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bold idea – is it possible?
hi!
i’ve got an idea for an opening title sequence and i’m not quite sure if it’s possible in AE.
Basically……
1 – start with an earth. i then want it to crack in places and light to spill out – can i get this to look good, as in to get the light to spill in a spherical manner?
2 – i then want to the earth to rotate and for the light to come towards the camera.
3 – then as the light spills on to the camera i will bring on some shots from the show.
is any of this possible without looking like the worst thing in the world. i’ve found a couple of “volumetric light” tutorials that i’m going to work my way through but i’m not sure if its possible to make the light look like it’s coming toward the camera from the centre of the shot?
thanks
Mia
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4 Replies
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It’s entirely possible.
Do you want someone here to do it for you?theanvel.com has several excellent volumetric light tutorials but you may have to pay for them these days. Worth every penny. Look for the disco ball series.
However, unless you have some additional plugins or lots of time to experiment with what comes with CS3, the effect you seem to be describing might be best created in a 3D application by a competent designer/animator.
The difference between your “worst thing in the world” and a pleasing/satisfying visual your audience will appreciate is subtle. Elegant 3D fractures, edge glows, and the illusion of light radiance are supremely difficult in After Effects without extensive experience in many advanced concepts such as precomping the spherical content (which could be a movie that opens your Earth) and generating mattes for the light filters. If you have the time and patience, you will end up with a delicious effect. But you need to decide if the many-many hours of screwing around are worth a few seconds of screen time.
bogiesan
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This definitely sounds like something you want to do utilizing a 3D program to handle the earth cracking thing, and a compositing app (AE of course!) to handle the volumetric light and transitional elements.
Bob Bonniol
MODE Studios
http://www.modestudios.com
Contributing Editor, Entertainment Design Magazine
Art of the Edit Forum Leader
Live & Stage Event Forum Leader
HD Forum Leader -
[miabumbag] “3 – then as the light spills on to the camera i will bring on some shots from the show.”
All of the effects you express interest in are definitely possible, but I’m not sure I follow exactly how you want this last step to appear.
For the first two you would probably use 3 CC Sphere layers, the first using an earth texture, the second using a ‘light cracks forming’ pre-comped animation, and the third using the same pre-comp but with a Radial Blur set to Zoom at the center of the sphere (causing the light cracks to cast rays). The light layers should be set to an additive blend mode.
This is a pretty cool idea, maybe I’ll put together an example aep for you next week when I’m at work with a working copy of the CC Plugs =)
Darby Edelen
Designer
Left Coast Digital
Santa Cruz, CA -
wow! sorry for my late reply! there’s nothing like being given a million jobs to do at once!….ahhh the life of an AE user!
i’ve managed to piece together a few bits here and there but if you do get a chance to piece something together let me know. in the mean time ill try all your ideas!
Mia
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