Jacob Wessler
Forum Replies Created
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I think one of the easiest things to do – and to keep everything in After Effects without going to a full 3D program – is to use a plugin like Trapcode Particular or WonderTouch ParticleIllusion (PI).
Particular resides in AE and will follow AE’s 3D camera. PI is a standalone program and does not have true 3D (although you can fake it by using the zoom tool). PI makes much more complex particles, but Particular follows 3D and is native in AE.
So, I’m not sure where a tutorial is, but if you want to use Particular, this is how I would do it:
Creat a new solid
Apply Particular to it
Modify your particle settings to match the color, velocity, opacity, and blending modes that you want.
Use Motion Sketch on a null object to create a circling effect
Apply the position data to that of a Light in 3D space
Set the Particular Emitter to that of the Light (now your paticles will emit from the light’s position)
Create another Solid with Trapcode applied
Use a larger particle size to sort of float in place where your actor is.
Animate both Particular layers to appear and then fade offPlace a copy of your background plate in a new composition
On top of that, place keyed out footage of your actor (either greenscreened, or difference matted from a locked-off camera shot)
Place your particular layers on top of these.
For the 3D light Particular layer, set your actor layer to the obscuration layer (this will make the particles seem to go behind your actor)Fiddle with the settings and fade out your actor as the particles fade out.
You’ve got an orb effect.
Of course, it’s going to take a LOT more work than this, but hopefully this will get you pointed in the right direction.
Good Luck,
Jacob -
In your comp window, change the view from “one view” to “two views” or “four views”.
Select a view and choose the appropriate view from the drop-down list. Favorites are Top, Left, and Custom.
Once you get your views situated where you want them, select the camera moving tools to re-arrange your camera view.
Hit “C” on your keyboard to change your x/y, z, or rotational positions. Rotational really only works on your custom views because Top and Left are set at Top and Left respectively, but you can move in the x, y, and z directions with Top, Left, Right, and Bottom.
This should give you alternate views that you can customize.
Another option is to create a new camera that sits on the top layer. Whenever you want a different view, turn the layer on. When you are done, turn the layer off. (the camera that is on the top-most layer wll be displayed in the Active Camera window. If you want to go back to your animated camera, click the eye icon off on your second camera angle).
Good Luck,
Jacob -
Patryk,
I have found the follow solution to your tacking problem.
Track your object in your source footage and apply it to a null object.
On your flare layer, ALT-click the stopwatch for your lens flare center and apply the following expression
x = thisComp.layer(“Null”).position[0];
y = thisComp.layer(“Null”).position[1];
[x+30, y-60]What this does is tell After Effects to make two variables, x and y, and to take the position data from your null for each of them (the [0] applies to the “x” data, the [1] applies to the “y” data, and [2] applies to “z” data).
The last line of the expression is how you get your offset. This will correct the distance between the oject that you tracked and the position that you want your lens flare. Of course, in your case, you’ll change the number (30 and 60) to whatever you need them to be. This take some trial and error, but once you get it, you’re golden.
As for times when an object passes in front of your light source, opacity would be a good way to hanlde this. Set a HOLD keyframe one frame BEFORE your light disappears and set its value at 100%. Advance one frame forward (page down key) and set another HOLD keyframe at 0%. Advance until your light source is visible again and set another HOLD keyframe. If you want your light to quickly fade out as it’s being obscured, set normal keyframes and place a little distance between them.
Good Luck,
Jacob -
Yes, it’s possible.
Don’t keyframe the position of the Layer in the timeline.
Select the layer that has Particular applied to it.
Hit F3 to bring up the effects window.
Find the Center (or Emmiter Position) value. Keyframe this movement.
If you have motion tracking data from a null or other object, you can paste this information into the Emitter position values.Select your layer with particular applied to it.
Hit E to show your effects
Twirl down your effects
Find Particular and twirl it down
Find the emitter position.
Set a keyframe at the place you want your movement to begin.
Select that keyframe and then paste your position keyframes into it.
(you will need to select your position keyframes from your null or other object, copy them, and then paste them into the emitter position)This will allow your Emitter to move.
Now, set the velocity parameter to zero.
Increase your gravity to taste.
Of course, a little velocity, and a little velocity from motion will add some life to the particles, but it all depends on what you are trying to do.
You should NEVER animate the position of your Particular LAYER!! Only animate the Particular emitter position. (of course, now that I’ve said that, there’s likely some case where you would want to, but I can’t think of one off the top of my head)
Good Luck,
Jacob -
Kind of a lot involved with this question…so many different answers.
If your video of the fire is against a solid black background, you can place your fire video on a layer ABOVE your background video and set the transfer mode to screen. This will drop out all the black and the fire will show through. This assumes that both the fire and the background video were shot with the same perspective. Otherwise, adding the corner pin effect to the fire layer may help with some of the perspective.
Now, if your fire is just plain footage of a fire (like at a campground), then you’re going to have to rotoscope the fire out of the fire video and then place it on top of the background video. That is going to be VERY difficult and take a LOT of time. Definitely NOT the way you want to do it.
You can also buy some stock footage from different websites and possibly find some pre-matted fire footage that would work for you. A Google search should help with that.
Either way, you’ve got a lot of options.
Good Luck,
Jacob -
Patrick,
It’s difficult to have your camera LOOK at its own position. That gets kind of confusing.
Parenting to nulls works great. This thread by Chris Smith has a TON of control:
https://forums.creativecow.net/readpost/2/878237?
You can always just parent your camera to one null and use that for position. If you rotate the null, the camera will rotate (BUT, it rotates from the POI and NOT the position of the camera. This makes for HUGE sweeping arcs).
You can fix that by using TWO nulls, one for POI and one for camera position. (Chris Smith’s solution solves this problem as well)
I guess it all depends on how much control you require.
Aharon Rabinowitz has a tutorial about this very thing. He talks about using nulls for camera positions at the end of his “Working with Null Objects” tutorial. Check it out here:
Jacob
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Start with your source (picture, video, solid)
Add your mask.
Twirl down your options (or hit MM in quick succession to show all the mask options)
Place a keyframe at the start of your animation
Move the playhead to another point in time
Change the shape of your maskMake sure to lock all other layers so you don’t accidentally move one of them. You can also double-click your layer to open it in its own window and work on the mask there. Set up a side-by-side with your layer footage in one windown and your composition in the other and you can see (in real time) how chaning your mask will change your final result.
Repeat for as many keyframes as you need!
Jacob
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Cal,
I agree that the problem is likely in the interpretation of your keyframes.
After Effects has this nifty little system built in that will automaticlly create smooth lines between keyframes. If you have two keyframes, there is no need to worry about the interpolation. Once you add that nasty little third keyframe, After Effects now has enough to apply “interpolation.” If you zoom in EXTREMELY close on your keyframe, you will notice that your path INTO and OUT OF the keyframe is not straight. You can get a little boomerang effect, especially at endpoints.
Aharon Rabinowitz has two tutorials on this very problem. Check them out here:
and here:
I found them both very helpful. You can always do what Darby mentioned above and set your preferences so that ALL new keyframes are added Linearly. Of course, if you like the Auto Bezier and want to turn it off only for selected keyframes, follow his advice and that should work great.
Good Luck
Jacob -
Heather,
If I understand correctly, this may help…
In order to link the camera’s point of interest to the null’s position, you need to alt-click on the stopwatch for the Camera’s Point of Interest button. Select the pickwhip (the curly que) and drag it to the Position property of the Null. Don’t select the numbers of the Position property because you will link only the x,y, or z values.
In order to have your “birds-eye view” you need the camera to be directly above your null. Position in 3D at will. You can use the Left and Top views to make sure that you get the camera positioned appropriately.
You can also link the position of the CAMERA to the position of the NULL. Using a bit more math, you can make it so the camera hovers directly over your null but a set distance away. Try this:
in your Camera’s Position property, alt click the stopwatch and type this.
x = thisComp.layer(“Null 1”).transform.position[0];
y = thisComp.layer(“Null 1”).transform.position[1]-400;
z = thisComp.layer(“Null 1”).transform.position[2];
[x,y,z]What this tells your camera to do is to use the x, y, and z coordinates from the null as the x, y, and z coordinates of your camera WITH ONE EXCEPTION. They y position will be 400 pixels less than that of the null. Assuming you haven’t rotated you null, this will place the camera 400 pixels ABOVE your null, giving you a birds-eye view.
Now, rotating nulls and other layers will change all of this, but you can apply the same math above to both the x and z values and put your camera wherever. Now, when you move your null, the CAMERA point of interest AND the position will move in concert.
Viola.
Hopefully that helps a little bit…
Jacob
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Few quick things…
A track matte will only affect the layer beneath it. If you use the transfer mode “Stencil,” THAT will affect ALL layers beneath it. Track mattes are only for one layer.
To set up a track matte – place a white solid above the layer you need to mask, animate its size and/or position to taste, then set the Track Matte pulldown on the layer that needs to be masked (not the white solid). Use Luma matte in this case. Once you set the track matte, the eye icon for your white solid layer will disappear. LEAVE IT OFF! (turning it on will make your white solid visible and mess up the entire animation)
You can set another white mask above your reflection layer and animate in the opposite direction for the reflection. Layers should look similar to this:
1. White solid (track matte for rising bars)
2. Rising bars (set track matte to Luma Matte 1. White solid)
3. White solid (track matte for reflection)
4. Reflecting bars (set track matte to Luma Matte 3. White solid)
5. BackgroundOf course, to get the nice little rounded tops to your bars, you may want to have a stationary white solid as the matte (to mask off at the level of the “floor”) and then animate the position of the bars so that they “appear” out of the floor. But that’s just me.
Hope that helps a little bit…
Jacob