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  • How to make an object go both over and under another layer .

    Posted by Josh Rod on March 3, 2016 at 4:44 pm

    To clarify:

    I have 2 circles/spheres. One small and the other big
    I want the small circle to orb/rotate around the big circle. – How do i make the small circle go under the big circle and then go over the circle when it is coming back around ??

    Masks ?

    https://imgur.com/G8Fo5KC

    A link if you are confused lol 🙂

    View post on imgur.com

    Josh Rod replied 10 years, 2 months ago 3 Members · 5 Replies
  • 5 Replies
  • Walter Soyka

    March 3, 2016 at 4:49 pm

    3D layers:
    https://helpx.adobe.com/after-effects/using/3d-layers.html

    If you’re new to After Effects, I’d recommend the following link, in which Adobe’s Todd Kopriva pulls together some important introductory materials:
    https://blogs.adobe.com/toddkopriva/2010/01/getting-started-with-after-eff.html

    Walter Soyka
    Designer & Mad Scientist at Keen Live [link]
    Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
    @keenlive   |   RenderBreak [blog]   |   Profile [LinkedIn]

  • Josh Rod

    March 3, 2016 at 5:54 pm

    Is there anyway to mask it

    Thanks for trying to help but i could of easily gone on that website – im not sure how to do it and that site doesn’t really help. (the first link)

  • Greg C neumayer

    March 3, 2016 at 6:01 pm

    If you’re working with 3D objects and z space, you can simply adjust your z (depth) position to keyframe the right depth position over time.

    When I need to do this but want to stay in the 2D world, I usually get the objects doing what I want to do in XY space, then split the layer (CMD-SHFT-D) and put one of the half-layers beneath the layer of the object I need to pass behind.

  • Walter Soyka

    March 3, 2016 at 6:46 pm

    [Josh Rod] “Is there anyway to mask it “

    Yes, but it’s painstaking and you’re better splitting the layers as Greg describes below.

    [Josh Rod] “Thanks for trying to help but i could of easily gone on that website – im not sure how to do it and that site doesn’t really help. (the first link)”

    I referred you there because if you don’t know what to look for, you won’t find it.

    With 3D layers, the order in the timeline doesn’t affect which one is above or below; their position along the Z axis does. (X goes from left to right across your screen, Y goes from top to bottom down your screen, Z goes into the screen.) If you did this with 3D layers, you wouldn’t need to worry about masking or splitting; when smaller object was in front of the larger one in Z-space, it would be composited in front. When it was behind the the larger one in Z-space, it would be composited behind it, automatically.

    If you read through the links from the intro to Ae, you would have found resources like this:
    https://www.videocopilot.net/basic/#07

    Walter Soyka
    Designer & Mad Scientist at Keen Live [link]
    Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
    @keenlive   |   RenderBreak [blog]   |   Profile [LinkedIn]

  • Josh Rod

    March 4, 2016 at 12:36 pm

    Thanks guys – yeah i just ended up using the Z axis – its seems to work well. 🙂

    Thanks again for the help .

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