“growing” vector art

[Mike Clasby]

https://forums.creativecow.net/cgi-bin/page_wrapper.cgi?forumid=2&page=https://www.creativecow.net/articles/hansen_jaysen/growing/index.html

[Rhett Robinson]

The vector is the same idea, but use the pathfinder, and then nibble away at parts (each on a new layer… I made a few actions that helped but haven’t had the success as I do with photoshop actions) when it’s done, the steps are basically to import the file as a comp, sequence the layers, etc. This way you can take advantage of the continuous rasterization, and utilize the output in 3D space a little better.

If someone knows JavaScript better than myself (which I believe would be necessary to create the actions I propose) , I’d love to have one that would

a) execute the pathfinder command “subtract from shape layer”
b) “expand” that
c) select and copy all the contents of the layer
d) lock the current layer
e) turn the visibility off for that layer
f) create a new layer
g) “paste in front” in the new layer

this is basically the steps I take, and it would knock down the time CONSIDERABLY, although it’s certainly doable without a “super-action”. My last setup had about 200 layers, then I stretched the duration in AE, and had it blend as it went.

[Steven Andrus]

Imagine that, it is called “growing” ha ha, thanks for the tut. That was painfully keyframe intensive. I was hoping that there was some trick to it that I wasn’t aware of, oh well, looks like it’s keyframing time

[Chris Smith]

I think most often that stuff that is the coolest is seldom a trick, but the very basics done very well. I think if you abolished all plug-ins on the planet and were left with just well designed art and keyframing you would still see some of the most amazing stuff. IMO.

[Karim Daire]

Hi Steven,

the KFC ad rather looked like a 3D Application, doesn’t it? I guess that with some Sweep Nurbs on bending paths and animating start/end Points that should be a lot less keyframe-intensive and more natural looking (not regarding render-times) than in AE… maybe someone working with a 3D plugin for AE has a hint there?!?

Karim

[Nicholas Toth]

I think it was done in 3d, with a photograph mapped to the floor plane, and as commented earlier sweep nurbs (or loft? I don’t know, in cinema it looks like a black hole), but post work had to have been done in it b/c of the nice vignetting.

OR you could have just animated it in 3d space, alpha channel for the growing strokes, exported the camera, exported multipass shadows, and composited the floor in AFX.

Afx is nice, but it can’t really do things like that easily — I’m thinking maybe an avid invigorator user may be able to make it happen, but it will take a little while to wrap your head around it and it’ll take a thousand years to render. I know out of C4d it wouldn’t take all that long, because it is pretty simple animation.