Wiggle Puppet Pin X and Y position independently
How to wiggle Puppet Pin X and Y positions independently in After Effects
If you need to wiggle a puppet in After Effects in only X or Y axis, this post presents an expression for how to wiggle puppet pin positions in only X or Y.
The wiggle tool and the puppet pin tools are both key AE feature, but many people wonder if they can wiggle one position dimension X or Y independently of the others.
For example, with different frequencies and magnitudes.
The answer is yes, you can! Please keep reading for the answer…
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The answer: Simply use this simple expression in the Puppet Pin Position, like this example:
x = wiggle(1,10);
y = wiggle(2,20);
[x[0],y[1]]
(In the expression above, the frequency for X is 1 and 2 for Y. The amplitude for X is 10 and 20 for Y. Adjust these values as you need!)
To only wiggle in X: If you want to wiggle only in X, you can set Y to wiggle (0,0). To only wiggle in Y: If you want to wiggle only in Y, you can set X to wiggle (0,0).
Very important: This expression does not use a value for z, because the Puppet position only has an X and Y value!
But, for OTHER position values (i.e. not Puppet positions) you can use 3 dimensions IF the layer is a 3D layer.
To wiggle X, Y and Z independently for such a layers position value, the expression would be for example:
x = wiggle(1,10);
y = wiggle(2,20);
z = wiggle(3,30);
[x[0],y[1],z[2]]
If the layer is a 2D layer, not a 3D layer, then you can use the first expression above, the same as for the puppet position!
There is another similar but shorter expression you can use, to wiggle with the magnitude 75 only and frequency 1, in only X for puppet pins by separating X and Y like this and setting the y wiggle parameters to 0 and 0:
[wiggle(1,75)[0],wiggle(0,0)[1]]
This wiggles X only, while not wrongly moving Y.
If you want to wiggle in y only with the magnitude of 5 and frequency 2, you would use:
[wiggle(0,0)[0],wiggle(2,5)[1]]
Good luck with the wiggle expressions and have fun!
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SOFI K – Fall Back Down (Music Video)
Anders Sundstedt Portfolio
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