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Motion Paths

Intro​

Draw and edit paths that represent the direction and speed of selected animated Shapes.

Motion Paths can be enabled/disabled in the Viewport Settings and will appear for up to 10 selected Shapes.

Appearance​

The information density for a Motion Path can be determined in the Viewport Settings with options to display frames, seconds, keyframes and the path and its direction. The path's length can also be set to represent a period of time.

Up to 10 selected Shapes can be displayed at once.

Interaction​

It's possible to interact with a Motion Path directly in the Viewport. This is very similar to how interactions work in the Graph Editor and with the Edit Shape tool.

Move a Keyframe​

A keyframe is indicated by a diamond shape.

To move a keyframe in the Viewport, with the Select tool active:

  • Click + Drag a keyframe to a new position.

Interpolation​

A keyframe's handles determine the acceleration/deceleration of a Shape either side of their parent keyframe. A handle appears for a bézier keyframe as a small circle on the end of a line. Note that a linear keyframe has no visible handles.

To convert a handle, with the Select tool active:

  • Option/Alt + Click a keyframe to toggle between bézier/linear interpolation.
  • Option/Alt + Click + Drag a keyframe to toggle between bezier/linear interpolation and edit the handle(s).

Bézier handles can be joint or broken. A joint handle will also move its opposing handle whereas a broken handle will not.

To set a handle's joint/broken state:

  • Option/Alt + Click + Drag a handle to toggle it between a joint and broken state.
  • Option/Alt + Click + Drag a handle to toggle it between a joint and broken state and move it.

Keyframes​

To add a new keyframe to a Motion Path, with the Select tool active:

  • Select a Shape in the Viewport, hold the S key and click on a frame along a motion path.

While S is held, a preview of where the new keyframe will be created is displayed. A new keyframe will be created on a whole frame as long as a keyframe does not already exist on that frame.

Velocity Editing​

Velocity editing is a way to increase/decrease a Shape’s velocity while maintaining the shape of its Motion Path.

To edit a Shape's velocity, with the Select tool active:

  • Hold Shift + Cmd/Ctrl and drag a handle. If the handle is joined, both handles will be affected.
  • Hold Shift + Cmd/Ctrl + Option/Alt and drag a handle. If the handle is joined, only the selected handle will be affected.

Ensure that Frames are enabled in the Motion Path Viewport Settings to visualise the change in velocity.