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Uniform Perspective on 3D Layers
I was wondering if there is a way/trick to have a group of 3D layers in After Effects show the same perspective when located at different positions?
Basically I have a bunch of 3D layers in a grid, each rotating on the Y-Axis 180 degrees. The ones in the center of the comp are aligned prospectively to the center of the camera, but as perspective works, as they get further from the camera center the perspective changes. I am wanting them all to have the same angle/perspective. Basically wanting them all to rotate as if you were looking dead center at them all, really don’t even need perspective just layers to rotate around.
Hope that makes sense. Thanks for any help/tips!
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11 Replies
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Did you try to Auto-orient layers towards camera?
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Just tried it, didn’t change the perspective. Thanks though.
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Try without camera. Precompose all rotating layers in one big comp, then import that comp in the other and use it as 2d layer. Without camera in either composition. That should give you a flat look.
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The precomp doesn’t have a camera. I tried with and without a camera. When placing it into another comp, it carries over the rotation angles whether the precomp is a 3D or 2D layer in the new comp. Adding a camera in the main comp and setting the precomp to collapse transforms is better, it causes the perspective to be based off the main comps camera.
Really I just want 3D layers without perspective. Not sure if that’s possible, though I feel like it should be. Thanks.
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I think you may need to elaborate a bit – why would you want 3d layers if you do not want perspective? From what I understand from your info, it seems all you need is to create the composition in 2d, position your layers using scale and x and y, precomp and then make that comp 3d and use it in the master comp with a camera and other layers.
Tudor “Ted” Jelescu
Senior VFX Artist -
I basically want a fixed perspective on all the 3D layers. The perspective is fine for layers close to the center fo the comp, as they get farther away the perspective changes. I want them all to have the same perspective.
I guess the only way would be to precompose each 3D layer on it’s own so the camera is centered for all.
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Yep, one precomp by elements, and put a camera in each of the precomp then move your precomp in the main comp where you want, the perspective should’nt change.
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If you don’t need your camera to be perspective correct for any other purpose you can get very close to an orthographic view if you create a camera with an incredibly long focal length.
For a 1920×1080 comp you could try a focal length of 256,000 pixels. Then move your camera to -256,000 on the z-axis and it should eliminate almost all perspective from the shot.
Darby Edelen
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Thanks! That did the trick. Had to mess with the values a bit to get place it all right, but it definitely eliminated all perspective.
Am i crazy to wonder why there isn’t an option to only have 3D Layers without perspective. I’m sure it’s not super useful, but it is nice to have, Or at least be able to set an orthographic camera.
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[Ryan Cuppernull] “Am i crazy to wonder why there isn’t an option to only have 3D Layers without perspective. I’m sure it’s not super useful, but it is nice to have, Or at least be able to set an orthographic camera.”
An orthographic camera would make a great feature request [link]. Adobe really reads these, so your input is valuable!
Walter Soyka
Principal & Designer at Keen Live
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
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