Linking

Autograph gives you the ability to link parameters together without using any expressions. It's important to distinguish linking parameters from sharing parameters.

All parameters, of any kind, always have two connection slots:

• One to add/connect/share a Generator to the parameter (the one we are particularly interested in here)
• One to add/connect/share a Modifier to the parameter

Let's focus on the Generator slot:

• If the slot is not connected to anything, you will see a grayed-out icon representing a disconnected plug and socket
• If the slot is connected to another parameter, its borders will be yellow as if the plug were connected to the socket
• If the slot is connected to a Generator, its borders will be yellow and the Generator’s icon will be displayed

Clicking on this icon opens up the Quad menu, which gives you several options, divided into 4 boxes.

The upper left box is dedicated to Sharing and Linking. Let's focus on the Linking options:

• Copy link: copies the parameter which will be the driver
• Paste link: defines that this parameter will be driven by the one defined with Copy Link
• Disconnect from X: breaks the link established with the driver (note there can be only one driver)
• Controlling: lists the driven parameters if the current parameter is linked to them as a driver

Creating links between parameters:

In order to create a Link between two parameters, start by clicking on the Generator slot of the one that will act as the driver, which will open the Quad menu.

In the upper left part, select Copy Link to define the source link.

Then, go to the parameter that you want to control. Click on its Generator slot and select Paste Link.

The Generator slot of the driven parameter now contains an icon with a connected plug. The yellow plug on the top right represents the driver where the information comes from. At the same time, the content of the driven parameters is grayed out, indicating that it cannot be modified locally.

Breaking links between parameters:

A single driver can control several driven parameters. The way to disconnect parameters varies depending on whether there are several driven parameters or just one.

To break the connection from the driver to all driven parameters, click on the Generator slot of the driver parameter and select Disconnect Link.

To break the connection on a driven parameter (but not other potential connections from the driver to other driven parameters), click on the Generator slot of the driven parameter and select Disconnect Link.

Inspecting Linking Dependancies:

When a Link is created between two parameters, a plug icon appears on the driven one. Clicking on the Generator slot again will indicate the name of the controller parameter.

On the right, the name of the parameter is displayed. You can click on it and scroll directly to it in the Timeline.

The driver slot has a number surrounded by a yellow oval outline that indicates the number of controlled elements.

By clicking on this slot and hovering over Controlling, then the number of links, you can display the list of driven parameters on the right. Clicking on one of them lets you scroll directly to this parameter in the stack.

Sharing

Difference between Linking and Sharing

The Link section describes how to connect one parameter to another, which can be done if they are the same type and dimension. With linking you have the concept of the driver and driven parameters, since one parameter controls the other and prevents it from being modified. The driver value or state overrides the driven one.

In order to dive deeper into the interaction between parameters, Autograph uses the concept of sharing instead of connecting, where parameters are both drivers and driven:

• Linking establishes a unidirectional connection between the driver and the driven parameters.
• Sharing sets the parameters to refer to a common intermediate value.

Note that in the case of linking, the connection goes in only one direction. In the case of sharing, it goes in both directions.

• When linking: you can only modify the driver value, the driven one being controlled and therefore blocked
• When sharing: whether you change the value of one parameter or the other, it will be updated on both sides.

Sharing is not limited to just two parameters, it is possible to share this value with hundreds of parameters across compositions, 3D scenes, you name it.

For more detail about splitting dimensions, please refer to the Managing dimensions section.

Everything can be shared

We talked about sharing a numerical value between several parameters; but, you can share absolutely everything in Autograph.

Here are some examples of what you can share:

• All Modifier parameters: to completely synchronize a blur shared between different layers
• A complete Modifiers group: to apply the same Modifiers on different layers and keep track of any changes in the group, including adding and removing Modifiers
• A Path or a Paths group: to synchronize curves between different parameters
• Partial or complete Transform: to apply the same perfectly-synchronized movement to several layers, if any change is made
• A complete layer: you can even copy/paste a layer sharing all parameters, including Generators, the Source, Masks, Modifiers, Visibility... everything!

In this last case, you may wonder why you would want to make a complete copy of a layer that would overlap perfectly with its identical copy, no matter what changes are made. First, these two identical layers could be placed at different levels in the Stack to sandwich other layers.

Second, it's possible to locally unshare one or more parameters to override a value, Generator, Modifier, state, etc., only for a specific layer.

So you can synchronize thousands of parameters in a single Share Group used by hundreds of layers to locally take control of one of them, as described in the Local parameter override section.

Sharing parameters

Here we have two different layers and we want to share the scale parameter:

We can connect these two parameters using the Quad menu by clicking on:

• Copy Share Group (you can also use the Ctrl/Cmd + C keys after selecting the parameter)
• Paste Share Group

It doesn't matter which of the two parameters is selected first because they are being shared mutually.

Unsharing parameters

To unshare a parameter, simply open up the Quad menu again and select Unshare:

Sharing Modifiers or Modifier groups

In the previous example, we shared a numerical value. But as mentioned in the previous section, absolutely anything can be shared in Autograph.

Here is an example of how to share a Modifier group:

• Select the Modifiers line representing the Modifier Group.
• Press Ctrl/Cmd + C to Copy
• Select the second layer
• Use the Action menu to Paste (Shared) > Paste Modify Group

Now both layers share the same Modifiers.

Sharing while adding Modifiers or Generators

If multiple layers are selected when adding a Modifier, you will be asked if you want to share them or not.

Inspecting dependencies!!!!

Parameters belonging to the same Share group

Changing a parameter can affect other parameters belonging to the same Share group so it's important to know which parameters are in a Share group.

To check to see which parameters are in a Share group, simply click on the connection button to bring up the Quad Menu again and look under Shared With in the top right section.

Local parameter override!!!

Locally modify a shared parameter

Sharing entire layers or a simple Modifier group will cause the purple Share icon to appear on a large number of lines in the Stack and Properties panel.

This lets you synchronize hundreds of parameters in just a few seconds, but you may want to locally regain control over only one of these parameters.

To do this, simply click on the connection button again to bring up the Quad Menu and select Unshare.

Manage resources while copying/pasting and duplicating

Sharing reader parameters

Importing an image into the Project panel creates a Reader that decodes files and outputs images according to several parameters. When a layer uses this Reader as a source by copying and pasting it using Ctrl/Cmd + C and Ctrl/Cmd + V, or by duplicating it with Ctrl/Cmd + D, this will create a new layer that also uses the same Reader as a source.

By default, when one or more layers use the same Reader, all of its parameters are shared among these layers. This concept of sharing parameters is really important to understand because it's one of Autograph’s key features.

Should the Reader’s file path or any of its parameters be altered, these changes would be applied to both layers. Note you can also locally override a single parameter and keep the others synchronized.

You can learn more about sharing and overriding in this dedicated section of the documentation.

Duplicating or sharing generators

When a layer uses a Generator as a source, duplicating the layer will create a new independent Generator, used by this new layer. Nothing is synchronized by default. If you want to create two layers that share the same Generator, you can use the Copy/Paste(shared) feature instead, which is available through the Action button at the top of the Timeline.

but you'll see that this concept goes much further than a single parameter.

SHARE D'UN LAYER COMPLET !!!!

Let's add a blur effect to this logo. And increase its value. We can copy the blur by going into the action menu and clicking on copy selection. Or by directly using the keyboard shortcut control see. Then we can click on the other layer directly. And neither go into the action menu again. You can see that paste now has a paste modifier option. Or use the shortcut control v. By opening up the source you can see that a modifier section has been added and that it has the blur effect if we open up these parameters and change the size. You'll notice that the two parameters are not connected. Of course we've also seen that you can use copy link and paste link so that one of the to blurs controls the other if we change the right images Blair size value by giving it a value of twenty five for example. We can select the size parameter. Press control see to copy this value and then select the other layer and press control the. Autograph will analyze the entire layer structure that leads to this https parameter. Here the source then modifiers blur then size. If autograph find the exact same structure for the other layer it copies the value. Just keep in mind that these two parameters are independent and are not connected to each other. Instead of linking them we can share them by clicking on copy share group. Which will make a new element show up in the project panel. If we go into the other size parameter we can click on paste share group. Notice that the plug icon has been replaced by a purple sharing icon. Which you'll also find on the parameter with which shared. Unlike linking here there is no master slave notion as both parameters are masters. We can change the size parameter from one end but also from the other. Both parameters refer to the parameter share group over here and not hoses this value. To break the connection with the share group. Click on the parameter and select unsure. Autograph displays the list of parameters that are connected to this share group. Let's click on unsure in order to make this parameter independent again. Will delete the blur from the image on the right and let's scroll up to the left images blur. In autograph all entities are considered parameters. Sizes a parameter but blur is also a parameter. So you can copy this element for example by pressing control see. Selecting the second layer. And going into the action menu here you won't click on paste modifier which would create a disassociated copy of the first blur but click on paste chaired which will add the blurt in a share group and use this year group for both players. Now all of this blurs parameters are connected to the share group. Any modification me to the size. Will be passed on to the users of this share group. In the same way as any other blur element. If we want to share all blur parameters except one. We can simply select the parameter in question. And click on on share. Now all blur parameters are connected except the one that was locally disconnected. So you can perform local overrides while still sharing the rest of the modifiers parameters. If we decide to delete the blur on one of the two layers will see that the left layer still has the blur effect. That's because it's the blur that was shared. Not the list of modifiers. Now that there's only one instance of blur belonging to the share group. You can see that all of these parameters have been unshared but this time if we select the modifiers group and we press control see. We can create a share group of the whole modifiers group on the layer located on the right. This time it's the group of modifiers that's shared. This allows you to both. Change of modifiers parameters. And to also add another modifier. For example huh shift. To change the angle. And alter the colors of the two layers. At the same time. Here again any modification made on one end will be carried over to all users of the share group. The leading the blur in. Of the share group. Will delete it on both ends. Share groups will soon look a bit more appealing in the project panel. It will also be possible to rename them and linked them directly onto another parameter from the project panel. If we go to the action menu we can choose from sharing modifiers. Modifier groups. As well as generators. And parameters as we saw initially. As for generators as. Let's take a look at them by using a circle that will create a new layer with a circle generator source. Let's create a second layer. A new no layer for example which has no source. Will select the generator. Copy with control see. Select the no layer and go into the action menu and click on paste shared generator the to generators that are visible in both layers are now shared. If we the make a color change. Or if we changed the drawing mode of this circle. All the parameters will be synchronized because they belong to the same share group. Here again you can locally unshared a parameter to keep all of the other parameters synchronized. But be able to modify it locally. On one of blears. So you can animate the feather outer size on both sides with only one parameter. As for the thickness this variation will only be applied locally. But let's push the boundaries even further. Let's replace our logo and reduce its size. Click on the layer and press control see go into the action menu and select paste chaired then paste layer. This time. Any modification made on a layer the entire layer I e it's modifiers it soars it's generator it's transform will be applied to both layer yeah it seems like there is only one layer because the two layers overlap. But if we open up the bottom layers parameters. In order to access it is transformed parameter. We can decide to unsure its transformation. Which will also allow US to move this second layer independently. All while keeping all its other parameters synchronized like it's opacity for example if we press controls the a few times to go back we can re synchronize the transform. But will only d synchronize it's position locally. This way. We can move this layer independently. But said it so that the scale remains synchronized with the other layers. So we have the possibility of linking and sharing parameters without any expressions. In order to enemy elements only once while using this animation on multiple layers.