AE CS6 – Camera projection: avoid and overallped layer

[Duca Simone luchini]

I attach a screen shot:

https://img855.imageshack.us/i/cameraprojlayer.png/

[Duca Simone luchini]

https://imageshack.us/a/img94/4146/screenshot20130103at746.png

[Tudor “ted” jelescu]

I can’t see from the images you posted how you build the image. For something like that you would need quite a few layers, with a lot of painting behind the shapes you cut, and even then it would be difficult to get the right effect because of the perspective. Can you post a few stills showing all the layers (cut outs) involved in building your scene?

Tudor “Ted” Jelescu
Senior VFX Artist

[Duca Simone luchini]

Hi Ted,
how we know, for Camera Projection you have to put layer in front of a light to project them. And then use a Camera to visualize the right alignment. In my case, to obtain parallax (I’d like to move Camera just little…) I didn’t project the entire photo but four selection of it. These four selection are displaced in Z Depth near in front of light in the right way to visualize the entire integral photo (but ar selections…!).
The problem is the if you make the same work with solid selections, whiteout projection, you of course don’t have visible overlapping, but in the same time you can NOT make a 3D compositing and to obtain awesome parallax effect end camera movement. If you want make 3D compositing you have to project you 2d selection on plane or, better, over a 3D solid but in this case, in After Effects, I meet this problem about visible overlapping.

I Attach some further shots.

Many thanks!

[Tudor “ted” jelescu]

I do not think that you’ll be able to mix the two techniques (if I understand correctly what you’re trying to do). You either do a camera projection and give dimension in 3d space to your image by building a projection structure that is 3d, or you cut up your image and create the illusion of a 3d scene by arranging parts of the image in 3d (mainly on the z axis). Mixing the two will give you overlapping edges like in your image.

Tudor “Ted” Jelescu
Senior VFX Artist

[Duca Simone luchini]

Hi Ted,
yes is not possible, I think, but is strange cause this is the basic of3D compositing. Maybe you can make it in Nuke…
Anyway, I think there’s a mistake to project single selections: we have to project just one entire photo in many planes, or better 3d geometry. But is hard to do in AE if you have complex geometry like a land or a mountains environment.
Maybe, if you don’t have any possibilities to build 3D structure to give 3d effect to your projection, you can place your 2d selection in z Depth and use bump or displacement map to give them a 3D aspect.
Therefore I wait for your tutorial about create displacement map in Photoshop… eheheh!

Bye and many thx!

[Duca Simone luchini]

But anyway, the really important thing when you use 2D layers to improve your 3D compositing is to give these 2D layer a 3D appearance.
In your tut “3D from 2D Image Using Displacement Maps”, you improved the look of this other tut from Fuller ” Advanced 2.5D Animation in AE ” done just with 2D layer displaced in z Depth: this means give a real 3d look to 2d layers transforming 2d water spite layers in a “almost 3D layer using Freeform.
The question, therefore, is how to give a 3D look to improve 2d Layer2 (from a still image, of course). Foe water you used FreeForm but I think we could use some kind of map/pass as in a 3D sw, to make that: Bump Map, Displacement Map, Normal Map, AO, Specular… bit the problem is, how to make these Maps in AE (or in Photoshop o other external sw) and how to apply in AE these “3D maps” to 2 layers and render our 3D Compositing…
Any ideas?

Many thanks!

[Tudor “ted” jelescu]

I am not aware of any other plugin that will do a true 3d displacement of the layer (fast and accurate) besides the Mettle plugins.
The basic principle of a displacement map is that 50% gray is a flat surfacelocated where your layer is in 3d space. Whatever is lighter than 50% gray will be extruded towards the camera, under 50% will be away from the camera. So you need to create a grayscale image that will allow the plugin to extrude your 2d image and give it depth.

Tudor “Ted” Jelescu
Senior VFX Artist

[Duca Simone luchini]

Hi Ted,
great, this is the same process you have to use in Vue if you want to extrude a Geo Map photo: in Photoshop you have to transform you image in B&W (better if you set your image as Greyscale 16 bit) and than you have to create some different grey maps augmenting contrast. And is the same process to create displacemnt map in Maya from a 2D texture.
I still wonder how can we utilize also bump map and Normal Map (faster to render…) of this 2D layer. For example I’ve Crazy bump sw that creates easily many types of Maps and maybe Freeform can accept them as it accepts the grayscale Displacement map .

I’m going to finish your tut (applying displacement to surfer) and then I’ll try to make further experiments to see if freeform can accept other types of Maps.
Many thanks!

[Tudor “ted” jelescu]

CrazyBump will help you get a Displacement map that you can use in FreeForm. All you need is to export the Displacement map in a image format(jpg, png, tiff…) that FreeForm can use.

Tudor “Ted” Jelescu
Senior VFX Artist