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COW Tutorials: After Effects Dressing Up the Still Photo
&page=https://www.creativecow.net/articles/thompson_jay/animate_still_photo/index.html”>Dressing Up the Still Photo Sometimes it’s the simple things that are the most fun. Start with a good still, mix in some motion tracking for a logo element, animate six layer of clown fish and sprinkle lightly with effects. Finally try to make a tutorial out of it and spend three times longer on the tutorial than the project. Oh well…enjoy. Click on the link above to watch Jay’s tutorial.
Kathlyn Lindeboom
Creativecow.net -
11 Replies
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While I agree that we are all greatful for someone taking the time to create a tutorial I also see one overwhelming problem besides the ones already mentioned.
Why Track a still image that you are doing the moves on in after effects?
The point of tracking is to match camera data of footage you have been given and have no control over. The beauty of working with a still is that you have all of the control on the motion. Therefor all you need to do is parent your logo layer, bubbles layers, etc. If you don’t want the scale to transfer and just want the position, do a simple pick whip expression or use a null for position. There are SO Many better ways to do this in after effects. What you have taught here is just improper technique and poor compositing form.
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Your criticisms are heard and I would just like to respond by saying:
1. We almost never turn down a tutorial. To us, all content is good content if it gets you to thinking. If you already know a better way, good — then we are always open to your tutorial but without putting your fanny on the line, it takes far less time to write a paragraph or two of critique than it does to create a tutorial.
2. As for typos, oh well — chalk that puppy up to the fact that Kathlyn is now handling the whole site damned near by herself as I am head down in the trenches working on the magazine. Kathlyn works from about 8am until often 10pm at night and does this usually six days a week. This is a HUGE project to build and doing it with just Kathlyn, myself, Eric the Coder and help on the podcasts and magazine from Aharon and Franklin — well, let’s just say that if typos cause you to cringe, then the Cow is probably going to be beneath you. For those who want to point to the spell checker, let me just say that after 12 or 14 hours and many days in a row, you sometimes just plain forget to even run the thing. Sorry if that offends you.
3. I personally do not believe that in After Effects, especially, there are necessarily right and wrong answers. Some of the best techniques I have ever learned, I learned by trying things the hard way or what some may consider the wrong way and in doing so, I found another way around the corner. It got me to thinking in another way that I had not previously considered. As I progressed, I found better ways and quicker ways but as they say today, “It’s all good.”
4. Kathlyn often runs from article to article formatting them for the web, as few are formatted when they get here — some, are even in PDF form and that is a nightmare of huge proportion and takes hours sometimes just to rip them into HTML. The point is we do not always have time to check every article, we try to but it’s just not realistic.
5. Both Kathlyn’s and my email address are quite public and a simple email offering a correction would suffice and Kathlyn would quickly correct any errors you find. Personally, I find it offensive that someone who doesn’t even use their own name here would fire up a laundry list instead of sending a simple email saying “I believe that the vertical position is referred to twice as the horizontal in these two sentences…” But if it makes you feel superior or something, have at it.
6. I am sure that Jay Thompson does not consider himself the last word on After Effects and would welcome a tutorial from someone else with another technique that explores the same idea and shows another and maybe even more efficient way to do something. Jay is a really nice guy that simply wanted to contribute an idea to the community which he enjoys as many here do. Unfortunately, I am sure that with his wonderful welcome, he’ll think twice about that next time he thinks of something he’d like to share with the group here.
7. We are NOT about to quit accepting tutorials because they use plug-ins. Limiting our articles to just those that use the standard plug-ins found in AE is not something we choose to do and we do not care if people think that is wrong. To be quite honest about it, even relying on the standard plug-ins is a cop-out as I know people who can and do use AE and other programs writing their own code to make it do what they need. For us mere mortals though, there are always plug-ins…
8. When people here want to rip on those who contribute articles to the site, the chances are that articles will become few and far in between as I do not know many people who want to get paraded out in public like that.
9. I am not saying that people shouldn’t correct typos or point out better or more efficient ways of doing things but I am saying that there’s a reason for the old adage: “Don’t bite the hand that feeds you.” Even Cowdog knows better than that…
Best regards,
Ron Lindeboom
creativecow.net -
Ron, no offense intended on my post. I completely agree that any tutorial is a great thing to take a look at for new ideas. I merely wanted to point out another way to do this that may give an inexperienced user quicker and cleaner results. I apologize if my post sounded pompous or accusatory in any way. If it was a tracking tutorial I would have thought this was a great way to give someone a piece of test footage to track, but for what it was I thought parenting, nulls, or expressions would work better. Anyway, I appreciate the great work that you guys do as well as the work of all of the contributors. Keep everything going strong and best of luck on the magazine.
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I didn’t reply to your post because I wasn’t referring to your post, jwedit. I took absolutely no offense to your remarks whatsoever. Your comments and tact were well within all the lines of decorum and community here at the Cow.
But thanks for caring, we appreciate it.
Ron Lindeboom
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Let me add a couple of things…
I, for one appreciate the tutorials, whether they are using third party plugins or not. Every tutorial on the COW has taught me something new. It is a technique that I can enhance further and play around on my own. I am not an expert at AE, but everytime I see a tutorial or an article, I am always tempted to experiment further. With that being said, I also know to some extent how much time Kathlyn and Ron spend making the COW what it is. From the email conversations I have had with them, it is amazing how much they can pull off in a day.
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Not to mention. It was A nice tutorial. Well narrated and I look forward to more from you Jay. It certainly inspires me to take that extra time to add those small details that make your work unique.
Hooah.
Andrew Kramer -
there is no constructive crtisism for tutorials its a tutorial made for free for people to learn, if its easy do it yourself so lets see your tutorials , talk is cheap action is what counts period
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*sigh* I am so sorry. I never intended to offend, really just to be productive, and if criticism for tutorials is preferred by mail than I’ll be sure to use mail from now on.
All I can say is, please read again the first and last couple of paragraphs in my message. I really did mean them. Quote below for reference 🙂
I apologize once again if my post has stirred anger. I truly appreciate the editor’s hard work, this site is great.
AA
“First, I’d like to say that every time someone takes the time to create a tutorial, video or otherwise, I feel very grateful. I know this is HARD work, I learned a LOT through such tutorials, and I really appreciate it.
This particular tuturial presents some great ideas – I never thought to track a still image(!), and the fish workflow with Photoshop was also very nice to watch.
Again, please take these just as suggestions and food for thought – I really am grateful for the tutorial and I definitely learned something. Thanks to Jay Thompson and the CC team!”
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We appreciate what you said in the beginning and ending of your post, unfortunately it was what was contained in the middle that caused the rub. The real point in all this was that by not really giving enough forethought to what you were doing, you sent a message to those who may possibly be considering submitting a tutorial, that they are going to be pulled apart — not a way to encourage most people. This is only the second time in the history of the site that we have had this happen. The first time, the guy had us take down his tutorial and he’s never participated in the site again. Fortunately, I talked with Jay yesterday on the phone and Jay just shrugged it off with a good natured aside and said it was all okay with him. We were happy that he wasn’t put off by it but this isn’t about any single writer or tutorial; there’s a bigger picture to consider and it is one in which people can offer techniques without having to run the gauntlet because they offered them. This is a learning site, not a pontificating site. Learning is sometimes dirty business and is a process that requires participation. It’s easy to criticize, it takes time to create a tutorial.
Thanks for your understanding.
Best regards,
Ron Lindeboom
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I don’t know if this has been mentioned, but it’s not as if the forum heads and the tutorial writers are employees of the COW — we (and they) are all volunteers, busy doing something else to make a living.
So you can see why tutorials might begin to dry up if writers feel that their submitted material might be taken apart. Why bother? 🙂
Steve
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