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Activity Forums Adobe After Effects shatter effect problem/design

  • shatter effect problem/design

    Posted by Yarin Manes on July 28, 2008 at 9:54 pm

    hey..
    im working on a promo,and il try to explain what im trying to do..
    lets say i have this layer that i want to dissolve with another layer and i want to make an explotsion effect…i tought of using ths shatter effect on the first layer ,that will break the layers into peaces and then behind it the layer above it will apear…iv applied the shatter effect but all i see is this black spot in the middle and i cant get it to work..dont know what im doing wrong,in the effect panel i moved to renderd so i can see but i can’t see anything….any idea what im doing wrong?
    second thing im trying to get dancing girls but only the shadows..any idea where i can get or make?

    Jan Michalovic replied 17 years, 9 months ago 3 Members · 2 Replies
  • 2 Replies
  • Tim Garber

    July 30, 2008 at 7:36 pm

    Shatter is a funky effect. I’m assuming you are referring to the standard effect in the Simulation menu. I’m wondering where you are looking in your timeline. Say you want this effect to happen at the end of the outgoing shot. If you drop the effect on the entire clip then the shatter is complete long before the end of the clip. The effect will complete within 2 seconds. So for starters you’ll have to split the layer at the point you want the effect to begin. Use the Force Strength to control the speed of the explosion. That’ll get you started but you’ll need to learn the controls to get the effect not to look cheesy. Maybe I should say “cheesier.” Oh one final note on that… The effect will default to a wireframe view but before you can see the effect or render it you’ll need to change the view to “Rendered.”

    As for your 2nd question, I would need to know if the source is a green screen or an alpha. If it’s neither you’re in for a long night roto-scoping.

    If it has an alpha and you are using a light change the material options to shadow only. If you have no light use the drop shadow set the distance to 0 & check shadow only. then adjust the Opacity to suit.

    If you have a green screen use Keylight (my favorite) or any other color keyer and get your best key. Then add the shadow effect as discribed before.

  • Jan Michalovic

    August 4, 2008 at 9:50 am

    hey. i think, we have the same problem. as i used a shatter effect on a footage or nested comp, i could not see anything, just a black area depending how did i set force 1,2. i tried adj. layer, but it was the same. isn´t this effect just for solid layers?

    Esse est percipi

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