Mike Clasby
Forum Replies Created
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This page of the help files tells you what stays vector. Open the “Supported features for SWF export” link:
Text is exported as graphics but not 3D layers. The best way to simulate that is with scale and rotation of the 2D text layers, any animation preset that doesn’t use 3D layers will yield extremely small files. Many of the Animate In or Animate Out presets look 3D but are 2D.
Here is a tut on using AE text layers to create small swf’s when brought into Flash, 5k in his example, but alas, 2D:
https://library.creativecow.net/articles/brimelow_lee/ae4flash1.php
Note: Also, even with doing everything right, AE doesn’t optimized it’s Flash vector files as good as Flash does (I’m back on AE 6.5, so maybe that’s improved), so Import you completed SWF into Flash, then Publish that again and the resulting files will be considerably smaller, I’ve seen identical looking files shrink by as much as one tenth when republishing from Flash. So Lee’s exampl might have been 50k out of AE… it sounds crazy but is true.
But no 3D layers as vectors.
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Another reason to upgrade!
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What are you rendering as? Lossless (uncompressed) is the default.
What are you going to do with it? Look at it on a computer?
Try to QuickTime H264, hat’s good… or the older Sorenson 3. Or try a wmv.
If you’re shooting for the web, FLV’s are good especially if Flash is involved.
All these options are in the Render Queue (Ctrl M), the click the Output Module Dropdown, or double lick the Lossless, it’s in Blue.
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You could use a particle system with your own layer as a custom particle.
AE’s CC Particle System II can use a custom layer, say a pearl 30×30 with Alpha, precomp that (without the precomposing you get a tiny particle stream), then apply CC Particle System II to that precomp and set Particle>Particle Type>Textured Square.
Or check out Dan, true 3D tut, here:
https://library.creativecow.net/articles/ebberts_dan/particle_gen.php
You can sub in (Alt-Drag) your own particle the mDuplicate away (Ctrl D), psd’s and such, for Dan’s particle. I think I’d start with the comp, Fountain. This is real 3D so you can fly a camera around through the pearls.
If you have Particular, it can use Custom Particles.
As can AE older Particle Playground, Here:
https://forums.creativecow.net/readpost/2/917831
If you want, Floating, dreamy pearls try Foam, with Rendering>Bubble Texture>User Defined, and Bubble Texture Layer>Choose your pearl layer (precomposed, and needs to be larger). Also, at the top, View>Rendered. I like Foam, but not always appropriate, wobble and such.
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AE will always render the Active camera (top most camera), and if you have a view with something like Custom View 1 it won’t render what you see in the Ram preview, set View (next to checkerboard, Comp Window) to Active Camera or whatever camera you’re using.
AE camera’s can be a pain. Here are links to the two best guide to camera use:
This post by Chris Smith on how he uses Nulls with camera movements:
https://forums.creativecow.net/cgi-bin/new_read_post.cgi?forumid=2&postid=878237
Here is an AE project file (aep) for a nifty camera move Australian commercial by John Dickinson, very cool:
https://forums.creativecow.net/readpost/2/872881?
And I like this oldie from Rick Gerard for flying down an Illustrator file:
This post by Chris Smith on how he uses Nulls with camera movements:
https://forums.creativecow.net/cgi-bin/new_read_post.cgi?forumid=2&postid=878237
Here is an AE project file (aep) for a nifty camera move Australian commercial by John Dickinson, very cool:
https://library.creativecow.net/articles/gerard_rick/AEWeekly1.php
and
https://library.creativecow.net/articles/gerard_rick/AEWeekly2.php
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AE has limited, although powerful within the limits, ability to export “vector” graphics as SWF’s. Here is an earlier post that details what’s possible (see the Help link):
https://forums.creativecow.net/readpost/2/922418
Page Turn is a raster effects, as are most.
You might try importing an uncompressed movie into Flash and using the FLV option, or AE’s FLV export for that matter. It’s not really a vector but plays nice with Flash.
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Great to see Filip!
For letters on a single layer that you want it an arc, thinking the “Universal” Studio text rotating around the world intro, try CC Cylinder or CC Sphere. Andrew uses it with 3D cameras in his tut here:
https://www.videocopilot.net/tutorials.html?id=13
and the 3D camera tie in here:
https://www.videocopilot.net/tutorials.html?id=19
But if the letters are on their own layer and you character is AE-3D here is a link to two ways of setting up a cylinder of text. Very simple, very fast, select the layers and run the script, creates a Null to rotate all, and expressions so they orient inwards:
https://forums.creativecow.net/readpost/2/915391
I used to use this, “sphereoscarus”, then Alt-Drag letters onto the blue ovals, but I use the above so much more:
https://forums.creativecow.net/readpost/2/915236
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Did you try your own layer of dust dots as a custom layer for Foam? I like foam a lot for dust.
There is a Lux like freebie Script that should work for the Projector Beam, depending on your use, here’s a link with setup instructions; this was also for a dust setup:
https://forums.creativecow.net/readpost/2/917744
The coolest-Crazy Projector setup is by Filip, Projector aep, here:
https://forums.creativecow.net/readpost/2/891148?univpostid=891054&pview=t
His is the 11th post down, the one with the big movie in it. This is more for those projector rays mimicking the film, that you see in the theater. I don’t know how to add dust to that. It was AE7 and I’ve never opened the aep. This is probably overkill for what you want. but maybe you can combine the two, the script and Filip’s projector just add the dust via foam to a few of Filip’s multiple layer, I dunno, but lots of options between the two.
Good-luck.
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I think I would track the object, position and rotation, then add that info to a Null, and then if you parent your text to the Null it will follow the glass. Now all you need to do is animate the Text with keyframes and it should slide down the glass even though the glass is moving.
Andrew does the tracking Null parenting method mentioned above to put Sunglasses on a Demon Face, here:
https://library.creativecow.net/articles/kramer_andrew/Demon_Face_Warp.php
So if you follow that, then animating the sunglasses down his face would be the equivalent of what you want to do with your text.
Methinks.
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