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How do I use trapcode on a shape layer?
I’m pretty savvy in AE. And I know Trapcode Particular reasonably well. But I can’t figure out how to get the particles to emit from a single object in the frame. Of course from a single point is easy–that’s just an option in Trapcode Particular. But what if you want the particles to emanate only from a vase. Or better yet, a vase that is moving through the frame. If I try to create a shape layer, Trapcode doesn’t seem to recognize the shape layer as a “layer” emitter. Similarly, if I roto a mask on a layer, Trapcode ignores the mask entirely. Any thoughts?
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6 Replies
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Precompose?
– The Great Szalam
(The ‘Great’ stands for ‘Not So Great, in fact, Extremely Humble’)No trees were harmed in the creation of this message, but several thousand electrons were mildly inconvenienced.
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Ah. Never thought of that. Gawd only knows why you have to pre-compose some things and not others. Sometimes, when in doubt, just pre-compose the darned thing. Thank you, though. It’s now working!
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EDIT:
Problem is the particles seem to emanate from the entire frame (full 16×9 layer) rather than just the shape I’ve drawn around the vase.
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I’m going to walk this through step-by-step the way I did it.
Make a layer.
Mask the layer into a shape.
Precompose, moving all attributes.
Call the precomp “Shape”
In the main comp make the Precomp “Shape” a 3d layer
Create a new layer and name it “Particles”.
On “Particles” apply Effect>Trapcode>Particular
In the Particular effects setting set the Emitter type to layer
In layer choose “Shape”
That should work.Here’s a project with which I was toying. I didn’t name everything, but if you’re pretty savvy in AE and I know Trapcode Particular reasonably well, it shouldn’t be a problem to figure it out. In the precomp you can change the mask shape on the layer and you’ll see the particles change in response.
– The Great Szalam
(The ‘Great’ stands for ‘Not So Great, in fact, Extremely Humble’)No trees were harmed in the creation of this message, but several thousand electrons were mildly inconvenienced.
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That’s awesome. Thank you for the details.
Your steps seem to do the trick, though I find I have to add a “fill” to the path/shape layer and then pre-comp it as you describe. Also I had to ensure that there was no other layer within the precomp other than the shape, since Trapcode then uses all the information within the full frame, rather than just the masked area, to generate particles.
Do you happen to know how to make globules that have a bit of life in Trapcode? You know, so they’re sort of liquidy? I can make globes and stuff, but I’m not sure how to make globules that have some morping/sticky properties.
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Trapcode’s not going to do this very well. The particles definitely do not stick to each other. You could make a small comp and animate a kind of blobby shape that loops, then use that as a particle (making sure it’s set to loop the particles from a random part in time). That might get you a liquidy look.
If you want particles that are liquidy, but are okay faking 3d a little more you should check out the Mr. Mercury or Foam effects. They both are for liquidy or sticking particles.
– The Great Szalam
(The ‘Great’ stands for ‘Not So Great, in fact, Extremely Humble’)No trees were harmed in the creation of this message, but several thousand electrons were mildly inconvenienced.
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