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Activity Forums Adobe After Effects NBC Promo effect..help imitating

  • NBC Promo effect..help imitating

    Posted by Jason Brown on December 7, 2006 at 4:11 am

    Hey Everyone,

    Not sure if anyone has seen these promos, but the effect is essentially taking 3 actors (still shots…cut out of background) It takes the actors arranged in a triangle (one in front and two behind on the sides (like bowling pins), then rotates them to bring the side into the front (like spinning a clock).

    I have achieved all aspects of this effect, but it is bothering me because I am having to eyeball the rotation. I’ll walk you through the steps to see if you have a better idea.

    I have 3 layers (images) and one null…make all 3d. Move first layer forward (100 pixels). Move 2nd and 3rd layers back and then respectively left and right to make a triangle (I found that 75 pixels back and to the side seems to work well). Then I parent all the layers to the null and rotate on the x axis, with orient to camera set in the transform settings of the layer menu.

    The problem is that the rotation doesn’t appear equal, it seems a little out of skew and it seems like I have to tweek the position of the null to get it to spin equally around the axis of the center of the triangle.

    So I guess my question would be, what number of pixels do I move the layers from their starting point to create an equilateral (sp?) triangle with the nulls anchor point at the exact center? (all you math guys have fun!)

    Thanks for your help!
    -Jason

    FYI, props to the NBC promo design team…I love their new look with the peacock feather and the scrapbook 2 1/2D effects.

    Kenn Bell replied 19 years, 5 months ago 3 Members · 5 Replies
  • 5 Replies
  • Chris Smith

    December 7, 2006 at 4:44 am

    Un parent them. Zero them back out. When the null is at 0,0,0. Take your first layer and move it 100 pixels in X now parent it to the null. Move the playhead till the null is at 33.3% through the complete rotation and move the second layer 100 pixels in X then parent it. Now move the playhead till the null is 66.6% through the full turn and move the last layer 100 pixels in X then parent.

    I’m no math whiz, but that seems like it would work.

    Chris Smith
    https://www.sugarfilmproduction.com

  • Jason Brown

    December 7, 2006 at 7:44 pm

    That does seem like it would work, assuming that at some point in the rotation I would get a value of 33.3% and 66.6%, I guess I should make my keyframes significantly spaced apart to get close to a 33.3% value.

    Thanks for the advice, I’ll try it!

  • Chris Smith

    December 8, 2006 at 3:07 am

    Well no, just multiply 360 times .33 (118 degrees) and times .66(237.6 degrees) to get your rotation positions at which you attach the next layer.

    So attach the 3 layers when the null is at 0 (zero), 118, then 237.6 respectively.

    Chris Smith
    https://www.sugarfilmproduction.com

  • Jason Brown

    December 8, 2006 at 5:08 am

    You’re right…tried it earlier today, it totally worked! Thanks man!

    Great effect!

    -Jason

  • Kenn Bell

    December 10, 2006 at 12:10 am

    Anyone have a URL to see the NBC effect?

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