[John Cuevas]

There is a script you can use to modify the keyboard shortcuts:

After Effects /
Modify keyboard shortcuts

Johnny Cuevas, Editor
Thinkck.com

“I have not failed 700 times. I have succeeded in proving that those 700 ways will not work. When I have eliminated the ways that will not work, I will find the way that will work.”
—THOMAS EDISON on inventing the light bulb.

[John Cuevas]

1) how can I make sure that one specific piece of glass with my logo on it goes to the front of the camera?

I would shatter the logo and work on the getting one piece to stop where you need it to first. Try adjusting the gravity and rotation speed to get the piece framed correctly, then adjust the viscosity to get it to stop where you need. You could also use time remapping. From there I would work backwards to determine which piece is stopped center frame and just figure out where it originated from, that’s where you want your logo. Now you can precomp the shatter layer, but “Leave all attributes” in the main comp. Open the precomp and place your logo in the spot it needs to be.

2)My logo it is already a piece of shattered glass, and it has the reflection lighting already set it. How can I adjust the reflection of the other pieces?

There are some lighting parameters you can adjust in shatter to produce specular highlights, but the pieces won’t reflect off each other. I

Johnny Cuevas, Editor
Thinkck.com

“I have not failed 700 times. I have succeeded in proving that those 700 ways will not work. When I have eliminated the ways that will not work, I will find the way that will work.”
—THOMAS EDISON on inventing the light bulb.

[John Cuevas]

Let me make sure I understand what you are trying to do. You have a layer and it shatters, the pieces come flying towards the camera and then what? Does one piece stop and it has text on it that appears after the layer shattered or did that piece always have text on it?

Check out this tutorial on Custom Shatter Maps. Regardless of how the text appears on the pieces, you will probably need to make a custom map.

Johnny Cuevas, Editor
Thinkck.com

“I have not failed 700 times. I have succeeded in proving that those 700 ways will not work. When I have eliminated the ways that will not work, I will find the way that will work.”
—THOMAS EDISON on inventing the light bulb.

[John Cuevas]

You will enjoy them, Optical Flares are pretty cool.

Johnny Cuevas, Editor
Thinkck.com

“I have not failed 700 times. I have succeeded in proving that those 700 ways will not work. When I have eliminated the ways that will not work, I will find the way that will work.”
—THOMAS EDISON on inventing the light bulb.

[John Cuevas]

You could create your new “intro” comp and drag your completed comp into the new intro comp. Thats called precomping. It will take all your previous work and make it a single layer.

Hope that makes sense.

Johnny Cuevas, Editor
Thinkck.com

“I have not failed 700 times. I have succeeded in proving that those 700 ways will not work. When I have eliminated the ways that will not work, I will find the way that will work.”
—THOMAS EDISON on inventing the light bulb.

[John Cuevas]

Here’s a good place to start: Getting started with After Effects (CS4, CS5, CS5.5, & CS6)

Johnny Cuevas, Editor
Thinkck.com

“I have not failed 700 times. I have succeeded in proving that those 700 ways will not work. When I have eliminated the ways that will not work, I will find the way that will work.”
—THOMAS EDISON on inventing the light bulb.

[John Cuevas]

Glad you found it useful.

Johnny Cuevas, Editor
Thinkck.com

“I have not failed 700 times. I have succeeded in proving that those 700 ways will not work. When I have eliminated the ways that will not work, I will find the way that will work.”
—THOMAS EDISON on inventing the light bulb.

[John Cuevas]

You will need to go into ID and manually export the layers, there isn’t any easy way around it.

Here’s a link explaining the process, if you need it.

How to move a layout from InDesign to After Effects

Johnny Cuevas, Editor
Thinkck.com

“I have not failed 700 times. I have succeeded in proving that those 700 ways will not work. When I have eliminated the ways that will not work, I will find the way that will work.”
—THOMAS EDISON on inventing the light bulb.

[John Cuevas]

No problem, glad it worked out.

Johnny Cuevas, Editor
Thinkck.com

“I have not failed 700 times. I have succeeded in proving that those 700 ways will not work. When I have eliminated the ways that will not work, I will find the way that will work.”
—THOMAS EDISON on inventing the light bulb.

[John Cuevas]

Glad we could help

Johnny Cuevas, Editor
Thinkck.com

“I have not failed 700 times. I have succeeded in proving that those 700 ways will not work. When I have eliminated the ways that will not work, I will find the way that will work.”
—THOMAS EDISON on inventing the light bulb.