[John Cuevas]

temp = thisComp.layer("CC Sphere Layer").effect("CC Sphere")("Offset");
[temp[0], temp[1], temp[1]]

The problem was in pick-whipping the null position to the offset. It escaped me that the z position is being fed the y-position value from the CC Sphere Layer(temp[1]). After Effects does this because there is no Z position value from the sphere, so the nulls z position by 243 pixels. That’s why everything was off.

The solution is to go to the null’s position property and right click on it and choose separate dimensions. Then individually select the x and y position of the null and link them to the sphere’s xy offset.

Sorry about the mistake, I previewed it quickly and thought I had caught everything.

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]

Dave’s probably correct about the cause of the white. For giggles I tried to key your shot. I turned off “unpremultply result”(big improvement) checkbox, changed the screen gain to 89, screen balance to 51. In the Screen Matte settings I went with clip black to 41 and clip white to 80. Finally I chocked the shot using the Screen Shrink/Grow to -1.0

Here’s the result(some white left, but not as bad):

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]

If i have the lines/ paths already in illustrator, will i be able to export them into After Effects, then animate these lines, by applying keyframes & effects etc onto it?

Yes. After Effects works great with Illustrator files, .AI file are perfect for bringing into AE because they are vector based.

From your experience I think this would be the easiest method(but there are many ways in AE to do create this effect).

Create your work in Illustrator(make sure the elements you want separated are on different layers). In AE, Import your graphic(cntl+i) and in the import dialogue choose “Import as comp” This will create a new composition of your graphic and keep all the layers separated.

Now on your line layer add the effect Generate -> Write-on. Turn on the brush position stopwatch and animate brush position. You may need to change Brush size & brush spacing. Finally change the “Paint Style” pull down to “Reveal Original Image” and that take care revealing your line.

Originally you mentioned some dots. So twirl down the line layer -> effects -> Write-on to access your Brush position keyframes. Click “Brush Position” and all your keyframes are highlighted. Copy them(cntl+c).

Now open up your Dot layer position property(Press “P”). Press the stop watch to turn on keyframes and paste the brush position keyframes(cntl+v) onto your dots position layer.

Most likely this didn’t match your dot and line exactly since they probably started in different places. So press “shift+A” to open up the anchor point property and use the anchor point coordinates to line up your dot over the line you want to reveal.

I made a little example project that I hope clearly illustrates the techniques I described here. 4206_writeonexamplefolder.zip

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]

I really suggest you start with Getting started with After Effects . After Effects isn’t a program you want say “Hey I have a project, I’ll do it in AE”, there is a very steep learning curve with this program.

That being said, I understand that you might need to skip the learning and jump right in if you have a deadline, so takea look at this very simple Indiana Jones Style Map tutorial on youtube, it should get you pointed int he right direction. If after you watch it, you are still having problems, come back and we’ll see what we can do to help you out.

YouTube.

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 posted the result, how about a still of the problematic green screen shot.

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]

Create your CC sphere layer and set up the layer but leave it in the center of the comp.

Add a null object to your comp and turn on it’s 3d switch. Open the rotation properties of the Null, enable an expression for XYZ rotation and pick-whip it to the CC Sphere’s rotation and at the beginning of the expression add a minus sign(you want to the result to go backwards to match the rotation). Add and expression to the Null’s position and pick whip that to the CC Sphere Offset so if you move the sphere your controller will follow.

Enable 3d for the CC sphere layer and ignore any warnings. Now just parent the layer you want to orbit the sphere(pinned to the sphere) to the Null.

You can even add a camera to the scene if and keep the sphere layer by using cntl+alt+o and change the sphere layers orientation to “Orient to camera” to avoid the postcards in space look.

I made a quick example project where you can see the results with and without a camera.
4202_exampleproject.aep.zip

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]

When using the Rotobrush, you can’t scrub 2 frames ahead and have it just be there(and not at all in the comp window). You move ahead 10 frames in the layer window(where you made your first mask) and the brush propagates the roto. You will see a little green line move toward your current time indicator showing you the progress. If there is a mistake you go back and correct it and it will propagate the roto from there. It’s work—but still a lot less than masking an entire person frame by frame.

Dave is absolutely right though, you need to watch tutorials, read the manual to figure this one 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]

Are you talking about Warp Stablilizer? It’s an effect that comes with CS5.5.

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 attempt to use the Distort -> displacement map effect directly on the text.

If you aren’t getting enough distortion you might need to make a duplicate of your water layer, precomp it and add some level/contrast increasing effects so it’s a little easier to move the text with the water.

Lastly, you could try using Simulation -> Wave World to match the video and use that as your displacement 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 might want to try the warp stabilizer and crank up the smooth motion setting, just my 2 cents without having seen the shot.

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.