<p>Try this:</p>

<blockquote>
  <ol>
  <li>Parent the atom to the ring or a null in the center</li>
  <li>Rotate the ring/null which will rotate the electron around the middle</li>
  <li>Apply an expression to the rotation property of the electron layer</li>
  </ol>
</blockquote>

<p><strong>Rotation Expression:</strong></p>

<pre><code>parent.transform.rotation * -1
</code></pre>

<p>This simple expression will rotate the electron in the opposite direction from its parent (ring/null) layer, which keeps the minus from rotating.</p>

<p>Hope this helps!</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-04-09T09:38:41.650Z
I completely forgot about this question... anyway, yes, this is what I ended up doing in the end, although I didn't do anything fancy like you said, I just rotated the minus sign the other way... can get annoying when I need to start and stop the rotation, but it worked... Anyway, thanks for your help!
skillz21
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-04-11T05:46:10.280Z
It was a bit late, but glad you got it working! :)
Parker Young
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-04-08T08:55:09.717Z
2018-04-08T08:55:09.717Z
Parker Young
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/qmToc.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/qmToc.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<p>I have this atom that I want to animate in after effects (yes I know you have more than one electron in carbon, but that's not the point). I want this electron to orbit around the middle of the atom. But I want to do it without actually making the minus spin as well, when I set the anchor point in the middle and I do keyframe animation on the electron, the electron spins, but the minus rotates with it. </p>

<p>How can I anchor the minus to the electron? Or, for future knowledge, is there any way to make it so that the electron orbits around the middle, with the minus always lying horizontal, instead of rotating?</p>

<after-effects><animation><keyframes>
How do I make this object orbit around the center without making it turn
skillz21
# How do I make this object orbit around the center without making it turn

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-02-12)

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/qmToc.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/qmToc.png)

I have this atom that I want to animate in after effects (yes I know you have more than one electron in carbon, but that's not the point). I want this electron to orbit around the middle of the atom. But I want to do it without actually making the minus spin as well, when I set the anchor point in the middle and I do keyframe animation on the electron, the electron spins, but the minus rotates with it.

How can I anchor the minus to the electron? Or, for future knowledge, is there any way to make it so that the electron orbits around the middle, with the minus always lying horizontal, instead of rotating?

**Tags:** after-effects, animation, keyframes


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2018-04-08. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

Try this:


Parent the atom to the ring or a null in the center
Rotate the ring/null which will rotate the electron around the middle
Apply an expression to the rotation property of the electron layer


Rotation Expression:
parent.transform.rotation * -1

This simple expression will rotate the electron in the opposite direction from its parent (ring/null) layer, which keeps the minus from rotating.
Hope this helps!

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: I completely forgot about this question... anyway, yes, this is what I ended up doing in the end, although I didn't do anything fancy like you said, I just rotated the minus sign the other way... can get annoying when I need to start and stop the rotation, but it worked... Anyway, thanks for your help!  
> **username_1**: It was a bit late, but glad you got it working! :)  

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