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Re crammed into cataloque effect
Hi guys
Hope you can help me. I been trying to make a crammed into effect using AE or Flash. The effect i am trying to achieve is one i saw for an advert once (im sure it was argos or woolworths) in which all of the items that the company sells go “running” into the catalogue in a type of stampede effect and then the cataloque closes.
I am trying to create something similar but by using toys,(its for a toy shop) as many different types as possible to go running/moving into a door but the door which is at the bottom part of the Letter H.
Any ideas how to do the stampede crowd movement. Oh i also know a similar advert with this effect which is for lloyds TSB advert when the crowd get crammed into the train ~(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ne90AB949SM)
If you do know any techniques please eith post links or be a bit detailed in your tutorial as i am still getting the hang of AE ?Flash
regards
Alison -
7 Replies
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I’d use Particular, which is a particle generator. You have to buy it from Trapcode, but it is well worth it.
1. Make a movie where each frame is a shot of a toy, surrounded by transparency. The movie should be as big as you expect to see a toy in the final scene. If that toy fills the frame, then the movie should fill the frame.
2. Import this movie into AE and drag it into your main composition (comp). Hide the movie layer.
3. Add a new solid, and apply Particular to it.
4. Use these settings for particular:
Emitter: 2 particles per second, direction: directional, spread 1, Y rotation 180, velocity your choice.
Particle: Life: your choice, particle type Custom, Custom: the movie you just made, time sampling: random, still frame. The rest of the settings you can mess with if you want, such as particle size.
5. To get them going into the emitter, set a hold keyframe for the Physics Time Factor at the start of the comp as 1, then go forward in time the length of your desired effect (10 seconds? 20?), then set another hold keyframe as -1. This will start the objects going back in. Note that you will want to start rendering the effect at this point, not at frame 0.
6. Make a new camera, and adjust this and your other layers (they need to be 3D) until you like the positioning.Keep in mind that every layer is flat and thin, with no depth. If you want each layer to face camera so you don’t see how thin it is, set each layer to Orient to Camera.
If you don’t want to buy particular, you might have to move the layers manually into the catalogue, which would be a pain.
Anybody else?
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Hi thanks for a reply,
I think that taking a shot of individual toys would be a bit difficult as i would have to buy a load. What about cutting out/downloading images of toys from a catalogue then editing in photoshop so then i have a composition would that work? Ps if you could put a video or printscreen tutorial that would be great, cos i got a bit lost with some parts of the above one!! -
Yep, cutting out toys would be fine. As long as there’s one toy in each frame of the movie that you make.
Sorry, no time to make a tutorial. Basically, you 1) make a movie with one toy per frame, 2) add it to the comp and apply Particular to a new solid 3) set up particular as I described, using the toy-per-frame movie as the particle, 4) use Physics to make it play, then reverse and 5) add a new camera and move it into position.
That’s the best I can do. Maybe someone else can write up a tutorial.
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thanks Steve really helpful, will let you know how i get on. if anyone else wants to have a go or knows an easier way…make a post!!
regards
Alison
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oh by the way when i export PSD layers in to after effects, would this automatically go in to individual key frames? ie one layer to one frame?
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No, actually — if you import the PSD as a layered composition, you’ll get a comp with all the layers separate. But that’s okay.
Go into that comp, select all the layers, then with the CTI (current-time indicator) at the start of the comp, hit alt+]. This will make all the layers one frame long. Next, select animation>keyframe assistant>sequence layers. Use this to stagger the layers. You’ll want no overlap. This is the comp you render.
Hope that helps.
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If you want to add some character animation to each of the objects as it’s running—like making a toy horse’s legs gallop—consider using the Puppet tools. You’d only need to animate a few of the layers in the foreground in this manner to create the impression of life in the objects.
For a quick video tutorial on using the Puppet tools, see “Using the Puppet tool” on the Adobe website. For detailed information on using the Puppet tools, see the “Animating with Puppet tools” section of After Effects CS3 Help.
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Todd Kopriva, technical editor, Adobe Systems Incorporated
putting the ‘T’ back in ‘RTFM’ : After Effects Help on the Web
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