Joe Moya
Forum Replies Created
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Sure… you can create the work space in AE… and, add the text from there… the reason I am using Photoshop is because I am using certain PS filters to help create “chalk” textured text (i.e. the text appears to have texture as chalk written on a blackboard)…plus, a few other illustrative detail items that can not be done in AE.
Creating the workspace in AE may make it easier to work… but, chances are that a big workspace will still put stress on your OS… and, require you to devide project into smaller peaces as you progress through the development.
Joe
BTW, as for updating… well, that may be difficult since I will be out of town for a while and will not be able to get back to this project for some time… but, I will try.
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Size?
Well, I don’t think the one they used in your example is that large because you can see that the camera movements are simply not that great of a distance and much of the text is over lapping and visable throughout the video.
The problem with size is actually a direct relation to how much computing power and RAM you have. Larger work areas will make bigger demands on your system. But, a larger work area will give you more options to make additions and changes to the text area. In my project, the work area is huge… but, then the layers and other effects are rather complex (moreso than the example)…. which is why I am still working on it,… this project is not time sensitive… so, I have the opportunity to make a really detailed and interesting video with numerous layers and large work area.
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revealing with masks is the method I would use because it gives you control over the reveal… remember, there are voices in the video… you will need to control as many aspects of the movement/reveal as you can have in order to match the voice over to the camera movement and text/word reveal.
At least that is what I have found out with my similar project.
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Good scripts (what few I was able to see)… but, this sites needs some serious help with his server and/or site provider/developer… it took me over half an hour to just see a page change of the site.
Based on 3 of the scripts I tried to evaluate… it took about 1.5+ hrs. At that rate, if someone wants to evaluate the various scripts… it would take a whole day or two.
I wonder if this is because of IE7’s phishing filter or his server is just WAAAAAAAY too slow?
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I am currently working on a project very similar to this…
And, of all the approaches I have attempted… the easiest method is by far is to begin by creating a single large text composition and moving a camera along various x and y axis to get the general movements (..initially keeping the camera movements linear). Then, create seperate layers to create any other various effects and place them within the large work area and add the any text movements/mask annimation/etc to the smaller seperate layers.
After creating x and y movements with added layers for other text effects, I then started to move the camera in the Z axis to add the depth. Basically,I found doing the Z axis movement of the camera last is best (as well as any non-linear camera movements). Only after I have x y and z camera movements, did I decide to start manipulationg any point of interest/focal point.
I tried using nulls and quickly ran into some limitations and actually became confusing to keep track of the various effects with camera movements that I wanted to create with different layers.
Conceptually, IMO keeping this project simple and on one large work area is the way to go in order get the camera movements just right…this is specially helpful if you have to go back and change the text (…which will most likely also change the camera movement).
Joe
BTW, I used photoshop to create the basic large text areas and the smaller text areas added to the various layers. And, the key limiting factor with regard to nulls is that were not as flexible to adapt to camera changes as a result of text changes… but, mostly I got lost in the nulls and how they became parented to various movements.
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Check out this tutorial:
https://library.creativecow.net/articles/oconnell_pete/roto.php
50 Seconds? that’s about 1500 frames if your using NTSC… that’s alot to be rotoscoping with AE. Even with blue/green video, that much rotoscoping will be very time consuming and difficult. You might consider Mocha by Imagineer if you can afford the software.
Joe
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PSP = PSD
duh… I meant PSD… I think I was thinking Paint Shop Pro when I was typing.
At any rate, It took me many hours to figure this one out…
But… as I expected,… this was a combination of problems… which are usually the most difficult one’s to figure out.
Basically, it was a memory/file size problem… however, rendering the project in smaller segments should work in solving most file size/render problems… EXCEPT… when the link between Photoshop and AE is corrupted.
It appears that for some reason… AE does not always recognize a Photoshop when you have large files that may cause a failure in render. …Which also seems to only effect White colored text lettering with no background… now, THAT seems strange.
The solution was to re-save the original Photoshop file… then, re-import the file into AE. That works well for a few renders… then for some reason the file needs to be re-saved and re-imported into AE. I am sure this a memory issue/cache clearing issue.
This explains why the same rending format did not always work… it was not the render settings (…unless, you tried to render to much of the project composition at once)… but, rather it was a loss of the link of the file between AE and Photoshop (re-saving solves this problem).
A complicated but simple solution… things like this make me pull my hair out and can be VERY time consuming.
In AE there were only two tracks… camera and a single PSD composition (photoshop layers in one comp).
Thanks for your solution, but I had already thought about that in the process.
In Photoshop there were numerous layers, but those layers were never put into the project… but, rather they were combined into one comp. The render time was slow because of the size of the work area and not so much because of excessive layers. The memory issue was likely because of the size of work area in AE… but, the failure to hold a link for White Text with no background is probably an issue associated with memory useage, saving and rendering large files.
Joe
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If my memory is correct…Digital Juice has specific lower thirds only. If you want lower thirds by someone other than digital juice… sorry, can’t think of any off my head.
Joe
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What kind of video editing software are you going to use?
If your intent is to use AE as an editing software… well, that is definately the least efficient way to go about editing.
A lot of your system demands will be dependent upon your NLE of choice. Most editing software has a list of audio and video cards (specially video cards) that are tested to be stable with that particular software. You need to review recommended audio and video cards for the particular NLE you use (or will use).
What you seem to have posted is a very powerful machine… but, whether or not it is a stable machine depends heavily upon the software compatibility with your hardware. And… in many cases the newest hardware can turn out to be the most problematic since many editing software can not keep up with faster developing hardware and their drivers (…which seems to be the case with some software and 8800 video card combintions).
As for your choices… it is difficult to say whether or not it is a stable platform and you will not pull your hair out when a crash occurs that results in lost work. However, when it comes to HD’s, you can never have to few. In fact, my editing software uses a complete seperate (physical) hard drive for rendering… this dedicated Rending HD makes the rendering much faster.
Also, you might spend a lot of time on developing a multple backup system for your work. In terms of backing up projects, the best editing software I know is Avid/Pinnacle Liquid… this software backs up every 1/30ths of a second without any loss of computing power. Bascially, you can not loose any work as a result of crash.
As for Mocha… I’ve not found (nor read or heard) it to be hardward picky. However, it does have some bugs with regard it saving the work properly… especially true with complex and long roto-projects.
My best suggestion I have is this…I would be more concerned about stability than just power. And this depends very heavily on EVERY piece of hardware that is choosen relative to the OS AND software you use for editing.
FWIW Joe Moya
BTW, … make sure you use that OS for editing ONLY (…which happes to also make DUAL BOOT systems a very viable option)… adding stuff on an editing machine will at some point cause you grief. And… you might make sure you buy a battery back up… I didn’t see any mention of this on your list.
Joe
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although not plug-ins…
… you might take a look at digitaljuice.com