Exercise 10 · Wiggle, Loop & Rig

Project 5 · Motion Reel + Brand Spot · Week 15 · Expressions · ~45 min

Practice goal: Drive layers with wiggle/time/loopOut and a slider, then build a one-null control rig with production expressions.

Set up: New project. A few shape layers, plus a simple icon/shape to rig.

Steps

  1. New composition, 1920×1080, 30 fps, 5 s; name it Main; add a few shape layers.
  2. Alt/Option-click the Position stopwatch and type wiggle(2,30); preview the jitter.
  3. On a second shape's Rotation, Alt-click and type time*60 for a continuous spin.
  4. On a third layer, set two Position keyframes, then Alt-click Position and add loopOut() to repeat.
  5. Use the pick whip: Alt-click a property, then drag the pick whip to another layer's property to link them.
  6. Add Effect ▸ Expression Controls ▸ Slider Control to a null; pick-whip the wiggle amount to the slider so you can dial it.
  7. Now build a rig: add a control Null named “CTRL” with Slider Controls (e.g., “Bounce,” “Fade”).
  8. Inertial bounce: keyframe a layer's Position, then add an inertial-bounce expression (from the references) so it overshoots and settles.
  9. Auto-fade: link a layer's Opacity to the “Fade” slider so one control fades it in/out.
  10. Counter: add a text layer; Alt-click Source Text and drive a number (e.g., Math.round(time)) or a slider.
  11. Pick-whip several layers to CTRL so one panel drives the whole rig; combine keyframes + expressions on one property (keyframed base + wiggle/loop for life).
  12. Name and comment the controls; test by dragging the sliders (fix any red errors — watch semicolons and case-sensitive names).
  13. Portfolio prep: gather your best exercise outputs and note which ≥6 skills you'll combine for the final reel; then save & render.

Free tutorials & references

Done when

wiggle, time and loopOut drive layers via a slider, and a one-null rig with production expressions (bounce, auto-fade, counter) drives multiple layers — combined with keyframes.

Files

Pittman_Ex10_WiggleLoopRig.aep → render Pittman_Ex10_WiggleLoopRig.mov · versions Pittman_Ex10_WiggleLoopRig_001.aep

This drill is your in-class activity for the week; it ladders directly into the project.