null objects that have tracking data applied to them? .. or even simpler, can tracking data be applied straight to the controllers? .. if either of these things are possible I will be over the moon with joy!!!  

Matt Wilson

Hi Robert, 

I've not tried but you can link the controllers to nulls so in theory you should be able to apply the tracking information to nulls then link the controllers to the nulls.

Matt

Robert Francis

Hi Matt, thanks for the rapid response! After asking I noticed I can take the trial version for a spin, so I did... and it WORKS!!! You can not imagine how happy I am to discover this I was attempting to use the built in repeater, but had very little control over how to position the end of the repeat.

pairing tracking data with this plugin is a game changer!! 

simply parent the start and/or end control to a null with the tracking data applied to it and boom! 

Robert Francis

Hey, me again .. I'm loving this plugin! .. I have a feature suggestion if you ever think about doing an update?

It would be amazing to be able to add more than 2 controls. 

for example if it were possible to have the start and end controls, but one more control between those two. Opening up the opportunity to manipulate the two end points while leaving the one in the middle locked in place, to create corners or even bends in the blend between the start and end control.

Just a thought!  

Matt Wilson

Hey Robert!

Good suggestion, I've just finished a huge update to Easy Clones so I'm not working on code at the moment, I need a creative release ha!

Glad you're enjoying the tool. You can already do this to some degree by building two systems and linking the start controllers together that way they will represent the middle and the two end controllers can be manipulated separately.

I hope this helps! 

Matt

jonathan talmor

unfortunately it isnt working so well for me ... i am following exactly after the tutorial..i am using imac 27 2019 with AE 17.5.1

Jonathan Warner

Hello, I just purchased. Is there any way to scale down each blend shape by a percentage of the shape before rather than a percentage of the original?

For example, imagine a circle that scales 90% down with each step. Rather than "even" steps (that look like offset paths in AI) I'd like more of an exponential scaling where Shape 10 is 90% scale of Shape 09 (instead of 10% of Shape 01)... This would look more like a vanishing point where the outer larger shapes are further apart than the inner smaller ones.

Hope this makes sense, and hope there's a way to rig this!

Matt Wilson

Hi Jonathan, 

That is something that Blend cannot do unfortunately, the entire tool is built to evenly blend between A and B based on the properties that are changed.

It's definately something that can be coded but it's not something that this tool can help with. 

Best wishes,

Matt

Jonathan Warner

Matt,

Missed that you had replied, sorry. 

That's too bad about this feature can't be added -- Yet! Maybe something for a future release? I love your delay features which make your plug-in very elegant to use. 

I even wondered if Easy Clones could maybe do this. I'd love a C4D-Mograph-like clones-with-scale (and/or position and/or rotation) where you could adjust offsets, randomness, and all that WITH your delays.

Helene Syre

Hi Matt!

I have tried to use Blend i AE and its working great, my only problem is when i try to combine it with Bodymovin. I thought the solution would be auto-trace. Do you have any tips how to fix that the auto-trace does not combine with the Blend? Or how to use auto-trace with it another way? If not, is it possible to "flatten" animation with Blend?

Matt Wilson

Hi Helene,

I've not tried to use Blend with Bodymovin but I've used Bodymoving a lot in the past. Have you checked this option when exporting?

Matt Wilson

Another option would be to bake the expressions into keyframes directly in After Effects by selecting all the properties with expressions and doing the following:

Matt Wilson

Note that the second option is a destructive workflow so make sure you duplicate your composition beforehand. Hopefully one of these options will work.

Matt

Helene Syre

Thanks for the reply! Tested both but it did not work, I will test a little bit more and see if I find out anything.

Helene

Matt Wilson

Hey Helene,

I've got some free time today so I'm going to look into this for you as I'm sure there will be a way to get Blend working with Bodymovin. I'll report back to you later on.

Matt

Matt Wilson

I've got it working.

You need to make sure in the Bodymovin settings you have Guides selected and in the Expressions options select Convert expressions to keyframes. 

I forgot that the start and end controllers are guide layers so when you were trying the other day without having the setting for guides selected it wouldn't be including the controllers into the JSON render. 

Here is a quick project I made: https://lottiefiles.com/98232-blend

Matt

Helene Syre

Hi, thank u so much for your help. Im new to after effects, and I cant see what I'm doing wrong... Would you take a look if you have some time?

Here is the file: https://lottiefiles.com/98262-logo-rotation-with-blend

Helene

Matt Wilson

I've made you a little video recording explaining what you need to do: 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/j3jahigd9uw6xhp/Bodymovin.mov?dl=0

I hope this helps! 

Matt

Zeno Heymans

Hi,

Love this tool! Is there any chance that it's getting an update for ae 2023?

Would be cool to not always have to go back to ae 2022.

Matt Wilson

Hey Zeno,

It should work for 2023, I've just tested it on my machine and it seems to work fine. 

Have you got the latest version?

Matt

Ricardo Donoso

Hello is this plugin still under development and support, the last update was in 2020.

Matt Wilson

Hi Ricardo,

I'm not currently developing / updating the script. It still works with the latest version of AE though I just haven't done any updates to the code since 2020.

Matt