is it possible to animate an Illustrator signature in AE with "trim paths"???

[Nicholas Natteau]

is it possible to animate an Illustrator signature in AE with "trim paths"???

For a WWII documentary, I downloaded Rommel's signature from wikipedia in SVG format and converted to AI Illustrator format. I'd like to animate the signature in After Effects. I know how to do this two ways: with the "Stroke" and with the "Write-on" effect.

But this signature is somewhat complex to animate. As the stroke effect gets to the "R" in Rommel's signature, it inevitably reveals later bits of the "R".

Now with a shape layer, animating any line (no matter how complex) is effortless. You just add "trim paths" and set "end" to 0% at the start and "end" to 100% at the end. Is there a way to convert a vector image signature in AE to a shape layer that would allow me to add a trim path?


Thank you in advance for any feedback.

 

[Michael Carter]

You might have to break it into several pieces so you don't have those overlaps, and animate them one at a time, in a stack - if that makes sense.

I often just cheat and do those things in flash with a mask and a stylus pen, just keep dabbing paint onto the mask and then output PNG sequence.

 

[freelance dude]

use write on and as said abobe, break it into layers first.