[Eric Chard]

Other people answered this, but: this can happen either in the PROJECTOR (not the camera) or the telecine, when the film gets loose from ‘sprockets’ (I don’t think they actually use real sprockets any more, but same concept).

You see something like this when they advance the film thru a telecine faster than it’s “supposed” to go: any error that some designer thinks “looks cool” in the production process will eventually get used as an effect in a music video or commercial, e.g. start/stop flashes, which occur as the mechanics of a film camera accelerate/decelerate.

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“Putting the HARM in ‘harmonica’ since 2005.”
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[Eric Chard]

Thanks Alex. I tried a Blend, which worked, but the sprockets really didn’t line up that well to the edges of the “S”. This looks much better. I’ll dissect it and see if I have any more questions.

THANKS for your help!

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“Putting the HARM in ‘harmonica’ since 2005.”
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[Eric Chard]

I’m still not even understanding the OP’s original question: what does s/he mean by “rebuild”??

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“Putting the HARM in ‘harmonica’ since 2005.”
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[Eric Chard]

Did you figure out why AE thought the original footage was short?

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“Putting the HARM in ‘harmonica’ since 2005.”
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[Eric Chard]

I don’t really see what the problem is with multiple tracking: observe the embedded image:

The deal here is, each blurred area gets its own Adjustment Layer. Each area is tracked individually using Motion Tracking, and then a Adjustment “Blur” layer is added to the Comp and attached to that track. Add a mask to the Adjustment layer to limit its effect to the area in question. Animate the layer opacity for when the area in question goes off screen or is obscured. Works fine.

BUT, it’s just as much work, if not MORE, than simply using one layer, and manually keyframing the location of the mask. Plus, with only one layer you can adjust the blur amount globally, instead of on each layer.

Some tasks are just not worth automating.

PS: I made one mask star-shaped just to reinforce the idea that masks can be any shape.

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“Putting the HARM in ‘harmonica’ since 2005.”
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[Eric Chard]

Glad to hear it’s going smoothly. >8^)

Every 10 frames was a suggestion, sometimes you can get by w/less, sometimes you will need more.

How can I contact you privately? Check my profile, my email should be in there now.

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“Putting the HARM in ‘harmonica’ since 2005.”
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[Eric Chard]

I’ll look into the Tracker/Mask question, but first:

Scaling/Rotation: the way you phrased this makes me suspect you are using MASK TRANSFORM to manipulate the masks.

Don’t bother.

EACH node in a mask is separately animatable. If MASK PATH animation is enabled (click the stopwatch), when you select an individual node and move it, the mask will change shape over time.

To do this, use the SELECT Tool, not the Pen Tool, which will more likely start making a new mask. Select the mask you want to change in the Timeline (you could select in the Comp window, but DON’T: too easy to select the layer itself– use the Timeline), then DRAG SELECT using the SELECT Tool to select a point or a group of points. Then move as usual.

Of course, MASK PATH animate must be ON for this to work.

One other pitfall: if you accidentally click on the stopwatch for any animation channel, you lose all your keyframes. UNDO to restore them.

AND SAVE WITH INCREMENT VERY VERY OFTEN. Like every minute, I’m not exaggerating here. With a timer to remind you, every five minutes.

And one thing I used to warn my students about: if AE starts ‘acting weird’ in any way, save, close, and reboot. You’ll thank me in the long run.

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[Eric Chard]

Yeah, what I’m suggesting (and others are suggesting might be the way to go) is to ABANDON the idea of motion tracking– the nature of your footage is such that no labor is SAVED futzing around w/tracking, given the overhead in making it work, versus manually keyframing mask shapes.

Mask nodes are the Bezier points that define the mask: if you’re familiar w/Photoshop, it’s the points you lay down with the Pen Tool. A square mask has 4 nodes, but a mask can have, IIRC, up to 128 nodes. (Could be more.) The nodes are the little yellow squares. You move the whole mask by selecting it in the TIMELINE with the SELECTION TOOL. You must DRAG SELECT nodes inside the Composition window to adjust them. You can also drag parts of the masks between nodes to adjust the shape.

Here’s a layer with 5 masks on it, on a red backdrop. Mask #5, the pentagon, is selected. Note how its nodes are slightly emphasized over the masks that are not selected.

For your needs, a square mask over the names & logos should do, with a slight amount of feathering to make the blur soft.

The work flow is:
IMPORT the FINISHED piece– you do NOT want to do any more than you absolutely have to. LOCK that layer. Go to your first frame.
Make an adjustment layer with the Blur applied.
Decide where your first blur starts.
Make your mask using the Rectangular Mask tool at the appropriate spot.
HERE’S THE KEY STEP!!!
Find the MASK in the Timeline (hit “m” with the adjustment layer selected). ENABLE ANIMATION on MASK SHAPE ( “click the stopwatch” ) for that mask. You can name masks if that makes your job easier. Click on the mask in the timeline and hit RETURN to rename a mask.

NOW, jump ten frames ahead ( Shift+PAGE DOWN ) and note where your area of interest has moved. IN THE TIMELINE, select the mask (click on MASK1). You’ll see it light up in the Comp window.
Using the Select Tool, move the whole mask to a new position.
Using the Select Tool and DRAG-SELECT, select individual nodes to shape the mask to its needs.
Step backwards thru the comp (Page Up), to watch your mask move.
Use “k” to jump to the next keyframe, the one you made, then SHIFT+PAGE DOWN to jump another 10 frames forward. Move the Mask again. Repeat until done. Save every sixty seconds.

Obviously, this is incredibly tedious. Be very careful to move the masks, not the layer.

For two blurs, just add another mask. With multiple masks you may also find it useful to individually COLOR the masks, as shown below. Just click the swatch by the mask name.

When you need the blur to stop for a given mask, ANIMATE its Opacity to 0%. You can do this in one frame by making a keyframe at 100%, advancing one frame, and making a second keyframe at 0%.

So, you might have up to 4 masks, that you animate on/off with OPACITY, and move around with the SELECTION TOOL. The big mistake people make is forgetting to ENABLE animation by turning on the stopwatch.

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“Putting the HARM in ‘harmonica’ since 2005.”
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[Eric Chard]

BTW, in AE, Mask “shape” includes “mask position”.

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[Eric Chard]

I hate to turn down good money (I REALLY hate to turn down money), but:

As an ex-AE instructor, I recognize your problem. Rather than moving the mask LAYER, you want to animate the MASK SHAPE. The layer itself doesn’t move at all.

OTOH, where you’ll have trouble is when you accidentally select the layer, and IT’S INCREDIBLY EASY TO DO.

Select the masks by selecting them IN THE TIMELINE. this will prevent you from selecting and moving the layer. Make sure the mask nodes are highlighted. Save WITH INCREMENTS often, like every sixty seconds– you do NOT want to re-do this. Check and recheck the layer coordinates to make sure you don’t move it– it may be ok, but best if it’s locked down. (Which you can’t literally do, just keep an eye on it.)

Move ONE mask at a time– again, I feel your pain, and it’s very very easy to get confused. You just have to take it slow and steady, and be prepared to spend a lot of time on it.

On the hopeful side, I find that by the time you reach the end of this kind of project, you will increase your speed on this task by a factor of 4, hurrah.

If you find this helpful and want to flip some bux my way, PM me and we’ll work out something thru paypal. Maybe I can walk you thru it on skype.

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“Putting the HARM in ‘harmonica’ since 2005.”
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