Create floating text

Zaxwerks

Create floating text

Posted by Phil Side on March 18, 2012 at 3:09 pm

I’d like to create some floating text within some footage I’ve shot. This is an example of the kind of thing I’m after Like thisThere’s a youtube tutorial associated with that clip, which uses PFHoe for the tracking, and Photoshop Repoussé for the 3D text. I’d like to do it using Mocha for the tracking and ProAnimator for the text.

Could anyone give me a bullet point overview of the required steps? I’ve tracked the scene with Mocha, and I have the 3d text in ProAnimator, but I don’t know how to bring everything together.

Thanks.

Edward Wu replied 14 years, 1 month ago 2 Members · 5 Replies
5 Replies

Edward Wu
March 19, 2012 at 10:34 pm

Hi Phil,

To pull off this effect with ProAnimator, create a Camera in After Effects, and have it parent the Mocha tracking data. Then, for the ProAnimator layer, enable the setting “Use Comp Camera”. Then create the object in ProAnimator and line it up with your footage. As the Camera is moving, your 3D Object will change in perspective correctly.

Hope this helps.

Best,
Edward
Phil Side
March 19, 2012 at 10:54 pm

Thanks for the reply, Edward. Could you expand on what you mean by having the camera parent the tracking data? The tracking data needs to be applied to an object – the camera? a null? the ProAnimator object?
Edward Wu
March 20, 2012 at 6:51 pm

Hi Phil,

You can have the tracking data be applied to the Camera. Then, enable the “Use Comp Camera” command in ProAnimator. The camera will move along with the tracking data, and your ProAnimator objects will update in perspective with the camera changes. This will make it appear as if your ProAnimator text is in the room.

Best,
Edward
Phil Side
March 21, 2012 at 9:02 am

Hi Edward,

I got it working using The Foundary’s Camera Tracker. What I’d like to do now is to get the text to cast a shadow on the footage. Do you know of anyway to achieve that? I’ve seen it done using Cinema 4D, but that’s beyond the budget I can put into this.

Thanks,
Phil
Edward Wu
March 21, 2012 at 10:29 pm

Hi Phil,

The way to do this is to create a plane in ProAnimator. Then, apply the Shadow Catcher material to the plane. Then, create a light either in ProAnimator or in After Effects that casts Shadows. If you are using the After Effects Lights, be sure to enable the “Use Comp Lights” setting. With the Shadow Catcher material, the plane will “catch” the shadow of the text object.

If you have any questions, just let me know.

Best,
Edward

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