Masked object disappears when i add element 3D effect to it ….

[Walter Soyka]

[Steve George] “1: I Import an EPS and use ray trace to separate the black background from my white logo, making sure i set the ray traced logo outline to a new layer.”

Do you mean auto-trace? Ray-tracing and auto tracing are very different.

[Steve George] “2: With the new ray traced layer selected my logo is visible, i apply effect > element 3d to the layer and the text disappears (i will come back to this)”

Element is meant to be applied to its own comp-sized solid. It has tools for referring to other layers.

[Steve George] “3: I go into element 3d, apply my bevel and material settings, click ok to take me back into after effects to find the logo is there, but very small and squashed … “

See my response to 2. It is small and squished because the layer it is applied to is not comp-sized.

Walter Soyka
Principal & Designer at Keen Live
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
RenderBreak Blog – What I’m thinking when my workstation’s thinking
Creative Cow Forum Host: Live & Stage Events

[Steve George]

Thank you for your reply walter.

I did actually mean auto trace, not ray trace, sorry my mind was not focussing i guess.

I’m still have a problem with size after i apply element 3d to the solid layer.

No matter how big an image i drag onto a layer when i add bevel and texture in element 3d when i click ok it’s still less than half the size when it comes out of element ?

As you will see in the pic above i made a solid layer (same size as comp) and applied element 3d to it.
I then imported a png that was 6000 pixels wide (my project is 1280 pixels wide).
The logo is way too big for the screen in this case but i purposely left it too big to see if size is an issue.
I then auto traced the logo, set the auto trace to a new layer and applied that layer into element 3d.
I then added a material and bevel, clicked ok.

Is it normal for images to come out of element so small ? when i scale the image up to fit the screen it doesn’t look good ?

You (walter) mentioned about being comp size in your previous reply. Is there a way i can import my logo as comp size ?

Sorry i know i’m missing something here 🙁

[Walter Soyka]

Element should not be applied to a layer with stuff on it. Create a new solid layer, at comp size, and apply Element to that. Then, under Element > Custom Layers > Custom Text and Masks, point Element to the layer(s) with the masks you want to use.

This should be well-covered in Andrew Kramer’s tutorials (really more of a video manual) for Element.

Walter Soyka
Principal & Designer at Keen Live
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
RenderBreak Blog – What I’m thinking when my workstation’s thinking
Creative Cow Forum Host: Live & Stage Events

[Steve George]

That is exactly what i did Walter, I watched all of his tutorials.

Here’s what i did step by step

1, New solid layer
2, add element 3d to it
3, Import My logo, i have tried with PNG & EPS types
4, Drag my logo into the preview window to put that on a new layer
5, Auto trace the logo to convert the image into a mask, make a new layer from the mask (i also tried with not making a new layer)
6, In the settings for element go to custom layers etc, just like you suggested.
7, In element apply bevel, textures etc, then click ok

Then i get what you see in my screen shot every time. A very small logo in the middle of the page.

I must be missing something very small or not viewing something correctly ?

[Walter Soyka]

In your screenshot, you do not have a comp-sized layer for Element. Element is applied to the layer generated by auto-trace, which the layer handles show is less than comp-sized.

If you are doing something else that you need help with, please upload an updated screenshot so I can see what you are seeing.

If you’ve correctly done the comp-sized layer for Element and the logo is simply coming in small, you can adjust the height in its group’s Particle Look. For example, Element > Group 1 > Particle Look > Size

Mettle ShapeShifter is a different plugin that can work directly on shape layers, extruding and lighting them and responding to the comp camera.

Walter Soyka
Principal & Designer at Keen Live
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
RenderBreak Blog – What I’m thinking when my workstation’s thinking
Creative Cow Forum Host: Live & Stage Events

[Steve George]

“Element is applied to the layer generated by auto-trace, which the layer handles show is less than comp-sized.”

How do i set the auto traced layer to be comp sized ?

“If you’ve correctly done the comp-sized layer for Element and the logo is simply coming in small, you can adjust the height in its group’s Particle Look. For example, Element > Group 1 > Particle Look > Size”

This will distort the quality though, right ?

Thanks for your help Walter

[Walter Soyka]

[Steve George] “How do i set the auto traced layer to be comp sized ? “

You do not. Do not apply Element to the auto trace layer. Create a separate solid, with no masks, at comp size.

The size of the layer does not matter. Element is looking at the mask data, not the pixel data.

[Steve George] “This will distort the quality though, right ? “

No. Scaling the Element layer itself will reduce quality, but telling Element to scale the group’s particle will not. Element is working internally with geometry very similar to vectors, not pixels, for operations like these.

Walter Soyka
Principal & Designer at Keen Live
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
RenderBreak Blog – What I’m thinking when my workstation’s thinking
Creative Cow Forum Host: Live & Stage Events

[Steve George]

“You do not. Do not apply Element to the auto trace layer.”

How do i import my auto traced layer into element then ?

“Create a separate solid, with no masks, at comp size.”

How do i do this ?

Like i said i am relatively new to using after effects though i have watched all of the essential training on lynda.com this is not covered.

Could you possibly give me a step by step rundown on how to get my logo into element 3d so when i click ok it is at comp size ? or modify my existing steps please ?

1, new solid layer
2, apply element 3d to it
3, import my logo
4, drag it into the preview window
5, auto trace it (to remove the black background)
6, set create new auto traced layer
7, import that auto traced layer into element 3d
8, add bevel and click ok

Please bare with me, thank you so much for your help

[Walter Soyka]

[Steve George] “How do i import my auto traced layer into element then ? “

You select the layer with the mask(s) on it in Element’s “Custom Layers” control group as I said above.

[Steve George] “How do i do this ? [create a comp-sized solid]”

Step by step:

Press Ctrl+Y (PC) or Cmd+Y (Mac) to create a new solid. Click the “Make Comp Size” button. Click OK. Apply Element to this layer.

Twirl open the Custom Layers group under Element in the effects control panel. Twirl open the Custom Text and Masks group. For Path Layer 1, click the layer selector drop-down and choose the layer that has the mask(s) you want to use in Element. Repeat as necessary.

Twirl open Scene Interface, then click the Scene Setup button. Click “Extrude” to create an Extrusion Model and apply a bevel; this model will automatically refer to Path Layer 1. Repeat/change as necessary.

Walter Soyka
Principal & Designer at Keen Live
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
RenderBreak Blog – What I’m thinking when my workstation’s thinking
Creative Cow Forum Host: Live & Stage Events

[Steve George]

I Don’t want to sound like i’m ungrateful for your help (honestly) but this is not a step by step guide.

After i have created a solid and added element 3d to it how can i choose a masked layer that i haven’t made yet ?

Please can you give me a step by step guide, so i can follow it please, or just modify the steps i already made above.

Thanks again

Steve