What tools to use to create more ‘flashy’ fx (examples)?

[John Cuevas]

There are bunch of different builds in that video, I could give you a list of the effects used, but I doubt that would be helpful If you are more specific say “how do you build the stock ticker at 3 seconds” you will get a lot more answers and ideas on how to proceed.

Johnny Cuevas, Editor
ThinkCK

“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.

[Richard Garabedain]

Its clear you are a very beginner in after effects…watch a few basic tutorials and come back with questions when you are finished.

[Daniel Waldron]

All of the effects in the video can be achieved in After Effects, most pretty easily. If you don’t understand the software though, you’ll have no idea where to begin. I suggest watching some beginner tutorials to start getting a feel for what can be done.

[Tom Clasman]

“Pretty easily” too? Man, I’d love to know how something similar could be done easily in AE.

I may not be experienced with this, but if I look at the clip above, and shoot from my hip on how to do it in AE … I’d say I need to use approx 120 tracks of motion image clips/tracks (representing each ‘virtual screen’ in the clip, 60 on each side), resize and skew each clip in such a way that lining them up side by side will create a 3D depth illusion on a wall. Requires quite a bit of precision to not mess upp the 3D illusion.
Make two of these, to create 2 ‘walls’ slanting inwards. Then put one clip in the center and zoom it out to fit in between the walls.
Then make a copy of this whole creation, flip it over upside down and and mirror it (with lower opacity) beneath the main screen landscape, to create the mirror effect. Finish it off with a zoom-into-the-whole-thing effect.

Yes, I am fairly new. Maybe there’s a way to create such a thing in AE ‘pretty easily’ that I have no idea about. The process I described above – however relevant – sure doesn’t fit under easy, nor fast, in my world.

That iswhy I asked if AE perhaps isn’t the foremost tool to get this kind of thing done quickly.
If something similar CAN be done easily in AE, or if it cannot be done ‘easily’ and someone might recommend tools that are quicker for these kinds of things … either way, I’m all ears ☺

Thx

[Daniel Waldron]

Your approach is off from the very beginning. Precompositions will save you in After Effects. You also mentioned creating 3D illusion. Why not just do it in 3D space? Here’s a very quick and dirty way to achieve the look. I apologize if I miss some steps, but it’s more to give you an idea of the process. Once you understand the basics of AE, you can start to visualize how to achieve what you want.

Video Walls
1. Make a composition and drop your 60 video clips into it all at once.
2. Use the free Gridder script to arrange them.
3. Add Video Wall comp to your main comp and make it 3D.
4. Rotate it on the y axis to your liking and move it’s position off to the side. Duplicate and move to the opposite side.

Back Wall
1. Make a new comp and add whatever content you want.
2. Add this comp to your main comp and make it 3D
3. Use the top view to position it in z space so it is touching the edges of your two video wall comps. You may need to slide those in to touch.

Reflection
1. Use the free VC Reflect plugin or just flip your comp, move it’s position down and add some masks, blurs, and transparency.

Camera Move
1. Add a camera and keyframe the z position.

Here’s a tutorial that will help you understand the 3D wall concept.