Kalleheikki Kannisto
1
COW Coin
Forum Replies Created
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The setting of sampling a single pixel ([0.5, 0.5] on the sampleImage line) is susceptible to flickering, you may want to increase the values.
Kalleheikki Kannisto
Senior Graphic Designer -
That other solution was without expressions. If you’re going to use lights as emitters, you will need an expression for the light intensity.
Here’s an expression that checks whether the color underneath the light location on a layer named “keyboard” matches a specific color and turns the light intensity to 100 if it is a match, otherwise the light is at 0. The match is being checked against the blue color of the piano roll in the sample image you provided.
Rename your synthesia footage as “keyboard” or change the layer name in the expression to match yours.Add this expression to the Light Intensity property:
L = thisLayer;
pos2d = L.toComp([0,0]);
T = thisComp.layer("keyboard");
Tcolor = T.sampleImage([pos2d[0],pos2d[1]], [0.5,0.5], true, time);
colorR = Math.round(Tcolor[0]*255);
colorG = Math.round(Tcolor[1]*255);
colorB = Math.round(Tcolor[2]*255);
lightOn = false;
tolerance = 3;
matchR = 5;
matchG = 120;
matchB = 200;
if (Math.abs(colorR-matchR)If you need to check for a match to a different color (like a darker blue or green), you'll need to adjust the RGB values (matchR, matchG and matchB).
If you need to check matches to multiple different colors for a single light, you'll need to duplicate the three match lines and the if line and change the RGB values for each color that you want to match.
This way you can use the light as an emitter for Particular, for Optical Flares and as a light source. The down side of this method is that you need to make as many lights as you have keys. So once you have a single light that works as expected, you will need to make a whole bunch of copies to place one at the top of each key.
Kalleheikki Kannisto
Senior Graphic Designer -
Yes, here you go. I bet this will get you close.
https://www.videocopilot.net/blog/2016/12/happy-holiday-sweater-template/
Kalleheikki Kannisto
Senior Graphic Designer -
Talking of just the matter of achieving the knitted sweater look, since I happen to be familiar with the program, I would probably do the effect as a Photoshop batch through Filter Forge. It has a ready-made sweater filter that takes an image input.
No, wait — didn’t Video Copilot do a similar AE project…?!
Kalleheikki Kannisto
Senior Graphic Designer -
Such scaling is inversely exponential, and it never really reaches zero, just gets closer to it. You are effectively pushing the circle back in perspective. If you don’t want to get into mathematics, I believe the following would work:
Make a duplicate comp but make the round shape-containing layer 3D. Animate it to recede to the distance along the z axis at an even speed. Render this out.
Use that render as a “template” to create the 2D scaling beginning and ending keyframes for your 2D layer and adjust the scale in the curve editor until the 2D scale matches the 3D motion.
Kalleheikki Kannisto
Senior Graphic Designer -
Would be easier to apply the slider value to the wiggle amount
wiggle(1, thisComp.layer("Audio Amplitude").effect("Left Channel")("Slider")*10)The slider output will need the correct multiplier to get it in a sensible range.
Kalleheikki Kannisto
Senior Graphic Designer -
My thought is that if you turn the 2D layer into a 3D layer you don’t need any expressions other than the one that links the point of interest to the null. As long as you keep the POI null on the 2D plane, not moving it along the z axis, it should work nicely that way.
Kalleheikki Kannisto
Senior Graphic Designer -
You can keyframe the properties for sure. The property you are adjusting is the birth rate. That doesn’t mean the particles disappear immediate if you adjust it down. They will live for the entire life duration of the particles, which is a different setting. So if the life setting is 3 seconds, you will start to see the difference more clearly after 3 seconds, as the earlier emitted particles die off.
Kalleheikki Kannisto
Senior Graphic Designer -
Two things seem apparent:
1) There seems to be some sort of positional smoothing going on. Did you start with a preset? Check the emitter position accuracy setting (don’t remember the exact name of the property); the options are something like 1, 1/10 and precise.
2) If the path and reference image are 2D and you have a 3D camera, any movement of that camera will offset the path. You can try creating a new camera or moving the existing one if this is the case.
Kalleheikki Kannisto
Senior Graphic Designer -
Element 3D works like a charm for such things and a whole lot more, and it is integrated right into AE, using AE lights and camera. And renders lightning fast. For a simple setup like you’re describing it is virtually real-time.
There is also the (free) option of using Cinema4D Lite, which is integrated with AE somewhat similarly, albeit more clunkily. There is a significant difference in rendering speed.
If you use Blender, getting the camera angles to match between AE and Blender cameras is… well, difficult. There are some export import scripts for transfering data between the two programs, but I wouldn’t call that a simple approach. Of course, if you do all animation in Blender and only non-camera related effects in AE, that could work.
Personally I use Element for most things 3D inside AE, it’s both fast and easy. That would be my recommendation.
Kalleheikki Kannisto
Senior Graphic Designer