[Angie Taylor]

Hi there,

Yes, it will be on my https://www.creative-cabin.co.uk site. Some of it will be free but some will be for subscribers to help me fund it ☺ I’ll keep you posted.

By the way, if you have an animation that you’d like me to take a look at in terms of timing, I’d be very happy to help, just send me your project and I’ll see if I can help ☺

Cheers,

Angie

cheers,

Angie Taylor | Creative Cabin Ltd | Linkedin Instructor | Adobe Community Professional

https://www.creativecabin.co.uk
https://www.lynda.com/Angie-Taylor/2131450-1.html
Twitter: theangietaylor
Linkedin: theangietaylor
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[Angie Taylor]

I am giving up on this discussion here. I’m genuinely surprised that there are not more people on this forum who can see its value. Anyway, I am going to be doing a course on the Graph Editor and I hope that some people will be open-minded enough to give it a go.

I know many other people I’ve worked with who also see the uniqueness and brilliance of the Speed graph. I know it’s not easy or intuitive to use but neither are bezier curves the first time you use them. Riding a bike is also difficult till you “get it”. I hope to convert some of you some day to Speed Graph lovers ☺

Bye for now

cheers,

Angie Taylor | Creative Cabin Ltd | Linkedin Instructor | Adobe Community Professional

https://www.creativecabin.co.uk
https://www.lynda.com/Angie-Taylor/2131450-1.html
Twitter: theangietaylor
Linkedin: theangietaylor
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Angie-Taylor/118378194869002

[Angie Taylor]

“Thanks. I really don’t see how speed graph in this example is helpful to make this ball “real” or “fine”.”

As I said, this is a quick, rough example

[Angie Taylor]

Thanks for your response. I’m glad that you’ve taken the time to explore the Speed graph’s capabilities. I don’t think I’m alone in seeing the value (excuse the pun) of the speed graph. I know many other people who use it regularly.

To answer your questions quickly (I’m very tired!) There are several things that are much easier to achieve in the SG. I’m going to create a course on it actually, so I can properly demonstrate the benefits.

By the way, I love the Value graph too and am very glad to have both. I just don’t like to hear people dismiss something that I think many people could benefit from using.

I think lots of people don’t use it because they find it difficult or confusing. It does take time to get your head round but it’s worth the time investment. My advice is not to compare it to the Value Graph, these are not bezier curves. Each KF has two points, the outgoing speed and the incoming speed. The Keyframes (when fixed at a particular time) have a finite amount of time between them. When you reduce the speed at the beginning, it has to increase at the end to compensate. Time is like a piece of metal, it can be bent. But like metal, if you push the ends together too much, it will buckle. This is what happens sometimes in the Speed graph.

I Again, my advice is not to focus on the spikes, just focus on the outgoing and incoming speeds and the influence. I’ll post more later once I get some energy back 🙂

cheers,

Angie Taylor | Creative Cabin Ltd | Linkedin Instructor | Adobe Community Professional

https://www.creativecabin.co.uk
https://www.lynda.com/Angie-Taylor/2131450-1.html
Twitter: theangietaylor
Linkedin: theangietaylor
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Angie-Taylor/118378194869002

[Angie Taylor]

Here’s a quick, rough movie of how I would create a bouncing ball animation, using the Speed graph to get fine control over the timing. This allows you to create exponential speed curves to acheive a real THUD as the ball hits the ground;

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Bouncing ball in After Effects Speed Graph from Angie Taylor on Vimeo.

cheers,

Angie Taylor | Creative Cabin Ltd | Linkedin Instructor | Adobe Community Professional

https://www.creativecabin.co.uk
https://www.lynda.com/Angie-Taylor/2131450-1.html
Twitter: theangietaylor
Linkedin: theangietaylor
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Angie-Taylor/118378194869002

[Angie Taylor]

oops

[Angie Taylor]

You can use the Paintbrush tool to hand draw this type of animation in After Effects. There are also various stroke-type effects and the Shape tools which offer similar but you wouldn’t get the hand drawn quality with those as you could with the Paintbrush tool.

cheers,

Angie Taylor | Creative Cabin Ltd | Linkedin Instructor | Adobe Community Professional

https://www.creativecabin.co.uk
https://www.lynda.com/Angie-Taylor/2131450-1.html
Twitter: theangietaylor
Linkedin: theangietaylor
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Angie-Taylor/118378194869002

[Angie Taylor]

“The way I see it is that the speed graph is a simplified graph for simple tasks. it can only affect speed and this is why it’s limited. ”

I’m afraid I totally disagree. It is far from simplified, it gives me a much more detailed control of timing. Am I really the only person who finds it intuitive and powerful?

“the value graph on the other hand can affect both speed and value means it’s the more robust of the two.”

Again, sorry but I disagree again. This is EXACTLY why we need a separate speed graph. It’s a nightmare trying to control value and timing simultaneously. MUCH easier in the Speed graph.

“creating bounces or overshoots with the speed graph is highly unintuitive IMO. you would need to use negative speed and that graph will look rather crazy.”

I don’t understand why you think it looks crazy. I guess you are referring to the speed spikes that naturally occur at times when the influence handles are dragged to the max? I find these perfectly understandable too. Time is flexible, it can be bent but it can’t be stretched (between two fixed points). Therefore, if you adjust the speed on one side it will have to compensate on the other, creating a bunching up that causes these spikes. But I know immediately what they represent.

“with the value graph it would be very easy to understand and control.”

It’s definitely easier for most people to understand, I’ll give you that. But that doesn’t make it better. I think most people say they don’t like it because it’s a bit more challenging to learn. The same way people say they don’t like drawing with paths or working in channels in Photoshop.

I’d like to encourage all Ae users to get to grips with the speed graph – you won’t regret it 🙂

cheers,

Angie Taylor | Creative Cabin Ltd | Linkedin Instructor | Adobe Community Professional

https://www.creativecabin.co.uk
https://www.lynda.com/Angie-Taylor/2131450-1.html
Twitter: theangietaylor
Linkedin: theangietaylor
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Angie-Taylor/118378194869002

[Angie Taylor]

BTW, forgot to add that you can also add Scale in the Transform effect to create the effect of the dots scaling and getting closer together – typical in halftone.

[Angie Taylor]

You can also hold down the Command key when sampling color to make it more accurate. Also, when in the Adobe Color picker, make sure to have the correct “Mode” selected. For example, you may only have the “Brightness” checkbox selected?

cheers,

Angie Taylor | Creative Cabin Ltd

Angie Taylor animation & illustration for television, film, web and devices

https://www.creativecabin.co.uk
Twitter: theangietaylor
Linkedin: theangietaylor
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Angie-Taylor/118378194869002