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3D reflector with invigorator model. Problem with updating reflections.
Try as I might I can’t get a 3D Invigotator model to work with 3D reflector properly.
For example, and to keep things simple for teh sake of this post; I create a floor with an AE 3d layer, and over the top of the floor, I create a simple 3D primitive (a cube in this case) with Invigorator Pro. I apply 3D reflector to the AE floor layer, and also untick “Hide 2D layers”. This is fine. In static scene, I get the reflection of the 3D cube in the AE 3d floor layer.
My main problem comes when I try to animate an AE camera around the cube. When I do this, the reflection remains static and does not move/update to reflect the way that it should do when the camera moves around it.
What am I missing? 🙂
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7 Replies
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Hi Mike,
After moving the After Effects camera around, have you clicked on the Update Reflector button? You can also open up the Reflector Updater script which will make updating the reflections easier. After creating a camera move, click the Update Comp button and it will re-calculate the reflections based on the Camera move.
Hope this helps.
Best,
Edward -
Thanks for the reply, Edward.
To answer your question yes, I was using the updater script to update the comp, but that didn’t seem to be working.
Now I think I’ve identified what my problem is. In the comp I described above I had my AE camera parented to a null object (makes it easier to control the camera, especially with orbits as you will know). I think for some reason, 3D reflector doesn’t like the camera being parented because if I remove the null object/parenting, and animate the camera directly, then the reflections DO work properly, but the moment I parent the camera to a null, then the reflections stop updating.
Mike.
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Hi Mike,
That’s right. The camera cannot be parented. Otherwise the reflections will not update correctly. Glad to hear that you were able to figure out what was causing the issue for you.
Best,
Edward -
Hi Mike,
I have what may be a work-around for this.
Set up your project like you described with the camera parented to a null, using the null to control the movement of the camera. Then add a keyframe to one of the values (for instance “Point of Interest”) of the camera, update your Reflector layer, and it should work just fine. You don’t even need to actually animate the camera, just add one keyframe.
I don’t know if it will work in all situations, but I have done some fairly complicated projects in which the camera was controlled by nulls, and there were even multiple layers using the ProAnimator effect, and the reflection worked perfectly.
I hope it works for you.
Thanks,
Brent -
Hi Brent,
Wow. You’re absolutely right about the workaround! It works great. Thanks for sharing this hot tip!!!
Best,
Edward -
That’s brilliant, Brent! Thank you for the info. 🙂
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I’m glad it works for you!
As with many tips, tricks, and workarounds, I stumbled on this by accident. I’m just happy I was able to be of help.
Thanks,
Brent
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