Solid layer shows the view from a Camera with expressions

Adobe After Effects Expressions

Solid layer shows the view from a Camera with expressions

Posted by Konstantin Smirnov on October 6, 2017 at 9:06 am

I want to make a solid layer to project the view from a camera using expressions.
In “comp A” I have a camera pointed at some 3D elements. Now I want to make a solid layer in “comp B” and add an expression to it, that makes the solid show what the camera in “comp A” sees.

I’m only interested in solving this problem with expressions and existing effects within AE. I don’t want to insert “comp A” directly into “comp B”.

Thanks

Brendon Murphy replied 8 years, 6 months ago 2 Members · 3 Replies
3 Replies

Brendon Murphy
October 14, 2017 at 12:31 am

Konstantin,

Besides pre-rendering “comp A”, I can’t think of anything that would give a more efficient result than just dragging it in. Can you shed some light on your reasons for not wanting to do so?

You could, for instance, create a new solid in “comp B”. Drag “comp A” into the timeline and turn the visibility off. Add the “Set Channels” effect to your solid, and then choose comp A as the source in each channel. This would give you the image of comp A on the solid. However, I can’t think of a reason why this would be better than just using the comp itself.

Brendon Murphy
________________
Visual Effects
http://www.brendonmurphy.net
Konstantin Smirnov
October 24, 2017 at 11:50 am

Hi Brendon

Thank you for the reply. I think I have to explain the background to the problem.

I would like to create a 8K stereo 3D (Side-By-Side) video. The idea is to have two cameras with the same distance as the human eyes between the two. Now to accomplish this I would have to duplicate the same comp but activate different cameras for the left and right eye (or side of the video). This works great and the result is really good when viewed in google cardboard goggles.

Now I dont what to duplicate the comps, just to save time in the workflow and the rendertime (the output is 8K with 3D graphics). And some plugins like Trapcode Particular randomize values each time they are duplicated. Which leaves you with to completly different looks.

I want to find a way to view one comp from two different angles at the same time. Hope that I made the dilemma more clear now. And maybe you will have the same questions I had when you start to mess around with VR-applications in the new update of After Effects.

_____________________________

KONSTANTIN SMIRNOV
Video editor // VFX // Graphic designer

FROGTOWN
Web: http://www.frogtown.se
Brendon Murphy
October 24, 2017 at 5:36 pm

Ah, I see.

You could try writing a script that does the following:

-Precomposes all layers in the comp, leaving you with a MASTER comp that has one precomp inside.
-Leaves a duplicate of your camera in the master comp (outside the precomp)
-enables “collapse transformations” on the precomp
-Duplicates the master comp (for the other eye) and offsets the camera in that one by a specified amount
-Adds both comps to the render queue

This will create the setup you need without changing anything in the precomped scene.

Brendon Murphy
________________
Visual Effects
http://www.brendonmurphy.net

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