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Masking long orbiting text string
Greetings,
I am new with AE CS6, but would greatly appreciate any technical advice if possible. Please note that this is my first posting here.
I have created and inserted two compositions into a master composition.
In composition (Orbiting Text), I have successfully generated 3D text and set the path to orbit around an axis. Further, I have successfully created a second composition (Orbiting Logo), where a rotating camera and null layer are used to generate the motion. These two compositions are placed within the master composition (Earth In Galaxy). The first two compositions are set to Ray-Trace 3D, with the master composition set to Classic 3D. I have successfully created a mask for the orbiting logo so that it is hidden behind the earth, then properly reveals itself as it orbits around to the front.The issue I am having is with the orbiting text. The length of the text causes it to be in front of the Earth and behind it at the same time. I am at a loss as to how to achieve the effect of hiding what is behind the Earth while keeping that in front and to the side visible.
Thank you in advance for any ideas how this can be achieved.
ScottMac Pro Quad Core, OS X 10.8.2, CS6
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5 Replies
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Can you post a screen grab of your comp window(third to last icon), I’m having a little understanding exactly the issue.
Johnny Cuevas, Editor
Thinkck.com“I have not failed 700 times. I have succeeded in proving that those 700 ways will not work. When I have eliminated the ways that will not work, I will find the way that will work.”
—THOMAS EDISON on inventing the light bulb. -
Thanks John, is this what you are looking for? In this image there is no mask for the text as it relates to the globe, but you can see how the there is text in front of and behind the globe at the same time. Also, text located behind the plaque logo needs to be blocked/masked as well. It should be noted that the Earth and logo plaque are both in motion.
Mac Pro Quad Core, OS X 10.8.2, CS6
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The problem here is when you bring your 3D text into the final composition, it’s not really 3D anymore. It’s a composite of the previous compositions, which was 3d, but right now is a flat layer. Also what could be a problem is I’m not sure how you created your globe, but I’m going to assume you CC Sphere(which isn’t 3D either, but creates a 3D perspective).
Enable the 3D check box on your text layer, press “r” and rotate the image 45 degrees and you will see it’s flat. To bring your 3D forward from your pre-comp, you need to press the icon that looks like a sun, that is the collapse transformations button. Essentially pressing that button brings forward the layer transformations from the previous comp(position, rotation, 3D). Here’s a short tutorial on the collapse transformations button. The Naked Truth About Collapse Transformations
So if you press the collapse transformations button, you will get your transformations from the previous comp. You will lose your lighting, so you will need to copy and paste you lights into your final comp.
Also you will need to make your Earth a 3D layer, you just don’t want to use any of the 3D transformations for the earth layer. If it’s created with CC Sphere, use all the rotational properties in from the effect. Finally, press AA and turn accept Lights to off for the earth layer. Any lighting effects, you will need to create using the effects own lighting.
From what I’ve seen, you could of built this project in your text layers comp. It would of saved your the step of collapsing the transformations and copy and pasting the light. Hopefully I understood exactly what you were doing and this was helpful. I created a simplified version of your project that you might want to use as a guide(using the collapse transformations method and building everything in a single comp method): 5070_rotationaroundglobefolder.zip
Johnny Cuevas, Editor
Thinkck.com“I have not failed 700 times. I have succeeded in proving that those 700 ways will not work. When I have eliminated the ways that will not work, I will find the way that will work.”
—THOMAS EDISON on inventing the light bulb. -
John, thank you so much for your guidance and example file. Based on your suggestion I tried to build the project in a single composition, however something basic is missing. In the attached screen shots you can see that both the ‘New Galaxy Logo3’ layer as well as the orbiting text layers are still visible when they should be obscured by the earth layer. I would sincerely appreciate it if you could please tell me what I am doing wrong. Thanks again, Scott
It looks like only one image can be uploaded at a time. Please let me know if you would like to separately see the screen shot showing text incorrectly in front of the cc sphere.
Mac Pro Quad Core, OS X 10.8.2, CS6
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Well looking at your comp, the new galaxy logo isn’t 3D. I’m sure it’s 3D in the pre-comp, but if it’s not 3D in this comp, it’s just a 2d layer that looks 3d.
Exactly how are you getting that logo to spin around. If it’s with a null object, you should be able to turn on the collapse transformations toggle(looks like a little sun) and it should orbit around your earth.
Johnny Cuevas, Editor
Thinkck.com“I have not failed 700 times. I have succeeded in proving that those 700 ways will not work. When I have eliminated the ways that will not work, I will find the way that will work.”
—THOMAS EDISON on inventing the light bulb.
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