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Particles moving past camera – Expression?
I’m trying to achieve the effect of small particles moving past an AE comp camera. And the particles should have DOF relating to the camera. Now, I realize that the particle effects filters of AE don’t support DOF, even if they support the AE comp camera. So I was wondering if this could be achieved with expressions? If I have a layer that is a small round particle. Then animate that from the distance toward the camera, then past the camera. Would it be possible to create, say 50 more particles that are placed randomly, yet echo the first particle’s Z-space animation?
Or alternatively, a particle some distance from the camera is placed, then the camera moves past it. Once the camera passes, another particle is created off in the distance at a random point in relation to the camera’s POV. Is this even possible? I’d want a looping expression that would have maybe 50 particles on screen at once. Thanks for any help!
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1 Reply
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You should try and look at some of Dan Ebberts tutorials here at the COW and at his site motionscript.com. It’s quite possible to create what you described using just expressions. The key to success is using valueAtTime() for the position to mimic the behavior of another layer. Try this:
seedRandom(index,true);
offset=random(-1,1);
X=position[0];
Y=position[1];
Z=thisComp.layer(“ParticlePrototype”).position.valueAtTime(inPoint+time+offset)[2];[X,Y,Z]
Just make sure your layer is already set to 3D and apply the expression to the position. It will look for the behavior of a layer called ParticlePrototype and replicate its animation on the Z-axis. You can still place your particles freely on X and Y. Change values and names as you need them.
Mylenium
[Pour Myl
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