Creating motion paths with masks

You can instantly create a motion path from any mask that you draw in After Effects (or from a path that you copy from Adobe Illustrator or Adobe Photoshop), by pasting the mask or path into a layer's Position property, a layer's Anchor Point property, or the effect point property of an effect. The assigned keyframes are set to rove in time, except for the first and last ones, to create a constant velocity along the mask or path. By default, After Effects assigns a duration of 2 seconds to the motion path. Adjust the default duration by dragging the first or last keyframe to a new point in time.

For more information on importing masks from Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop, see "Importing masks from Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop" on page 231.

To create a motion path from a mask:

1. Do one of the following:
• Select a mask.
• Create and select a path from Adobe Illustrator or Adobe Photoshop. (For information on creating paths in those products, see the respective User Guides.)
2. Copy the mask or path to the clipboard.
3. In the Timeline window, select the destination keyframe property.
4. Paste the mask or path.