Answers.Body: <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>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2018-04-09T09:38:41.650Z
Answers.Text: 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!
Answers.UserDisplayName: skillz21
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2018-04-11T05:46:10.280Z
Answers.Text: It was a bit late, but glad you got it working! :)
Answers.UserDisplayName: Parker Young
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2018-04-08T08:55:09.717Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2018-04-08T08:55:09.717Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Parker Young
Body: <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>
  
Tags: <after-effects><animation><keyframes>
Title: How do I make this object orbit around the center without making it turn
UserDisplayName: skillz21
ThreadText: # 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
  
  
  ---
  
  ## 1 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_1 on 2018-04-08. Score: 1 | Accepted answer
  
  Try this:
  
  > 1. Parent the atom to the ring or a null in the center
  > 2. Rotate the ring/null which will rotate the electron around the middle
  > 3. 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! :)  
  
  ---
  
  