Corner pin effect with more points/pins

[Roei Tzoref]

Corner pin effect with more points/pins -> 12 points. for more warp power, mesh warp is my favorite. all of these are under distort category. there are also plugins out there: https://www.redgiant.com/products/warp-effects/

Roei Tzoref
After Effects Artist & Instructor
♫ Ae Blues Tutorials

[Ferenc Van der velde]

Thanks for the quick reply Roei! The problem with mesh warp (and with corner pin) is that the effect relies on the edges of the layer and not of a mask. My footage is a huge comp (4800×1260) with all the content for each screen in it. I would like to mask a part of this comp and then warp it “corner-pin style”.

I think the best way for now is to create a new comp for each LED screen. Now I can use the mesh warp you mentioned. It gets the job done, but I would really like to get rid of those bezier handles because I want to end up with straight lines. Can this be done with one of the effects you mentioned?

[Ferenc Van der velde]

Ok, those mesh warp bezier handles need a lot of eyeballing to get things to match. If I just could ALT click the anchor points to delete the handles.

For now I’m putting a grid on my footage and try to get every grid line straight with the photo. There has to be an easier way…

[Roei Tzoref]

if you need more flexibility in texture mapping then this is probably more suited for a 3D software. read here:
https://forums.creativecow.net/thread/2/1060099

Roei Tzoref
After Effects Artist & Instructor
♫ Ae Blues Tutorials

[Ferenc Van der velde]

Hah, I’ve tried almost all the solutions he mentioned as well. It’s just weird that there isn’t a standard AE effect for this. It seems like a simpler effect to code then the mesh warp effect with its curves and bezier handles. A 3D program would be overkill for such an simple distortion effect.

For now I’ve made seperate compositions for each LED screen and used the 4 corner pin effect. A lot of work at first but the warping is very easy from then. Everything aligns perfectly with the perspective now. Below an image to illustrate the difference between mesh warp (left) and the corner pin (right). Both halves should be an exact mirror.

It took me a lot of time to get all the bezier handles right for the mesh effect on the left and it’s still a bit off. The 4 corner pin effect on the right is perfect and if you have everything in seperate compositions it takes a few minutes to get everything in place.

So long story short, for this kind ribbon perspective, split your footage in multiple comps and use 4 corner pin 🙂

[Roei Tzoref]

[Ferenc van der Velde] ” It’s just weird that there isn’t a standard AE effect for this. It seems like a simpler effect to code then the mesh warp effect with its curves and bezier handles. “

I agree that this kind of a distortion effect would be useful. how about sending a feature request? https://www.adobe.com/products/wishform.html

Roei Tzoref
After Effects Artist & Instructor
♫ Ae Blues Tutorials

[Daniel Buckland]

AE has an effect called Reshape, which can work in some situations, but I’ve never had it look good. Puppet pin acheives better results, if you subject is organic looking.

For hard surface reshaping, there’s a third party plugin called Layer Sculptor, It’s does this amzingly well. Set it to reference mask mode if you don’t need the transform animated.