[David Urbinati]

Thank you Brian. I understand.

For the sake of knowing how After Effects works, however, do you think the issue could be that layers just can’t be nested as deep as I have them in my project? If you take a look at the A6 Comp in this modified project file (https://dl.dropbox.com/u/30607651/ArkPages%20Video.zip), I placed a “test floor and light” into the comp to see how they behaved. I was able to solve the layer issue by not collapsing transformations of the “A6 Clocks” in the “A6 Clocks Fall” comp. This is a compromise I am willing to deal with due to time (I don’t prefer it, that’s why I used illustrator for the vector sharpness). However, the shadows are still a problem. They don’t appear in the active camera view in the main comp and only some layers cast them, not to mention the “tearing” I see because the shadows are just low resolution projections of which turning up the shadow size would kill the computer during render time. Maybe my goals in this video are too intense for what AE can handle.

Any suggestions? I know, this project is crazy. Do you know of anyone you can direct me to that I can talk to personally to help me with my specific problems in this project? I don’t want to waste forum space with specific problems that might not be directly helpful to others. I’m just really struggling here…

Thanks
-David

[David Urbinati]

Wow, I see. How did you get it to work for you? Which layers did I not have the cast shadows on for? I have them all on for the “most in depth” layers (i.e. the .ai and solids) but not their nested comps all the way through to the main comp. I did try turning cast shadows on for all of these comps but I didn’t see any results even in the custom view or by changing the light position. AE’s 3D abilities can be a little confusing sometimes…

Also, any idea on the 3D layer interactions with the truck and the clocks? That one has really baffled me… The layer order does matter even when the collapse transformations switch is turned on all the way through the comps. That’s the comp labeled A6.

Thanks again!
-David

P.S. I’m having similar problems with other comps in the main shot but I’m hoping that if I find a solution to one of them, I’ll be able to apply the concept to the rest. My results have been a little inconsistant as you may notice the radio tower (A2) and the map (A3&A4) do cast shadows, but the people in the A3&A4 comp do not.