Darby Edelen
Forum Replies Created
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The way I was going to approach this problem was by setting up a Null object to contain the points at which the 3rds intersect as well as the target layer (expression controls). Then apply an expression to the camera’s point of interest that would keep the target layer within those thirds as it (or the camera) is animated. Essentially creating a dynamic lag between the camera’s point of interest and the layer that you could then apply different factors to (try to keep the layer more centered, try to keep it at one of the 3rds, define an offset to the ‘resting’ location of the layer in the frame, etc).
I suppose this doesn’t entirely stick to the original postings rule of 3rds concept, but involves it in what I believe would be an interesting way =)
Darby Edelen
DVD Menu Artist
Left Coast Digital
Aptos, CA -
CC Page Turn is underrated in my own opinion, but you have to keep in mind that any effect that makes a 2D plane look 3D isn’t doing anything beyond making it ‘look 3D.’ Some effects do a better job of this than others. Zaxwerks, for example, allows the 3D approximation to react to the camera and be bisected by other planes… but there are still limitations. Bezier Warp and Page Turn are good options for standard AE effects and Zaxwerks goes beyond the basics.
Basically, you should do your research to see if you need to upgrade your tools before you take the dive and do it. See what kind of results you get from the Distort menu, then decide!
Darby Edelen
DVD Menu Artist
Left Coast Digital
Aptos, CA -
I’m guessing we’re talking about Animation Presets here, in which case you should follow mike’s (yikes!) suggestion (;
Darby Edelen
DVD Menu Artist
Left Coast Digital
Aptos, CA -
[Mark Landman] “Keep your whites to around 235-235-235. 100% white may cause audio problems.”
This isn’t an absolute when you take the entire workflow into account. Final Cut Pro, for example, will automatically scale RGB data from an RGB codec to fit within the legal range when it converts it to Y’CbCr (16-235 for luma and 16-240 for chroma).
If you have CS3 it wouldn’t hurt to use the SDTV color profile as your Working Space, but broadcast legalization should probably take place in whatever NLE you’re using to print to tape.
Darby Edelen
DVD Menu Artist
Left Coast Digital
Aptos, CA -
[Algae998] “What I dont understand is how objects are attached to this tracking infomation.”
Parent layers to the Nulls and apply offsets. Don’t think of the imported data as anything sacred, it’s just numbers for you to use as you will.
Darby Edelen
DVD Menu Artist
Left Coast Digital
Aptos, CA -
I’m having a hard time visualizing exactly what it is you’re talking about. Could you perhaps post a sample video or some pictures?
It sounds like there may be a very simple solution to your problem, but I want to make sure I understand the problem first =)
Darby Edelen
DVD Menu Artist
Left Coast Digital
Aptos, CA -
If the wall is not moving then it’s a matter of matching the perspective correctly and not tracking. If you have any parallel lines to work with in the footage you should be able to either use a Corner Pin effect or a 3D layer to match the perspective.
It gets slightly more complicated when you have Lens distortion. If you have lens distortion (straight lines appearing to bulge in the footage due to field of view) you can use a Lens Distort effect to correct the bulging in the original footage, then cut and paste that Lens Distort effect to the footage you’re trying to match and invert it (you may need to pre-compose first to match the size of the footage).
Darby Edelen
DVD Menu Artist
Left Coast Digital
Aptos, CA -
Theology made this sound like it was going to be a much more spiritual experience =)
Lower thirds are a matter of taste, sometimes I actually prefer an upper third! =O Generally I feel like they should be around long enough to get the point across, and not distract from the video. Basically it’s my belief that the video content should have everything that is required for the project and the lower third should be considered something of a footnote (‘for further information see: lower third’).
Darby Edelen
DVD Menu Artist
Left Coast Digital
Aptos, CA -
[jodal] “Does anyone know what the difference between theese methods (if any) would be and why you would prefer one over the other.”
I think it’s a matter of personal preference, as well as what you need the alpha information for. Sometimes I prefer to use the Channel > Set Matte operation when I’m taking the alpha information from the layer’s (or another layer’s) luma values. There are dozens of ways to get the result you want, it’s just a matter of what you like to do.
Darby Edelen
DVD Menu Artist
Left Coast Digital
Aptos, CA -
[Algae998] “dealy Id like to find a tracker that could change the perspective, rotation and scale of layer/comp. Maybe Im going about this wrong, but the only good example I can think of is the wall scene in the Ryan Vs. Dorkman 2 light saber battle (3:10 – 3:46)”
You want a 3D point tracker. These will generally export to a variety of 3D formats, but the one that plays nice with AE is a Maya ASCII (.ma) file. When you import that it imports a composition with a Camera and a few Nulls (that correspond to tracking points). Then 3D layers in AE should respond to the ‘virtual’ camera in the same way the real world responded to the ‘real’ camera =)
Darby Edelen
DVD Menu Artist
Left Coast Digital
Aptos, CA