70’s style extreme extruded text

[Chip Maynard]

Check out Aharon’s podcast on using the shatter tool. It has some limitations, but short of getting Zaxwerks Invigorator, it’s about that best you can do in AE.

https://cowcast.creativecow.net/after_effects/episodes/3D_Text_POD_iPod_Lo.mp4

[Kevin Camp]

you can check out roland’s tutorial too. he shows how to use shatter way back on ae5.

i’m not familiar with the ads you mentioned, but you may be able to create this effect in ae with an expression, a null and duplicating the text layer…

create a null, make it 3d and add a slider control setting the value to 1 (don’t change the names of the null of the slider, at least not yet). create you text layer, make it 3d and paste this expression in the position property:

z = index * thisComp.layer(“Null 1”).effect(“Slider Control”)(“Slider”);
thisComp.layer(“Null 1”).transform.position + [0,0,z]

add a comp camera and rough in a camera position to give you an angle that can show z-depth. then duplicate you text layer… as you duplicate the layer, you should start to see it ‘extrude.’ you will probably want to set the text attributes for the ‘face’ layer to be different from the extruded layers, so you can read it. animating the slider value will animate the extruding. the positions of all the text layers are linked to the null, so repositioning the null will move all layers. you may want to just parent the layers to the null, thta way scale, rotation, etc. are all linked to one layer for manipulation.

it’s is kind of crude, and there are limitations, but it may work for what you are looking for.

you could also do a ‘cell’ style animation using illustrator to create your text and extrusion, expanding the vectors, releasing them to layers, importing the file as comp, then sequencing the layers. it could be effective if you can create the look you want in illustrator, which can do flat faux perspective ppretty well.

Kevin Camp
Designer – KCPQ, KMYQ & KRCW

[Kevin Camp]

oops, let’s try that again…

you can check out roland’s tutorial too. he shows how to use shatter way back on ae5.

i’m not familiar with the ads you mentioned, but you may be able to create this effect in ae with an expression, a null and duplicating the text layer…

create a null, make it 3d and add a slider control setting the value to 1 (don’t change the names of the null of the slider, at least not yet). create you text layer, make it 3d and paste this expression in the position property:

z = index * thisComp.layer(“Null 1”).effect(“Slider Control”)(“Slider”);
thisComp.layer(“Null 1”).transform.position + [0,0,z]

add a comp camera and rough in a camera position to give you an angle that can show z-depth. then duplicate you text layer… as you duplicate the layer, you should start to see it ‘extrude.’ you will probably want to set the text attributes for the ‘face’ layer to be different from the extruded layers, so you can read it. animating the slider value will animate the extruding. the positions of all the text layers are linked to the null, so repositioning the null will move all layers. you may want to just parent the layers to the null, thta way scale, rotation, etc. are all linked to one layer for manipulation. if you do that, modify the expression to:

z = index * thisComp.layer(“Null 1”).effect(“Slider Control”)(“Slider”);
value + [0,0,z]

that will unlink the position to the null in the expression since the parenting will accomplish the same result….

it’s is kind of crude, and there are limitations, but it may work for what you are looking for.

you could also do a ‘cell’ style animation using illustrator to create your text and extrusion, expanding the vectors, releasing them to layers, importing the file as comp, then sequencing the layers. it could be effective if you can create the look you want in illustrator, which can do flat faux perspective ppretty well.

Kevin Camp
Designer – KCPQ, KMYQ & KRCW

[Dave Fleming]

Thanks Chip and Kevin,

These suggestions give me great starting points…

Dave

[Walter Jones]

I just read your post on this and have a question: i also want to create some extreme extruded text but i and using the echo effect because it has the look i want, but my only drawback is the flexing and warping it does with the text movement. is ther an expression that will keep the echo “stiff” and behave like a solid 3D extrusion?