Chris Smith
Forum Replies Created
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If you are a seasoned C++ code writer, then download teh AE SDK from Adobe.
However for saving color presets you don’t need plug-ins just use the good ol animation presets. These save sets of filters, with their settings and keyframes in one file so it can be re-used. Very powerful.
And for audio to keyframes try trapcodes “soundkeys”
Chris Smith
https://www.sugarfilmproduction.com -
Works just fine. But in my workflow, you just pop over to AI with your original document open and make a change. Save, then cmd-H it in AE to reload the file in place of itself in the project window then it updates in AE.
Chris Smith
https://www.sugarfilmproduction.com -
Definitely search the AE Cow archives under ‘credits’ or ‘Scroll’. It’s been asked many times.
For my film I tried a few ways and settled on what I thought looked the best and was most efficient:
1. In Illustrator create a very long document. Layout all your credits (not using tabs, but normal Illustrator ways of layout). Use a font that is thicker than thinner. Just do black text on normal BG.
Import the .ai file into AE. Set it to continuosly rasterize. Create a white solid and put it below the text layer. adjust the Y layer position till the top of your text is just below the screen. Set a key. Go forward in the timeline to when you want your credits to end (like when your credit music ends) then set the add a – (negative) to the Y position to get you in the ballpark of getting the bottom of the credits positioned just above the top of the screen. Tweak as necessary. So now your credits should crawl and end when you set them.
Now add an invert effect to the precomp so that it’s white on black. Then add a gauss blur set to vertical only or use a directional blur set to vertical and set the blur to around 2. This will help letters like capital ‘E’s from getting too weird with the scan lines.
Also try turning on motion blur for your ai layer.
Chris Smith
https://www.sugarfilmproduction.com -
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In spots we shoot, we’re always replacing cell phone screens and TV screens. A lot of the compositors use similar techniques that look great (if you look at my reel in my sig, there are 2 nokia spots that had cell phone screen replacements this way):
1. When on set, we green screen the cell phone or TV behind the plastic or glass surface. For Cell phones we put the green behind the clear plastic cover. For TV’s we pull the CRT out of the case and paint it green then will put in a fake clean plastic in front of it to pick up reflections. Then we put 4 small dots on the screen in a cube shape, but not near the corners.
2. In online, get a 4 corner track from the dots, then paint them out. Then use the green key (only really the edges since the middle is a quick garbage mask) to get good edges.
3. Track in the replacement video you want.
4. Then the trick: Take your green screen footage and use the green to isolate itself on a layer. Then turn it monochrome. Where there was green, it’s greyish, but there are all kinds of reflections from the actual room in there as well. Use this as your reflection map. You can multiply it with your replacement footage and use levels one way, or you can SCREEN it over your video and use levels in a different way. But basically using the greenscreen area that was behind something reflective to use as reflections.
So just remember a greenscreen on a TV is just to get quick edges instead of roto so use most of the screen space to capture reflections and “sheen” it is the key for a real looking comp. Many ppl don’t do this and it kills the effect.
Also the obvious: Match the basic colors and saturation to your film so that it doesn’t give clues that it is not supposed to be in the shot.
Chris Smith
https://www.sugarfilmproduction.com -
Well it depends on your budget. I don’t go anywhere without at least a Panavision 10 ton truck with a hand full of 18k and 12k HMI’s on board 🙂
You would be served well by waiting for the sun to get lower in the sky and have someone just off screen walking with a good sized white card to fill in the dark side. If it’s a static, you can flip the shot almost around and have the sun be the back light and use a very large white surface (8 x 8 to 12 x 12) to bounce back on their face as key.
Then if you do any sunset or night, have some Kinos on standby (with a geni) to walk with them.
Chris Smith
https://www.sugarfilmproduction.com -
Thanks for the explanation. Wow, you did it with good ol’ fashinoed hard work! Me, I was sitting there thinking how to do it procederally using particles and expressions in 3D 🙂
I did something similar once in Maya. Bunch of images flew thru space and all “rained” down on a surface in a perfect grid like order. At the end of this “image rainfall” the camera pulls back and reveals it’s a mosaic of images that make up a giant logo.
Took me 3 days just to get the mechanics of it using particles, soft bodies, goals and lot’s of expressions linked to sliders for tweaking. But once the “engine” was done it could be modified and controlled quickly and easily.
Your results look great.
Chris Smith
https://www.sugarfilmproduction.com -
Thanks for the explanation. Wow, you did it with good ol’ fashinoed hard work! Me, I was sitting there thinking how to do it procederally using particles and expressions in 3D 🙂
I did something similar once in Maya. Bunch of images flew thru space and all “rained” down on a surface in a perfect grid like order. At the end of this “image rainfall” the camera pulls back and reveals it’s a mosaic of images that make up a giant logo.
Took me 3 days just to get the mechanics of it using particles, soft bodies, goals and lot’s of expressions linked to sliders for tweaking. But once the “engine” was done it could be modified and controlled quickly and easily.
Your results look great.
Chris Smith
https://www.sugarfilmproduction.com -
Christian may I ask you:
1. How you did you do the flipping cards that make up your reel open.
2. How did you approached the floating screens that converge to form the house shape.
Please be as technical as you wish. Thx.
Chris Smith
https://www.sugarfilmproduction.com -
Christian may I ask you:
1. How you did you do the flipping cards that make up your reel open.
2. How did you approached the floating screens that converge to form the house shape.
Please be as technical as you wish. Thx.
Chris Smith
https://www.sugarfilmproduction.com