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Viz World Classic User Guide

Version 23.0 | Published December 12, 2023 ©

Animating Shape Layers

In addition to being able to animate individual shapes, you can animate the complete set of shapes on the shape layer as a single entity.

This is useful if you have constructed a complex illustration from a number of separate shapes and want to animate it as if it were a single object.

Each shape can be given its own animation path with control over the following features:

  • Opacity.

  • Drop shadow opacity.

  • Offset color and softness.

  • Position.

  • Rotation.

  • Scale.

  • Write on amount.

  • Softness.

To Auto-animate the Entire Shape Layer

Click the Auto Animate button on the Properties panel for the shape layer, or select the shape layer in the Layers list and click Auto-Animate... on the Layer menu.

The Automatic Animation dialog box allows you to automatically slide in, slide out, fade on, and/or fade off the shape layer with specified timings.

For more information about using the automatic animation dialog box see section Automatically Animating a Layer.

To Animate the Entire Shape Layer

images/download/attachments/140821373/workingwithshapes_path.png

  1. Select the Path tool:

  2. Drag the shape layer to the position you want it to have at each frame of the animation.

    images/download/attachments/140821373/workingwithshapes_shape_path.png

  3. Hold down CTRL and drag from a point on the animation path to extend tangent handles from that point and create a curved animation path:

    Tip: If you are creating a small graphic draw it in the center of the shape layer, as this makes its position correspond to the points on the animation path.