Aharon Rabinowitz
Forum Replies Created
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Trapcode particular is probably the best particle plug-in for AE, but it does not have a lot of presets.
Digieffects delirium has some sparkle emtters that might do it – but it’s really slow. Or it was the last time I used it (which admittedly was a while ago).
If you’re willing to work outside AE check out wondertoch particleIllusion. Very easy to use and with 1800 or so presets, you’re bound to find something that works for you. The position data can be transfered between pIllusion and AE, and it renders in almost any image format which makes bringing the stuff back into AE easy. But, as mentioned, it is an external program.
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Aharon Rabinowitz
aharon(AT)yahoo(DOT)com
http://www.allbetsareoff.com
—————————————-
Creative Cow Master Series DVD
particleIllusion Fusion Volume 1
available @ http://www.pIllusionFusion.com -
If your in production mode and have a deadline, that’s no time to experiment, so I agree with that. However, the only way you’ll ever learn expressions is if you take the time to do it. It’s like learning any other complex tool (Such as motion tracking) in After Effects.
I’ll admit that I’ve lost some serious time on projects with deadlines trying to create an expression that ultimately didn’t pan out. But these days I basically say to myself I have the next 30 minutes to figure out an elegant solution that will be easily updateable – after that, do it manually, and worry about client changes when they happen.
I don’t have much free time to learn expressions, so for me, coming up with “complex” expression are like gambling with time. You place a cap on how much you can bet, and then you know when to walk away from the table. But you’ll never come out ahead (i.e., with more knowledge or a good solution) unless you gamble a little bit.
But everyone has got their own way of doing things. To the real expression experts, I probably seem like an expression pansy, but hey, There are other skills I have, so I don’t let it get me down. Do your own thing.
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Aharon Rabinowitz
aharon(AT)yahoo(DOT)com
http://www.allbetsareoff.com
—————————————-
Creative Cow Master Series DVD
particleIllusion Fusion Volume 1
available @ http://www.pIllusionFusion.com -
If your in production mode and have a deadline, that’s no time to experiment, so I agree with that. However, the only way you’ll ever learn expressions is if you take the time to do it. It’s like learning any other complex tool (Such as motion tracking) in After Effects.
I’ll admit that I’ve lost some serious time on projects with deadlines trying to create an expression that ultimately didn’t pan out. But these days I basically say to myself I have the next 30 minutes to figure out an elegant solution that will be easily updateable – after that, do it manually, and worry about client changes when they happen.
I don’t have much free time to learn expressions, so for me, coming up with “complex” expression are like gambling with time. You place a cap on how much you can bet, and then you know when to walk away from the table. But you’ll never come out ahead (i.e., with more knowledge or a good solution) unless you gamble a little bit.
But everyone has got their own way of doing things. To the real expression experts, I probably seem like an expression pansy, but hey, There are other skills I have, so I don’t let it get me down. Do your own thing.
—————————————-
Aharon Rabinowitz
aharon(AT)yahoo(DOT)com
http://www.allbetsareoff.com
—————————————-
Creative Cow Master Series DVD
particleIllusion Fusion Volume 1
available @ http://www.pIllusionFusion.com -
Dude – Really, REALLY nice. Thank you for sharing this!
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Aharon Rabinowitz
aharon(AT)yahoo(DOT)com
http://www.allbetsareoff.com
—————————————-
Creative Cow Master Series DVD
particleIllusion Fusion Volume 1
available @ http://www.pIllusionFusion.com -
Dude – Really, REALLY nice. Thank you for sharing this!
—————————————-
Aharon Rabinowitz
aharon(AT)yahoo(DOT)com
http://www.allbetsareoff.com
—————————————-
Creative Cow Master Series DVD
particleIllusion Fusion Volume 1
available @ http://www.pIllusionFusion.com -
Thanks! Very Helpful.
—————————————-
Aharon Rabinowitz
aharon(AT)yahoo(DOT)com
http://www.allbetsareoff.com
—————————————-
Creative Cow Master Series DVD
particleIllusion Fusion Volume 1
available @ http://www.pIllusionFusion.com -
Thanks! Very Helpful.
—————————————-
Aharon Rabinowitz
aharon(AT)yahoo(DOT)com
http://www.allbetsareoff.com
—————————————-
Creative Cow Master Series DVD
particleIllusion Fusion Volume 1
available @ http://www.pIllusionFusion.com -
[Dave LaRonde] “Because most of the time, you don’t need to use expressions, and let’s face it — expressions are a pain in the neck.”
I have to disagree with you on this statement. Simple expressions can save hours of work. Well…If you know what you’re doing.
You can wiggle something by hand, with the wiggler or via an expression. If you do it by hand or with the wiggler, if you have to make changes later it can be a nightmare. The expression requires a change of 1 or 2 numbers for a completely different look.
It’s like saying that if you want to colorize an entire composition, add 7 effects to each layer instead of using a single adjustment layer with the same effects. Yes there are pitfalls when using adjustment layers, but if you know how to use them they save a ton of time.
In this case, expressions may not be the way to go, but they often save so much time, there’s no reason not to use them – other than not knowing how.
Don’t get me wrong – expressions scare the bejeebers out of me, because I’m not a programmer, but a simple looping expression is my daily savior. I use that one almost every day instead of copying and pasting keyframes over and over.
—————————————-
Aharon Rabinowitz
aharon(AT)yahoo(DOT)com
http://www.allbetsareoff.com
—————————————-
Creative Cow Master Series DVD
particleIllusion Fusion Volume 1
available @ http://www.pIllusionFusion.com -
[Dave LaRonde] “Because most of the time, you don’t need to use expressions, and let’s face it — expressions are a pain in the neck.”
I have to disagree with you on this statement. Simple expressions can save hours of work. Well…If you know what you’re doing.
You can wiggle something by hand, with the wiggler or via an expression. If you do it by hand or with the wiggler, if you have to make changes later it can be a nightmare. The expression requires a change of 1 or 2 numbers for a completely different look.
It’s like saying that if you want to colorize an entire composition, add 7 effects to each layer instead of using a single adjustment layer with the same effects. Yes there are pitfalls when using adjustment layers, but if you know how to use them they save a ton of time.
In this case, expressions may not be the way to go, but they often save so much time, there’s no reason not to use them – other than not knowing how.
Don’t get me wrong – expressions scare the bejeebers out of me, because I’m not a programmer, but a simple looping expression is my daily savior. I use that one almost every day instead of copying and pasting keyframes over and over.
—————————————-
Aharon Rabinowitz
aharon(AT)yahoo(DOT)com
http://www.allbetsareoff.com
—————————————-
Creative Cow Master Series DVD
particleIllusion Fusion Volume 1
available @ http://www.pIllusionFusion.com -
This was probably done in 3D or with 3D particles and 2D compositing, but it can be done in straight 2D as well. In both cases you’d need to do some camera matching – most likely they used camera matching software like Bojou. Synth-eyes is a cheaper alternative.
Also they probably filmed Tom Welling (Clark) on a Green screen to seperate him from his mother and the BG. If not they had to do some rotoscoping to seperate him for the effect.
If your camera is locked down (that is, it’s not moving), this will be a lot easier. You need to create distortion, and the best way to do that is to use a displacment map.
Rather then try and describe how displacment maps work, check out the Displacment Map tutorials (3 parts) that I did, by clicking on my head (I’m the dude in the green floppy hat). You’ll find those Displacement map tutorials it that list.
—————————————-
Aharon Rabinowitz
aharon(AT)yahoo(DOT)com
http://www.allbetsareoff.com
—————————————-
Creative Cow Master Series DVD
particleIllusion Fusion Volume 1
available @ http://www.pIllusionFusion.com