Magical Curve
Draw one curve; scatter copies down it and send layers travelling along it.
Magical Curve does two jobs from a single path. It can array copies of a layer evenly along the curve, and it can bind layers to travel along it over time. Both stay live — reshape the curve and everything follows immediately.
The path is an ordinary vector layer, so every tool that edits a path edits this too.
When to reach for it#
- Objects following a road, wire, ribbon or flight path.
- Text and icons arranged along a shape.
- Crowds staggered into a wave down a line.
How it works#
The curve is sampled by arc length rather than by parameter, which is why copies stay evenly spaced even where the curve is tight. A layer bound to travel gets its position from a progress value along that same arc length, so a constant progress rate is a constant speed.
It runs at step 2 of the layer pipeline, before drivers. That ordering is deliberate — it means a path-bound layer can also oscillate or wiggle on top of its travel.
Parameters#
Array scatters copies along the curve. Travel binds a layer to move along it. Both can run from the same path.
How many copies in array mode.
Position along the curve in travel mode, 0 to 1. Keyframe it. Linear progress is constant speed; ease it for acceleration.
Rotates each item to follow the curve tangent. On for arrows and vehicles, off for text that must stay upright.
Shifts everything along the curve without changing spacing. Animate it to make an array flow.
Time offset per copy, so an animation cascades down the line rather than firing at once.
Things that catch people out#
A layer travels from the path's start to its end. If it runs backwards, reverse the path rather than inverting the progress keyframes.
A path-bound layer takes its position from the curve, so X and Y keyframes on it do nothing. Animate Progress instead.
See also#
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