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Imported Illustrator graphics become blurred when nested in pre-composite and scaled
Hi, I can’t find an answer anywhere on the internets so any help here would be appreciated please 🙂
I have some vector graphics that I’ve imported into After Effects from Illustrator (both CS6). When I scale it up and down, it becomes blurred- however, I know that I can fix this by clicking the “Continuously Rasterise” button. However, I then took the layer and precomposed it, applying the scale to the precomposite instead. Now the layer is blurry like before, but the continuously rasterise button now has a different function, “Collapse Transformations”, which obviously ruins all the animation going inside the precomposite.
So, I thought maybe it was a case of going into the precomp’s composition settings and checking the “preserve resolution when nested” box, but nope- nothing.
Any ideas? Thanks 🙂
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7 Replies
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To continuously rasterize vector graphics inside pre-comps you’ll need both the continuously rasterize switch enabled on the vector graphic as well as the collapse transformations switch enabled on the pre-comp layer.
Darby Edelen
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Thanks for the quick reply!
The only problem with this, however, is that I’m using the precomp as a 3D layer and zooming in with the camera. When I hit the collapse transformations button the whole layer just reverts to its normal sizing etc.
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[Matt Fletcher] “The only problem with this, however, is that I’m using the precomp as a 3D layer and zooming in with the camera. When I hit the collapse transformations button the whole layer just reverts to its normal sizing etc.”
You either need to enable 3D for all the layers within the precomp, or move all the layers out of the precomp back into the main comp.
Walter Soyka
Principal & Designer at Keen Live
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
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Yes! Fantastic- that worked, thanks so much, I was tearing my hair out over that.
To summarise for future reference to anyone else reading this, if the comp is 3D, you must make every layer within the comp 3D too and rasterise frames, and then collapse transformations on the comp itself. That’s how I got it to work.
Thanks mate 🙂
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Actually, can I ask another question whilst I’m here please? I set all my .ai layers to continuously rasterise, but now the ones with puppet transformations either disappear or don’t deform, depending on whether 3D is checked on that layer. Do you know why this may be and how I can get around it please? Otherwise I have 50% of my character crisp and sharp and the other half slightly blurred :/
Thanks
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Many effects use layer coordinates or operate within layer boundaries. These effects may behave strangely when applied to layers that have Continuously Rasterize or Collapse Transformations enabled.
You might notice, for example, that if you apply a Generate > Circle effect to any of your layers with the CR/CT switch enabled that no matter how much you scale down (or up) the layer the Circle will still render in the exact same location.
Effects use Composition Space to calculate instead of Layer Space when applied to layers with the CR/CT switch on.
What this means is that your Puppet Pins are no longer pinned in relation to the layer’s coordinates, but in the composition’s coordinates. As you’ve discovered, this doesn’t work.
My recommendation is to place each layer you need to use the Puppet tool with into its own high resolution composition, continuously rasterize the layer within this composition, then place these pre-comps in your final composition without collapse transformations on.
Darby Edelen
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You, sir, are a lifesaver! I always forget to enable 3D in vector layer in precomps and then I tear my hair out 🙂 Thanks.
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