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Activity Forums Adobe After Effects Handwriting (mask) with paint?

  • Handwriting (mask) with paint?

    Posted by Tom Duncan on August 8, 2007 at 6:14 am

    Ok, this should be easy but it’s not. I have a caligraphy style script text in Invigorator and want to make it “write-on” with a mask. The camera will not move while it writes on. I have created a path that follows the script and have applied stroke and keyframed it.

    Everything is fine except the pen it was written with is wider than it is tall (caligraphy), so the width varies depending on direction and angle. When the path crosses itself there is material revealed that I dont want to be… yet. I need a variable width stroke that can mask the wide parts and narrow parts. Stroke does not do this.

    Maltaannon has a tutorial on his site that explains how to accomplish this but his site is down.

    What is the effect that offers the variable width brush? Can somebody explain how this is done?

    While I am at it. Why is Vector Paint seem to be so limited in ability? Things like undo… custom brushes, etc. It seems like for such a powerful program like AE they would add a little more functionality to VP. Or is it because I am still on AE 6.5 and the new version has improved?

    thanks,
    td

    Coverbee replied 18 years, 9 months ago 3 Members · 5 Replies
  • 5 Replies
  • Roland R. kahlenberg

    August 8, 2007 at 11:54 am

    VP was purchased from a 3rd company. Sadly AE hasn’t added to its functionality since version 5.5(?) when it was purchased/licensed.

    another alternative is to look at breaking your logo up into separate parts to overcome the overlapping issue. The Stroke keyframes do not have to be manipulated much at all to make this work.

    HTH
    Roland Kahlenberg
    https://www.broadcastGEMs.com – Adobe After Effects project files
    https://www.myspace.com/rorkrgbspace

  • Tom Duncan

    August 8, 2007 at 1:47 pm

    That would help the parts that cross each other. But there are sections in the script such as letters a, d, e, t, where the stroke reverses direction, causing thick sections made from parallel strokes.

    I suppose it is doable with a LOT of effort but all I really need is a simple, variable width brush.

    Just a few days ago I watched Maltaannon’s tutorial on how to do this but now it is MIA. Do you know what plug-in has a brush-tip that can do this? I’m pretty sure that is what his tutorial showed but the memory cells have that darn gaussian blur thing going on.

    perplexed,
    td

  • Coverbee

    August 8, 2007 at 2:00 pm

    Hi there,

    I think Maltaannon used “nomal” paint in his tutorial.
    Once you have covered what you want to reveal later, you can animated brushestrokes you made in “strokeoptions” found in the painteffect.

    Good Luck

  • Tom Duncan

    August 8, 2007 at 2:29 pm

    My version of “normal” paint doesnt have any parameters to it ???

    I think I figured a solution to the parallel strokes, and that is by tweaking the path so the edge reveals only what I want revealed.

    sometimes a little sleep will solve a lot of problems eh?

    So I could create two versions of the logo for the cross-overs as Roland suggested and that would be a lot less work.

    thanks everyone,
    td

  • Coverbee

    August 8, 2007 at 2:38 pm

    They will appear in the effectsection of the track you paint on. after you have painted, that is… Track(..) > Effect > Paint > Brushstrokes.

    good luck

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