<p>You can move the anchor point of a layer, but this may upset scale, rotation or masking. There is a much simpler and very intuitive way to do it.</p>

<p>Click on the position property to select all keyframes. Park the playhead on one of these keyframes (use j or k keys to do this). Now if you move one of the keyframes they all move. If you don't park the playhead on an existing keyframe then you will just create a new keyframe at the current time and leave the others unchanged.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Tip: If you need to have the playhead at a particular time to see the
  relative position and there is no keyframe there, just create a
  temporary one at the current time.</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-01-18T13:55:43.800Z
2015-06-26T04:38:30.420Z
2015-06-26T04:38:30.420Z
stib
<p>And furthermore there is parenting. You parent your image to a null. Copy the null and image over, and set the null in a new position. The image will move relative to the null's position </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-02-17T15:34:38.540Z
2014-02-17T15:34:38.540Z
KvdLingen
<p>I've found that using the Anchor Point is a great way to do this. The position will not copy over (be sure to just copy the anchor point animation), and it will instead animate relative to the position.</p>

<p>I usually do it the reverse of this. I set my position using the Anchor Point, and then animate using keyframes on the Position.</p>

<p>I generally don't use the "Animate" button on text in AE, though, so this might not work as you're expecting. </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-08-26T18:02:36.537Z
2013-08-26T18:02:36.537Z
Mattc0m
<p>There are several ways.  You can use an adjustment layer to apply to the layers above it or you can nest a composition such that the movements of that composition apply to everything in the source.  I most often use the nested composition approach as it lets me work on things separately, but it is a bit more of a pain for making changes while looking at the final output, so it isn't ideal for every situation.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-08-25T20:11:09.460Z
2013-08-25T20:11:09.460Z
AJ Henderson
<p>When I add text to an after effects project there's an "animate" triangle I can click which lets me animate the position of the text from 0.0, 0.0. This is great because if I duplicate that layer and move it around the text animates relatively from its new position no problem. </p>

<p>I'd like to do this with an image but I can't work out how to do it. Animating the position of the image based on key frames is fine but when I try to duplicate and move the animated image around it animates from it's original position. </p>

<p>Is there any easy way to do this? </p>

<after-effects>
How do I animate an image based on relative position in after effects?
Jon
# How do I animate an image based on relative position in after effects?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2013-08-25)

When I add text to an after effects project there's an "animate" triangle I can click which lets me animate the position of the text from 0.0, 0.0. This is great because if I duplicate that layer and move it around the text animates relatively from its new position no problem.

I'd like to do this with an image but I can't work out how to do it. Animating the position of the image based on key frames is fine but when I try to duplicate and move the animated image around it animates from it's original position.

Is there any easy way to do this?

**Tags:** after-effects


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## 4 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2014-01-18. Score: 2

You can move the anchor point of a layer, but this may upset scale, rotation or masking. There is a much simpler and very intuitive way to do it.

Click on the position property to select all keyframes. Park the playhead on one of these keyframes (use j or k keys to do this). Now if you move one of the keyframes they all move. If you don't park the playhead on an existing keyframe then you will just create a new keyframe at the current time and leave the others unchanged.

> Tip: If you need to have the playhead at a particular time to see the
> relative position and there is no keyframe there, just create a
> temporary one at the current time.


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### Answer by username_2 on 2014-02-17. Score: 1

And furthermore there is parenting. You parent your image to a null. Copy the null and image over, and set the null in a new position. The image will move relative to the null's position


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### Answer by username_3 on 2013-08-26. Score: 0

I've found that using the Anchor Point is a great way to do this. The position will not copy over (be sure to just copy the anchor point animation), and it will instead animate relative to the position.

I usually do it the reverse of this. I set my position using the Anchor Point, and then animate using keyframes on the Position.

I generally don't use the "Animate" button on text in AE, though, so this might not work as you're expecting.


---

### Answer by username_4 on 2013-08-25. Score: 0

There are several ways. You can use an adjustment layer to apply to the layers above it or you can nest a composition such that the movements of that composition apply to everything in the source. I most often use the nested composition approach as it lets me work on things separately, but it is a bit more of a pain for making changes while looking at the final output, so it isn't ideal for every situation.


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