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‘Floating’ Phone Screen/Text Effect; Suggestions for Improvement
Hey all!
Been a reader on here for awhile but never had a question until now! (Never had an answer either, being an ae noob, hence this post…)
Anyway, was hoping you wizards could look at this sample footage and perhaps offer a few suggestions on polishing up the effect and making it look a little more pleasing.
I haven’t done a whole lot with after effects other than playing with AK tutorials, so I’m not really sure what settings to mess with…but I’ve done plenty of google and forum searches, and haven’t found much beyond the ‘minority report’ effect.
It’s similar to the minority report effect, but it’s the motion of the screen being ‘attached’ to the phone I’m having a problem with…the effect is the screen of the phone is floating above the actual phone the actor is looking at so the audience can view it.
Here’s an example…
Blah from Devin Clarke on Vimeo.
I dunno, the motion just doesn’t seem right. It looks even worse on an hdtv…The graphic is just for demo purpose, am going to replace with a typing out screen effect (thats easier to read), but suggestions on the graphic are more than welcome 😀
Also, this other clip could use some tweaking as far as the effect goes imo…i figured since the effect is supposed to kind of be computer screen text, I wouldn’t have to mess with 3d (of which I know nothing)
Blah 2 from Devin Clarke on Vimeo.
Could definitely use some tweaking…perhaps a good time to learn mocha? and maybe blender…
Sky replacement and color correction coming up next, but that has turned out well in tests so far…
Thanks in advance for any and all critiques/suggestions/tricks/tips! I love this forum!
-d
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9 Replies
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Blah: rotation is the key. The handheld device rotates. You need to track it with rotation. It should move as if it were a big clipboard bolted to the handheld device.
If you can’t track it, you’ll have to do it by eye. It would be good training for your eye. Make sure the big layer’s anchor point is where the handheld device rotates … his wrist maybe?
Blah 2: video didn’t load.
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Maybe ease in / ease out the movement to smooth it out. You’re on the right path…. tracking was done well!
https://www.youtube.com/graphicsdump
https://www.myr3d.com -
I beg to differ, O Long-Lost Brother of Mine. 🙂
Check the motion of the floater screen: mostly up and down.
The handheld device moves from side to side and rotates.
The floater misses this motion. -
Ah, you are right brother! hehe
I wasn’t looking at it carefully.
https://www.youtube.com/graphicsdump
https://www.myr3d.com -
Well, guess I should have mentioned this, but I actually did have the rotation tracked as well and the motion was just way too all-over-the-place…Originally tried the corner pin and it was just too wild. I mean, it certainly matched the phone’s movement, but I guess the motion ‘to scale’ doesnt match to my eye.
I dunno, but it seems to look better with subtlety…just added a small amount of wiggle to give it a bit of rotation; I’ll play with those settings a bit more.
Forgot about the anchor point, that could be the little ‘thing’ its missing (to my eye, anyway). Definitely will add some easing in there as well to keep down the choppiness…
I’ll just keep playing with it. Thanks a bunch for the suggestions! You guys rock!
Also, the 2nd vid seems to be working fine on my end…? hurm.
-d
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Vid 2 may be looking for a video that’s local on your machine …?
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That shot in the second video is literally right outside my office!
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Todd Kopriva, Adobe Systems Incorporated
putting the ‘T’ back in ‘RTFM’ : After Effects Help on the Web
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If a page of After Effects Help answers your question, please consider rating it. If you have a tip, technique, or link to share—or if there is something that you’d like to see added or improved—please leave a comment. -
So moving the anchor point down his wrist has helped an immeasurable amount. Next I think I’ll try tracking the rotation part by hand and see if I can’t make it smoother that way…thanks again!
And yeah, hehe I kept looking out for an adobe security guard to tell us to leave, but guess they didn’t notice 😛
thanks again for the suggestions!
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Cool.
I’d distort the text a bit to follow the curve of the road.
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