Making a leaf blow around

[Mylenium]

Depends on the motion… Do you need it to be in certain places at certain times? Does it need to flap and hover? How long is the shot? etc. There’s no generic answer to that problem without further info, but of course hand-keyframing is always a safe bet ;O).

Mylenium

[Pour Myl

[Martin Banks]

Sorry, of course, I should have added more information! sorry. Well, the animation is only about 15 seconds long, on a white background. In terms of the leaf’s movements it needs to be smooth and fluid, so lots of easying I guess, I would like to try and make it drift around the screen before blowing off screen.

It doesn’t need to be any where in particular at any specific time, just to blow off screen at the end.

Are there any built in particle generators, I also have the trapcode one, that would allow my to create one drifting particle that I can replace with my leaf, and alter effect parameters and keyframe them to suit my choice?

Thanks,
Martin.

[Reloaded]

Man, if you have Trapcode Particular it’s going to be very easy.
Is it just one leaf?

If so, use the Follow Path option in Particular 1.5 (the upgrade is free) to create the movement (there is a video tutorial at http://www.trapcode.com), set the particle emitter to 1 at the first frame and at frame 2 set it to zero.
If you want the leaf to be flat, it’s done. If you want it to be a little bent, create a comp add the leaf at the center and make sure that this comp is much bigger than the leaf, add CC Sphere ( the bigger the comp in relation to the leaf the smaller will be the bent) then you can animate it’s rotation a little bit to give it a nice movement. Now use this comp as the particle type.
If you want more than one leaf, just play with Particular emitter

I hope it helps.

[Mylenium]

Just like Reloeaded said, use Particular, if you have. Be sure to add Air Resistance to get nice, viscuous movement. do not use the emitter velocity, just use wind and gravity.

Mylenium

[Pour Myl

[Martin Banks]

Thanks for all your help, I’ll try the trapcode one, although now I have to stop that job and start another, so I’ll either be back next week to say thank you or for more help!
Cheers,
Martin

[Mike Clasby]

Dan has a nice set of expressions for a falling leaf here:

https://www.aenhancers.com/viewtopic.php?t=8

They work best if you tie the variable to sliders so you can get the y velocity, oscillations Tilt and drift you like (yep, 5 changable parameters). With slider you can also keyframe changes in the fluttering fall. An occasional barrel roll by keyframing y orientation adds a nice touch.

[Martin Banks]

I’ve tried the method using the particular, and I have managed to get it to follow the motion path, but the leaf looks rigid, and the view of it is still a flat front on image. The method using expressions sounds like it might do the trick more, ie barrel rolling and other movements…however, I have never really used expressions before so I’m finding it a little confusing, and also would this method simply show the leaf falling down and not drifting around?

Thank you for all your help, a forum like this is a lifesaver, and great for increasing my knowledge. If anyone can think of a way to get my leaf looking less rigid or could explain the expressions method in a simpler way then I would be really greatful! thanks again.
Martin