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How to follow the winding road?
Hello,
I am trying to create a “simple” camera movement, where the camera would hover over, say, a road (or path) and moves above it, constantly looking ahead as it moves.
So this is what I have done:
1. I have created a path using the pentool, which is larger then the comp, and enabled the 3D switch for the path.
2. Created a camera, copied the path created in step #1, and pasted it into the camera’s position.
3. Raised the camera’s Z position a little so it will hover over the path and will be visible.Now all seems to be ok, except that at certain points, all of a sudden the camera seems to jump below the road/path as if it were viewing it from below. Then, again, all of a sudden it jumps back up.
So the movement is good as far as the path concerned, except for this occasional jumping up/down.
I have checked my path points if maybe there is something wrong with the anchors, but they all seem to be good, smooth beziers.
Could anyone help me out what might the problem be? Does anyone maybe know of a simple tutorial?
I have uploaded the AE file to illustrate the problem. It’s in CS3 format:
https://www.geocities.com/bocibocitarka/misc/follow_the_road.zipThanks a bunch!
LES
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5 Replies
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PS: I have watched the 2 tutorials by Gerard Rick. But the issue is that whenever I paste the motion path into the camera’s position, the camera is jumping up/down at certain points (on the Z axis).
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Does it actually change z space position or does it flip?
There is a setting someplace (sorry not at my AE machine to check the Help system for you) that switches how the camera orients to the path. If you can find it, change that setting to the other option.The best way to do camera moves is to use a null object to trace your path. Set keyframes for position of the null in 3D space. Smooth the path by using eases or controlling the Beziers.
Parent the camera to the null but offset the anchor point for the camera so the camera is above the roadway. There are many other things you can do to smooth out the camera as it follows the path including adding expressions to add banking, ballistics, inertia, and acceleration.
bogiesan
This is my standard sigfile so do not take it personally: “For crying out loud, read the freakin’ manual.”
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Yes, the “Orient to Path” option for the camera was set, but that had nothing to do with it, unfortunately. However, parenting the cam to the NULL did the trick! Thanks David!
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In the auto orient there is also a setting that allows you to turn of the point of interest and just animate the camera using position and rotation keyframes….For the type of work that you are describing, other than using the Null, this would help. Depending on what I am trying to accomplish, I usually use a Null, but do like this option for some jobs. I also will, on occasion, parent the first Null to a second Null, so if I need to adjust the path as whole it is much easier (don’t have to park on a keyframe).
Mark
Mark Harvey
Senior Editor
Le Réseau des sports -
[les nemeth] “However, parenting the cam to the NULL did the trick! Thanks David!
“My pleasure, glad you got it worked out. Nulls are very cool.
bogiesan
This is my standard sigfile so do not take it personally: “For crying out loud, read the freakin’ manual.”
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