Layer instancer: Introduction

The Instancer is available from the list of Generators like Noise and Circle; but, it has a particular status because whereas other Generators provide a single source in a layer, the Instancer can visually provide hundreds of them.

Its principle is simple. You provide it with one or more graphic sources to duplicate, or "instantiate", then you set how to distribute these duplicates in the composition space.

A new way to mass animate dozen of layers

The Instancer completely changes the way to create an animation that involves several graphic elements that form a whole, as in the following examples:

• Displaying pictograms on a map during a weather forecast, as described in this article
• Displaying the logos of a large group’s different subsidiaries at the end of a keynote
• Distributing several graphic sources along a path – like when creating this ribbon card spread, made with a single layer (The project is available in the "Assets" section of the Autograph Startup page)

Download the projects from the Startup Page

You can download the projects described above, such as "Weather Report" and "Playing Cards Ribbons", in the "Assets" section of the Autograph Startup page.

Note

Keep in mind that, in the end, this Instancer is only a layer source and you can modify its transformations, add Modifiers, parent to another layer, etc ...