[Angie Taylor]

To see a bounding box after selecting one or two points with the Direct Selection tool you can also use the Free Transform tool. First, select the points you wish to manipulate. Then select the Free Transform tool (Annoyingly hidden under the Puppet Warp tool!). This will place a bounding box around your selection, allowing you to move, Scale or rotate the selection.

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
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[Angie Taylor]

You can do this with the Transform effect. You will need to apply two separate instances of the Transform effects to achieve this. Here are screenshots that show an experiment I did with it. Use the settings I have here to replicate it.

First, draw a dot. Then use these settings in the Transform effect to replicate it by however many dots you want. Make sure to check the preview box to see whats happening as you work;

Then apply the Transform effect again but with these settings (it will ask you if you want to apply another instance of the effect – say yes ☺

The second instance creates the mutliple rows.

You can then use a Clipping Mask or the Crop tool to make this into the Shape you want and finally color your artwork.

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]

Hit the Escape key to leave Isolation mode 🙂

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]

Hi Steve,

I’m sorry but I’m not understanding your last message. Could you perhaps upload a movie or project file so I can see what you mean? ☺

Thanks,

Angie

[Angie Taylor]

Hi there,

For this you can use the Speed graph to create the “snap” effect. Here’s an example along with screenshots of the speed and value graphs to help you.

12459_comp1.mp4.zip

https://images.creativecow.net/u/194039/screenshot2018-06-1621.34.18.png

https://images.creativecow.net/u/194039/screenshot2018-06-1621.34.08.png

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]

Hi Steve,

For this kind of work it’s better to use the Anchor Point value to adjust the position of the elements within your frame, rather than the Position value. For exactly this reason. If you adjust the position, the anchor point moves with the layer so will no longer be central and easy to locate. Also, any subsequent scaling or rotating will happen around the anchor point, which is now somewhere unsuitable.

I’d advise resetting the position value of the layer and then scrubbing the Anchor Point value to “move” the content of the layer to where you want it. This way the Axis should remain central to each of your views and easy to locate. Hope this helps 🙂

cheers,

Angie

Angie Taylor | Creative Cabin Ltd

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

[Angie Taylor]

Hi Leke,

You don’t need third party plugins to integrate 3D objects into your comps in AE.

You can use Cineware to integrate a 3D object into your comp without any need to render it in Cinema 4D.

Simply go to Layer > New > Maxon Cinema 4D to add a Cineware layer to your comp. This will open C4D Lite where you can import a 3D object, build your own, or use one of the free presets you get with C4D Lite. then just save the C4D file. (There is no need for rendering your file in C4D)

When you jump back to AE the 3D file will be there in your scene. If you want to use and AE camera you can switch this on in the Cineware effect options, this way you can incorporate new elements in AE that will follow the same camera movements.

After Effects also has the ability to create real 3D now with the Cinema 4D renderer. If you switch this on you can extrude text and other vector objects to create real 3D objects right inside AE. You can’t import models this way but its suprising what you can build using this technique. Animators can be used to change the surface color of edges etc. it’s fun to play with 🙂

cheers,

Angie

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

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

[Angie Taylor]

Hi Steve,

You said “AE has no memory of what was happening on the frame before the one it’s on, so you can’t increase the speed of something if you can’t find out how fast it was going before.”

But you can see all of this in the Speed graph?!?!?!

Each keyframe has an outgoing speed and velocity. These are the two points that you see on each keyframe in the speed graph. So, for example, when a ball bounces, it comes in at 100% speed, then damping force absorbs some of the energy, so it leaves at say, 80% of the speed it came into the keyframe at. You can adjust this in the speed graph. You CANNOT adjust this in the value graph.

Similarly, you can’t adjust the influence in the Value Graph without adding more keyframes. For example. Say you have a map of Canada. You are animating a car driving from Montreal to Ottowa. The journey has to take 3 seconds. But you can only use two keyframes. There are several timings within this you could use; you could drive quickly for the first half of the journey and then slowly for the second half, or you could start off slowly, get faster in the middle of the journey, then slow down again at the end, or you could go really slowly, then realise you’re late so drive the remainder of the way at break-neck speed! ???? All of this can be done with just two keyframes in the Speed graph EASILY. I’d be really interested to see how you could accomplish this so easily in the Value Graph. Obviously it can be done but I’m not convinced it could be done as easily as it can be done in the Speed graph.

Some of the reasons why it is essential IMHO.

cheers,

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

[Angie Taylor]

This thread has inspired me to create a new course on the graph editor. I really don’t get why so many people have difficulty with the speed graph. To me it is intuitive for adjusting speed. Obviously you can use the Value graph if you find that easier but to me that’s like using keyframe view instead of the graph editor because you find that easier. OK, it’s a learning curve (excuse the pun!) but it’s worth the time investment IMHO.

In my training courses I introduce students to the speed graph in the fundamentals course so that they are familiar with it from the start. they learn it at the same time as they learn how to keyframe in the timeline. Nearly all of them get it and use it regularly to control speed. All of them can create convincing bounces, springs etc easily by hand with just two keyframes using the speed graph. I think these are almost impossible to do using the Value graph.

Just MHO but I feel passionately about the speed graph – I love it! 🙂

cheers,

Angie

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

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

[Angie Taylor]

Thanks Richard ☺ Very glad you like it. Colorama is an amazing effect, I use it lots for things like this. 🙂

cheers,

Angie

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

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