Hello and welcome to the 15th video in
this beginner's guide to Adobe After Effects in this tutorial we are going to
learn about the pen tool and paths in After Effects, in the previous episode we
looked at making shapes using the shape builder tool and the various ways they
can be customized. Now there is another way of making shapes in After Effects. We
have what is called the pen tool in After Effects, this can be used to create
custom paths which can join to make shapes which can be used for animation
sequences. Now some of you watching that use adobe illustrator and photoshop may
already be familiar with the pen tool in After Effects, the pen tool works quite
similar to how it works in illustrator and Photoshop. Now if you are already
familiar with the pen tool then you may want to skip ahead to the next video,
though if you are new to the pen tool I would strongly advise you continue with
this video, in this tutorial I'm going to discuss the pen tool and the concept of
paths in After Effects. So in this video we are going to be covering the
following topics: What is the pen tool, drawing with the pen tool and modifying
shapes with the pen tool. So by the end of this video
you will know everything there is to know about the pen tool. So let's get
into it! So here I am in After Effects and I have a project open here
demonstrating some paths and shapes I have created previously with the pen
tool, this project also includes some worksheets, these include some paths and
shapes we are going to be creating later on, so let's start by taking a look at
this document. Now if you want to follow along with this video you can open this
document I have prepared especially for you, this can be found in the essential
practice folder in the project folder and you can download this project folder
for a small fee the download link with the instructions is in the description.
The download folder comes with lots of exercise documents we will be using on
this course that have been carefully developed to aid your learning
experience, the folder also comes with document resources such as videos
graphics and images you can use to build your first your presentation from scratch later on in this course. To get the full learning
experience I recommend you get the project folder, download link with
instructions is in the description. So with the project folder open, click into
the S2 essential practice folder, into folder 15 pen tool and paths and open
the pen tool After Effects file and you would have the same documents I have
opened here, okay so what exactly is the pen tool and what are paths? Well in
After Effects the pen tool is used to simply draw and modify paths, these paths
can then be used to perform a series of creative tasks in After Effects, we can
find the pen tool up in the toolbar about 7 icons rights of the selection
tool and the icon looks like a fountain pen, looking carefully we can see this
little triangle at the bottom right of the icon, this means there are several
tools available here. Now if we move our mouse cursor up to the pen tool we can
click and hold and we will see some tools expand. So available here we have
the pen tool, the add vertex tool, delete vertext tool, convert vertex tool and
mask feather tool, for now we don't need to worry about these, I'll be discussing
these shortly. So first I want to draw your attention to comp 1 paths examples
and you can find this comp by clicking on the first tab at the top of the
timeline panel. So I'll make sure the magnification ratio at the bottom of the
composition panel is set to fit, I'll place my mouse cursor carefully between
the timeline panel on the composition panel, when the mouse cursor changes to
arrows up and down I'll click and drag down a little, this will allow me to
expand the composition panel so we can see this a bit more clearly. So here I
have two paths I have created previously in After Effects.
Now in a previous episode we undertook a simple animation where we move the
circle from left to right across a straight path. In After Effects we can
use paths like this to animate along, so instead of animating in straight lines
we can animate along a particular custom path like this and I'll be showing you
how to do that later on in the course, but for now the first thing I
want you to do is activate the selection tool. You can do this by pressing V on
the keyboard and you will notice your mouse cursor change to a black arrow,
then I want you to click on the top stroke example to select it then
carefully double click on the stroke and you will see a dashed bounding box
around it, then click once and you will see some vertex points on the edges of
the path and the vector outlined that makes this path. Now some of you familiar
with Illustrator and Photoshop may know these as anchor points, in after-effects
these are referred to as vertex points but don't worry they are pretty much the
same thing. So here we have a simple stroke, this was created using the pen
tool and we can see that from the start to the end it consists of 5 vertex
points. So I'll double click off the stroke into the white space to deselect it, next with the selection tool still
active I want you to carefully click on the next stroke example to select it,
then carefully double-click and you will see a dashed bounding box around it then
click once and you will see some vertex points on the curves of the path. If I
press and hold shift and select the other vertex points of the path we can
select them all. Upon click we will see the path outline and the vertex points
and handles that make up the path. So here we have the same stroke path as
above with 5 vertex points but this time there are curves applied to the corners.
So I'll double click off the stroke to deselect it, so next I want to draw
attention to comp 2 shape examples. So either double click on the comp in the
project panel or you can click on the second tab here on the top of the
timeline panel. So here we have a random looking shape with hard corners and a
blob shape with nice curved corners, again these were created using the
pen tool. So like we did with the previous paths
let's come and click on these, so I'll press V to activate the selection tool
then I want you to click on the stroke of the first shape to select it then
carefully double-click on the stroke and you will see a dashed bounding box
around it, then click once and you will see some vertex points on the edge of
the path outline that makes the path. So I'll double click off the
stroke to deselect it. Next with the selection tools still active I want you
to carefully click on the next shape example to select it, then carefully
double click and you will see a dashed bounding box around, then click once and
you will see some vertex points on the curves of the path, this time I'm going
to press and hold shift and click and drag over the other vertex points of the
shape to select the other part of the path so we can select them all.
Upon release we can see the vector outlines and the vertex points and
handles that make up the path. So I'll double click off the stroke to deselect
it, so next I want to draw attention to comp 3 modifying shapes. Now you can
double click on the comp in the project panel or you can click on the third tab
here on the top of the timeline panel. So here we have some random looking shapes
that have been created by modifying shapes made by the shape tool. In After
Effects the pen tool gives us the flexibility to edit and modify shapes we
make using the shape builder tool for further customize ability and we will be
having a go at making these quite soon. So now we are familiar with paths, vertex
points and handles, let's start to draw some paths and shapes. So now I want to
draw your attention to the worksheets folder over in the project panel. Now I
have put these together to help you, so first I want you to double click on the
first comp path worksheet and you should see these two path guides. So at any
point we can activate the pen tool by simply pressing G on the keyboard, when
the pen tool is active you will notice the mouse cursor change shape and we
have this little fountain pen, this means we are ready to begin to draw. Now before
I start to draw I want to come to the top of the interface section and first
set the color and stroke size. So first click on the word fill next to the color
box, upon click we will get the fill option settings menu, in this instance I
will set the fill option to none on the far left and click OK, next click into
the colored box next to stroke and set a black color, I'll click OK, then I'll
click on the stroke size, I'll type in 10 and press Enter also
at this point it's really important we have the roto Bezier checked off, at this
point if for whatever reason this is checked 'on' with you make sure this is
checked 'off'. So I'll begin from the top and start to click on to each square
points along the first path, as we click and drop down these points we begin to
draw a line, so I'm just going to drop down five points here along my first
worksheet path inside these square points like so and we have just created
a simple line stroke, easy! So I'll press V to activate the selection tool and
double click off the stroke to deselect it. Now at this point look carefully down in the timeline panel, upon creating this path we now
have a shape layer present. OK so that was quite easy, let's now look at how we
can create a curved path. Now it's really important to mention at this point that
before we begin to draw any new shape or path we first need to make sure we have
the previous path or shape deselected in the timeline panel. If not then as we
start to draw a new shape or path it will be added to the selected shape
layer. Now in some instances you may want to do this but for now we want to create
individual layers. So with the first shape layer deselected in the timeline
panel I'll press G on the keyboard to activate the pen tool, when the pen tool
is active you will notice the mouse cursor change shape again to the little
fountain pen so my stroke and color settings should still remain from the
last stroke settings, no solid color, stroke color set to black and stroke
size 10. So to do this I want to show you a quick technique I use and I call this
the click and curve technique. So let's begin to click some points down along
the second path, so I'm just going to drop down 5 points again along my second
worksheet path inside the square points like so and again we have just created a
simple line stroke like before. So I'll press V to activate the selection tool
and double click off the stroke to deselect it and looking down in the
timeline panel upon creating this path we now have another shape layer present.
So with the path created now, I'm going to add curves to the line to match the
guide behind. So I'll press V to activate the
selection tool and click to select on my path, now I'll come up to the pen tool in
the Tools menu and click and hold and I'll come down and select the convert
vertex tool. So I'll now move my mouse cursor carefully over the first vertex
point of my second path, notice as the mouse cursor hovers over the first point
the mouse cursor changes to a upside-down V shape.
So I'll begin by clicking and dragging over to the right, as I do this we will
see some handles pull out and we can start to add curve to the line. Now I can
click and drag the angle in any direction but if I want it to be at a
precise angle I can press and hold shift as I drag like so. So I'll drag out a
little and release,so now I have just added the first curve, next I'll come
down to the next point and again click and drag out right like so while holding
shift to get a precise angle. So now I have just added the second curve, so I'll
come along to each vertex point and carefully click and drag out to the
right while holding shift to add curve to the line while attempting to match the guide belo. Don't worry too much if you do not
match the guide exactly, this is just a quick reference, once we have added the
curves we can double click off the stroke to deselect it. Now what if we
want to make some tweaks to that line, perhaps alter the curves a little, well
this can be done easily by first selecting the path and I'll press V to
activate the selection tool and select the path then carefully double-click on
the path and you will see a dashed bounding box around, then click once and
you will see some vertex points and the handles appear, now in this case only
some of the handles are appearing, now press and hold shift and select the
other vertex points of the path so now we can select them all, so with the
handles visible you can now click and drag on the handles individually to make
any adjustments, I'll just click and drag on some of the handles and pull them out
again holding shift so they are at precise angles to match my guide below.
Once I'm happy I'll double click off the stroke to deselect it. OK, so let's now
move on to the next worksheet, so now I want to draw your attention to the worksheets folder in the project panel. So now double click on the second worksheet,
shape worksheet and you should see these two shape guides. So unlike the previous
path example, in this exercise we are going to draw some complete shapes, so
first I'll press G to activate the pen tool, when the pen tool is active you will
notice the mouse cursor change shape again to the little fountain pen. Again
my stroke and color settings should still remain from the last stroke
setting, no solid color, stroke color black and stroke size 10 and I'll begin
from the top and start to click around into each square point like so. Now when
I click on the last point on the start point notice that as I roll my mouse
cursor over the start points there will be a little circle to the bottom right
of the cursor icon, this is telling us that if I click this point we will join
the path, so I'll go ahead and click to join the path, so just like that we have
created a shape this time and upon creating the shape we now have a shape
layer present in a timeline panel, so the only difference here is joining the path
at the end instead of keeping the path open. So let's now look at how we can
create a curved shape, so with the first shape layer deselected in the timeline
panel and again I'll use the same technique as earlier, so let's begin
to click some points down along the second shape, now just like earlier when
I click on the last point before the start point notice that as I roll my
mouse cursor over the start point there will be a little circle to the bottom
right of the cursor icon, again this is telling us that if we click this point
we will join the path, so I'll go ahead and click to join the path and again we
have just created a shape like before. So I'll press V to activate the selection
tool and double click off the stroke to deselect it and looking down in a
timeline panel upon creating this shape we now have another shape layer present.
OK so with the path created, now I'm going to add curves to the line to match
the guide behind first, though I'm just going to zoom in here to get a closer
look and I'm going to do this by rolling on
my mouse wheel, so I'll press V to activate the selection tool and select
my path, now I'll come up to the pen tool in the tools menu and click and hold and
I'll come down and select the convert vertex tool, so I'll now move my mouse
cursor carefully over the first vertex points on my second path, notice as the
mouse cursor hovers over the first point the mouse cursor changes to an
upside-down V and I'll begin by clicking and dragging over to the right, as I do
this we will see some handles pull out and we can start to add curves to the
line. So I'll carefully click and drag the angle to roughly match the guide
below. So I'll drag out a little and release, so now I'll move along to each
vertex points and carefully click and drag out to add curve to the line while
attempting to match the guide below, now don't worry too much if you do not match
the guide exactly this is just a quick reference, so to move around the canvas
area easily I press and hold spacebar and click and drag so I can see my
points easier to edit. Now be careful sometimes you may need to click and drag
up, down, left or right to get the right curve, once we have added all the curves
we can double click off the stroke to deselect it. Now in this instance we will
want to make some tweaks to that line so I'll press V to activate the selection
tool and select the path, then carefully double-click on the path and you will
see a dashed bounding box around then click once and you will see some vertex
points and the handles appear. Now in this case only some of the handles are
appearing, so I'll press and hold shift and click and drag over the whole shape,
upon release we should now see all the handles, so with the handles visible you
can now click and drag on the handles individually to make any fine adjustments. So I'll zoom in and click and drag on some of the handles and pull them out to
match my guide below, easy! Once happy I'll double click off the stroke to
deselect it and zoom out, in this instance I'll click the magnification
pop-up at the bottom of the composition panel and click fit. So that's how you
can easily draw shapes in After Effects using the pen tool. Now what if I want
modify a path or a path of a shape to add or take away a vertex point?
Well let's now move on to the next worksheet, so now I want to draw your
attention to the worksheets folder over in the project panel, next double-click
on worksheet three modifying shapes and you should see these shape examples. So
these three shapes were created using the shape builder too,l here we have a
basic square a hexagon and a star shape. So let's see how we can modify these
shapes using the pen tool and first we will start with the square shape. So I'll
press V to activate the selection tool and select the square. Now when you
create the shape using the shape builder tool initially, the vertex points on the
stroke are un editable, to edit the shape using the pen tool we must first convert
the point to a Bezier path. So with the square shape layer selected I'll come into
to the timeline panel and first we will drop down the settings on the layer to
reveal the contents and transform options, I'll click to drop down the
contents, in this instance it says rectangle 1, so I'll click to drop this
down and we can see the path, stroke and fill options, so now I'm carefully going
to place my mouse cursor over rectangle path 1, right click and select convert to
Bezier path. So now I can click the top toggle button next to the layer name to
snap the options close for that layer and I'll come back into the compositions
panel and just double click off the shape to start and I'll just zoom in a
little. So I'll click the shape once, then double
click, then click once again and now I can click on my vertex points and move
these around if I want to but in this instance I don't want to move them
around so I'll press command Z on Mac or Ctrl Z on PC to undo. Now in this
instance I want to add vertex points to my path, so I'll come up to the Tools
menu click and hold on the pen tool and this time select the add vertex tool.
Upon click you will now notice the mouse cursor change to a pen icon with a plus
next to it. So I'll come to the center of the path
line here and click once on the path, upon click I will add a new vertex point
to my path. So I'll press and hold spacebar and
click and drag down like so and again I'll click on the path in the center to
add a new vertex point. So I'll click the magnification pop-up at the bottom of
the composition panel and click fit, so next I'll press V to activate the
selection tool and now I can click to select and move my new vertex points
around, in this instance I'll click the top one and move it up and I'll click
the bottom one and move this one up as well and I'll double click off the shape to deselect it, so just like that
I have used the pen tool to add new vertex points to change a simple shape
to create something new. OK so next we have this hexagon shape, let's see how we
can tweak this, so remember before we edit a shape made with the shape tool we
must first convert the path to a Bezier path, so with the hexagon shape layer
selected in the timeline first we can drop down the settings on the layer to
reveal the contents and transform options, I'll click to drop-down the
content, in this instance it says poly star 1, so I'll click to drop this down
and we can see the path stroke and fill options, so now I'm carefully going to
place my mouse cursor over poly star path 1, right click, and select convert to
Bezier path, so now I'll click the top toggle button next to the layer name, to
snap the options closed for this layer and I'll come back into the composition
panel and just double click off the shape to deselect and again I'll just
zoom in a little, so with the selection tool I'll click the shape once, then
double click and then click once again and now I can click on my vertex points.
Now I can come into the pen tool menu click and select the convert vertex
point tool, I'll come to the left side of the hexagon, click and drag up or down
like so to add curve to the left side, easy! Next I'll come to the right side
and click and drag the points out towards the right, I'll press V to activate the selection tool then grab the far right handle and
carefully drag that in like so to create this unique shape and I'll double click
off to deselect. So I'll click on the magnification pop-up at the bottom of
the composition panel and click fit, so just like that I have used the pen tool
to edit a simple hexagon shape into something new. OK so there we just
added some vertex points, now what about taking vertex points away? So next we
have this star shape, let's see how we can tweak this, now remember before we
edit a shape made with the shape builder tool we must first convert the path to a
Bezier path, so with the star shape layer selected in the timeline panel, I'll come
and drop down the setting on the layer to reveal the contents and transform
options, I'll click to drop down the contents and in this instance it says
poly star 1, so I'll click to drop this down and we can see the path stroke and
fill options, so now I am carefully going to place my mouse cursor over poly star
path 1, right click and select convert to Bezier path, so I'll come and click the
top toggle button next to the layer name to snap the options closed for that
layer and I'll come back into the composition panel and just double click
off the shape to deselect. So I'll just zoom in a little and with the selection
tool I'll click the shape once then double click, then click once again and
now we can click on my vertex points. So now I'll come up and into the pen tool
menu but this time I'll select the delete vertex tool, upon click you will
now notice the mouse cursor changed to a pen icon with a minus next to it, so I'll
come to the top of the star and click a vertex point, upon click that point will
be removed, I'll come to the bottom of the star and click on the middle vertex
point, upon click that point will be removed, so I'll press V to activate the
selection tool and I'll click and drag the two top vertex points up like so,
I'll come back into the pen tool menu click and select the convert vertex
point tool, I'll come to the left side of the shape and click and drag down like
so to add curve to the left side, then I'll come over to the right side and
click and drag down to add curve to the right side, then I'll double click off to
deselect. So I'll click the magnification pop-up
at the bottom of the composition panel and click fit and just like that I have
used the pen tool to edit a simple star shape into something completely new.
So that's how you can easily modify paths and shapes using the pen tool. Now keep
in mind you can use this technique when editing paths and shapes you initially
create with the pen tool for example if we jump back into the second worksheet
shape worksheet where we created some shapes with the pen tool, if we press V
to activate the selection tool, click a shape, double click and then click once
again we can select the vertex points, just like adding points to the shapes we
can click the add vertex point tool and click on the path and press V to use the
selection tool to move that point around and we can also select the delete
vertex point tool to remove points. Now keep in mind when you create the shape
using the pen tool we do not need to convert the paths into Bezier paths like
we did with the shapes, when you draw with the pen tool it is already a Bezier
path. So that's how easy it is to create paths create custom shapes with
paths and then modify your paths using the pen tool. So over the past few
episodes we have learnt the many ways we can create and modify shapes in After
Effects, now it's time to look at how we can apply color and stroke effects. In
the next video I'll be demonstrating how you can apply a variety of fill and
Stroke effects to your shapes in After Effects. So see you in the next video!
