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3D Stadium
I am attempting to create a 3d elliptically shaped stadium.
I have AE 6.5 and PhotoShop CS.
Using PS I created a sutiable ellipse to for the seat / horizontal surface.
I then imported the file into AE as a comp.
I made the comp a 3d layer.
Next I duplicated the layer, increased the scale, and changed the y-axis position.
I repeated this several times and now I have nice concentric ellipses forming the seats of the stadium.The problem I am having is trying to create the back of the seat / vertical surface.
I want to connect the outside edge of one ellipse to the inside edge of the ellpise directly above it with a solid.
I am essentially trying to create elliptical cylinders connecting elliptical planes.Any ideas? I am I approaching this correctly?
Thanks! -
4 Replies
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You might be able to fake it with multiple instances of Trapcode’s 3D stroke … otherwise you’d need Zaxwerks Invigorator to make 3D (elliptical) cylinders in AE.
Steve
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I’d say stop wasting your time and resources and move on to a real 3D program or find a guy with one who can help you out. There’s 3 main problems:
a) You end up with a massive number of 3D layers that render that slow assuming you try to follow your curvature as closely as you can.
b) Placing the layers is going to be a pain, both manually or expression driven. In the latter case if it’s a “real” elipse or a even more complex shape it involves heavy math.
c) Even if you manage to place your layers correctly, AE’s filtering will ruin/ soften your edges.
If you still insist on doing it in AE, try to create a cylinder in a sub-comp and then import and squeeze it in your other comp (“collapse transformations” switch must be used). Incidentally I just yesterday uploaded some setups to my website that contain such expression driven primitives made of AE 3D layers (if you are interested folow the link in my signature).
Still the sane way would be doing it in 3D – stairstepping is a simple series of bevel/ inset/ filet operations there and the rendering looks far superior to AE without much trouble.
Mylenium
[Pour Myl
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What 3D programs do you recommend that have compatibility with AE?
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You can’t import 3D meshes directly into AE. You’d need Invigorator Pro to do that. Quite possibly you wouldn’t even need any other 3D tool once you have Invigorator – what you are trying to do would be simple extrusions of your contours. In the other case you normally only import rendered frames and then add your AE specific stuff. If tight integration with AE is required, Cinema4D is your best companion. Other than that, any 3D program will do as long as you can handle it.
Mylenium
[Pour Myl
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