Joe Lawrence shows how you can animate any object around a path in After Effects.

You would think for such a motion graphics concentric tool such as After Effects, that animating an object along a path would be simple. It’s not that straightforward, though. There is a fast and easy way to move along a mask, path, or spline, as shown in Joe Lawrence’s latest quick tip tutorial.

Joe shows how a strategic copy and paste will allow you to place and automatically animate any layer on to a vector path. There are a couple of other ways to do this type of animation too. Paul Conigliaro’s Wayfinder script offers simplicity with a lot more control. You can also check out Satoru Yonekura’s expression tutorial that shows how you can deform and animate layers along a path in Ae.

Joe Lawrence is a freelance art director, compositor, and animator. Make sure you pay a visit to his channel, the You and Me Academy.