Connecting In/Out Points with time remap

[dunkelzahn]

Good morning everybody,

I am currently working on a AE project, where I want the In and out point of a layer to define the In and out point of another layer.

Something like this:

Layer 1 In Point/Out Point
I
I defines
I
I--> LAYER 2 In Point/Out Point


I guess using an expression that uses Time Remap on Layer2 might be helpful here, by positioning the keyframes at the in and out points of Layer 1. I have tried this approach to control the position of the two time remap keyframes in the comp:

Code: Select all

timeRemap.key(1).valueAtTime = thisComp.layer("Layer 1").inPoint
timeRemap.key(2).valueAtTime = thisComp.layer("Layer 1").outPoint

However, nothing happens. I am doing something wrong, but I don´t know what . Any help on this topic, including nudges in the right direction are much appreciated.

Cheers and wishing all of you a nice day

Dunkelzahn

[Paul Tuersley]

Try this expression on the time remap property:

Code: Select all

i = thisComp.layer("Layer 1").inPoint;
o = thisComp.layer("Layer 1").outPoint;
linear(time, i, o, thisLayer.inPoint, thisLayer.outPoint);

[dunkelzahn]

Hey Mister Tuersley,

the code works like a charm... except for one little misunderstanding . I wanted the keyframes not to have the value but to be at the in and out points in the time line. Anyway, I´ll have a look if I can modify your little piece of code.

Cheers

Dunkelzahn

[Paul Tuersley]

Yeah I wasn't totally sure what you wanted. An expression can't actually alter the in/out points of a layer but you could have an Opacity expression to give the same effect:

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i = thisComp.layer("Layer 1").inPoint;
o = thisComp.layer("Layer 1").outPoint;
if (time < i || time > o) 0;
else value;

If you wanted a Time Remap expression to shift the existing start/end keyframes based on the other layer you could modify my first example to:

Code: Select all

i = thisComp.layer("Layer 1").inPoint;
o = thisComp.layer("Layer 1").outPoint;
linear(time, i, o, key(1).value, key(2).value);

[dunkelzahn]

Oh wow,

that works great . Thank you very much. This should make a lot of things easier.

Cheers and Best Wishes to you, where ever you may be, Mr. Tuersley

Dunkelzahn

[dunkelzahn]

Hello everybody it´s me again,

I am just trying build another template, where there are 4 keyframes in the layer to be time remapped. This is due to the layer having an intro and an outro. So basically my script should look like this:

Code: Select all

i1 = thisComp.layer("Layer 1").inPoint;
o1 = thisComp.layer("Layer 1").inPoint+4;
i2= thisComp.layer("Layer 1").outPoint-4;
o2 = thisComp.layer("Layer 1").outPoint;
linear(time, i1, o1, key(1).value, key(2).value);
linear(time, i2, o2, key(3).value, key(4).value);

But I am missing out on something, as either the first or last two keyframes are affected, depending on which linear argument comes first.

So how do I make the time remap accept all four keyframe instructions? Currently I am feeling a bit lost and am grateful for any tips leading me in the right direction.

Greetings and have a nice day

Dunkelzahn

[Paul Tuersley]

Something like this:

Code: Select all

i1 = thisComp.layer("Layer 1").inPoint;
o1 = thisComp.layer("Layer 1").inPoint+4;
i2= thisComp.layer("Layer 1").outPoint-4;
o2 = thisComp.layer("Layer 1").outPoint;
if (time <= o1) linear(time, i1, o1, key(1).value, key(2).value);
else if (time >= i2) linear(time, i2, o2, key(3).value, key(4).value);
else linear(time, o1, i2, key(2).value, key(3).value);

Expressions are calculated on each frame with no knowledge of the result of other frames, so an expression must always evaluate to something on every frame. You can't just stack up various instructions like having multiple linear lines. Unless you use something like an if/else statement it will always result in the evaluation of the last line.

[dunkelzahn]

Duly noted, that bit with the if/else logic for calculating stuff frame by frame gave me quite a lot to think about in terms of what is possible in terms of expressions.

Again, Thank you very much, Mr. Thursley

Cheers

Dunkelzahn