Jon Okerstrom
Forum Replies Created
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Hi Barbara,
Don’t worry about asking “simple” questions. We’re here to help you. The jpg file you’re talking about is bit-mapped – that is, many small pixels of color. The Illustrator file you need is vector-based – that is, math that describes lines and shapes.
To convert a jpg image into a logo you can uses in Invigorator or ProAnimator, you’ll need to import the file into an Illustrator document, then use Illustrator’s drawing tools to create a vector-based version of the logo. The original jpg artwork is essentially a template you can trace around.
Does this help?
Jon
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Hi Jeff,
This kind of project pretty much screams for a 3D application that can do parenting. In your case, the end of the flap would be parented to the other half, which would be parented to the box. You would be able to determine where the “hinges” are on each object and animate all of the angles, so the end folds toward the other half of the top as they both move to their final position.
Many 3D apps do this – some like Lightwave, Maya, Cinema 4D, etc. cost a fair amount of money. You can animate the “bones” of the objects and even use inverse kinematics. You might also be able to do it with Blender or other free 3D apps. As I said, ProAnimator does some amazing things – but it’s not the best choice for this kind of animation.
Jon
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Hi Jeff,
ProAnimator does a lot of things well, but it really isn’t the best choice for this specific kind of animation. Do you have any other software options?
Jon
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Hi Mohammed,
If I recall correctly, the demo is fully functional – but you get a watermark on the image and can’t export models.
You can scale sets in the z dimension by keyframing depth in your timeline or in your effects control panel.
Jon
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Hi Christina,
You’re right about being easy with 3D Layer Warp. It can be done using ProAnimator or Invigorator, but it’s a different process. Are you animating the amount of curl in the image? If so, I’d recommend using layercycling. I wrote a tutorial on the subject for Zaxwerks Invigorator. The concept is the same in ProAminator.
I would make a line representing the starting shape of your layer – use outline stroke to create a filled solid representing the edge of your frame. Use the depth slider to create the face of the frame. Map the movie to this edge. (You may need to use layermapping to easily positing the movie on the edge). To animate the shape of the frame, you’ll need to create a starting shape, an ending shape, and create the “tween” shapes, then assign each to layers in Illustrator. Once that’s one, you can use ProAnimator and the layercycling technique to make it animate (like stop-motion animation).
Here’s the basic tutorial:
https://library.creativecow.net/articles/okerstrom_jon/layercycle.php
If you get stuck, let us know.
Jon
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Hi Andrew,
I’d say probably yes. Click the comp camera option and see if it works.
Jon
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Hi Andrew,
It would probably help to explain some core concepts:
First off, AE’s 3D space is not the same 3D space occupied by ProAnimator (or Invigorator) objects. What’s really happening when you tell ProAnimator to use the comp camera is that PA’s camera is mirroring what the comp camera is doing. With me so far?
In order for this to work, the PA layer remains a 2D layer. If you try switching it to a 3D layer and position that layer somewhere in AE space, you can fly the camera by at such an angle that you see the PA layer is simply an image on a plane. It’s not a 3D object in AE’s space.
In most cases, these “parallel universes” work fine. But sometimes, the illusion can break, depending on the camera and object movement you’re doing.
Does this help?
Jon
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Hi Sam,
Layermapping could be used to hide a separate 3D object, just as it would “turn off” an image mapped to the side of the cube. It would get a little complicated if you have tons of different materials applied, but the idea is to use the transparency channel of the layer map to turn the 3d object on or off.
Jon
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Okay, Sam.
One easy way to do it is to use layermapping.
Put the logo into a precomp that gets applied to your cube as a layermap. At the point in time when you want the logo to disappear, just change what’s happening in the precomp. You can keyframe an opacity change so the logo fades to invisible while the background stays the same or do whatever you want.
Does this help?
Jon
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Hi Sam,
Welcome to the club.
When you say you don’t want to see the logo through the semi-transparent cube, you raise a question – what DO you want to see?
The answer will determine how we proceed.
Jon