Putting Null Onto Motion Path Without copy/paste

[sjlocke215]

Hi,

I have a curve (shape).  I would like to use the new script to move the points of the shape around using nulls.  I would then also like to assign another null to the curve to use as a motion path.  I do NOT want to copy and paste the shape of the path into the position of my null as I want to use the changing shape of the curve to drive the motion of the null.

In Maya, I would assign an object to a curve as a motion path, and then it would move linearly across that path as time went on (or I could adjust the shape).  Is there any way to do something similar here?

All my googling just turns up "make a shape and then copy and paste it into the position" which is not what I want to do, as the curve shape will change, either over time, or as a user changes the position of the nulls.

Any ideas?

Thx!

[sjlocke215 · Accepted solution]

Finally, just discovered the pointOnPath method in this document: Expression and Scripting Improvements in After Effects CC (October 2017).pdf

That will do it.

myPath = thisComp.layer("Shape Layer 1").content("Shape 1").content("Path 1").path;

myValue = toComp(myPath.pointOnPath(time));

[myValue[0],myValue[1]];