• Adobe After Effects

  Adding 3D moves to flat images

  Posted by David Alfonso on June 2, 2007 at 2:47 pm

  I searched the posts and archives and didn’t find the answer to my question. I’m sure it’s here somewhere, and I don’t believe I’m referring to the 3D collage “thingie” posted in this forum.

  This is an old and popular effect I’ve yet to find an easy way to accomplish. In video we often use still images for zooming, panning, etc. I’ve seen an effect where the flat images seem to have been separated into layers and positioned so, when a move is rendered, it appears like the foreground is separate from the background.

  This is such a common effect I’m sure there’s a simple plug-in to achieve it rather than the cumbersome way I’m imagining – i.e. create separate layers in PhotoShop and import into AE- even then, I have no idea how to adjust the background to allow the “dolly” effect as the camera moves.

  Perhaps there is a link?
  BTW I’m using AE7 on a PC

  Thank you for any advise.

  Ozzie Alfonso

  David Alfonso replied 19 years, 2 months ago 2 Members · 4 Replies
• 4 Replies

• 

  Mike Clasby

  June 4, 2007 at 12:07 am

  Position Keyfraames on the camera. “C” Brings up the different camera tools, Dolly being one ot them, set keyframes along the time line. Andrew does a simple camera move here:

  https://www.videocopilot.net/videotutorials/3droom/index.htm

  and a simple 3D setup (for a DVD menu) here:

  https://www.creativecow.net/articles/kramer_andrew/3dcompositing/3dcompositing.html

  I like these tus by Rick Gerard, but they’re more complicated:

  Animating The Camera: A Five Minute Tutorial by Rick Gerard
  https://www.creativecow.net/articles/gerard_rick/AEWeekly1/index.html

  Expressing the Camera: A Five Minute Tutorial by Rick Gerard
  https://www.creativecow.net/articles/gerard_rick/AEWeekly2/index.html

  Here’s another:

  Taking a Wild 3D Ride
  https://www.creativecow.net/articles/sjostrom_bjorn/3d_ride/index.html

  Here’s an AE project file (aep) by a former Cow Leader, using lots of Nulls to control the camera better:

  https://forums.creativecow.net/readpost/2/872881?
• 

  David Alfonso

  June 4, 2007 at 3:46 am

  Thank you for all the links. Great tutorials! I neglected to say I’m fairly advanced with PhotoShop and a novice with AE.

  All the tutorials create the 3D camera move by creating planes from flat art. I guess my question is more apropos of PhotoShop – i.e. how to take, say, a photograph, and breakdown the elements to create the different plains in AE for animation.

  I know how to isolate specific objects in PS and save them as layers. But what I haven’t understood is how the 3D moves in AE appear to almost “peek” behind the foreground layer when I know that the background could not have contained what seems to be revealed. I don’t know if this is a “trick” of the eye, or if the foreground layers are made larger than the background to afford revealing more bg as the camera dollies.

  Simple concept but hard to explain.

  Ozzie Alfonso
• 

  Mike Clasby

  June 4, 2007 at 4:53 pm

  The Clone Tool. I know this doesn’t sound good, but that’s it. You become God-like and decide what’s behind all those cutouts. Often the move isn’t that great so you don’t need to fill in the holes all the way.

  Here’s an Adobe tut that I forgot about, it does what you want:

  https://www.adobe.com/designcenter/aftereffects/articles/aft65sd3dtrick.html

  Here’s all the Adobe AE tuts:

  https://www.adobe.com/cfusion/designcenter/search.cfm?product=After+Effects&go=Go
• 

  David Alfonso

  June 4, 2007 at 9:28 pm

  Bull’s Eye! Precisely what I was looking for. Actually, the effect is done as I had imagined. It’s just the samples I’ve seen are so darn well done, I had a hard time accepting it was a select and separate into layers in PS and import into AE.

  You’ve made my week (I’m a simple kind of guy.) Thank you for the help and for turning me on to all the tutorials.

  Ozzie Alfonso

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