[Roland R. kahlenberg]

You’ll need Expression Controls –
1)create a new comp and call it ExpressionController
2)create a Null and leave it at the default name of Null 1
3) apply effects>Expression Controls>SliderControl
4) goto the Null’s effects pane and select its name
5) Hit the Enter key on the main keyboard once and change its name from Slider Control 1 to maxScaleSlider Control. This slider will later be used to control the maxscale property of your Expression
6) repeat twice and rinse after each time for Nulls 2 and 3. The only thing to be mindful of are the name changes for the Slider Controls for Nulls 2 and 3. minScaleSlider Control and minScaleDistScaleSlider Control for the Slider Controls that you apply for Nulls 2 and 3 respectively.

// Start of Script
maxScale = Comp(“ExpressionController”).layer(“Null 1”).effect(“maxScaleSlider Control”)(“Slider”);
minScale = Comp(“ExpressionController”).layer(“Null 2”).effect(“minScaleSlider Control”)(“Slider”);
minScaleDist = Comp(“ExpressionController”).layer(“Null 3”).effect(“minScaleDistScaleSlider Control”)(“Slider”);
pointer = thisComp.layer(“pointer”);
d = Math.abs(pointer.transform.position[0] – transform.position[0]);
ease(d,0,minScaleDist,[maxScale,maxScale],[minScale,minScale])
// End of Script

HTH
Roland Kahlenberg
https://www.broadcastGEMs.com – Adobe After Effects project files
https://www.myspace.com/rorkrgbspace

[Roland R. kahlenberg]

You’ll need to have audio switched on in the Output Module as well as witihn the WMV export window. Check that audio icon is swithed on in the timeline.

HTH
Roland Kahlenberg
https://www.broadcastGEMs.com – Adobe After Effects project files
https://www.myspace.com/rorkrgbspace

[Roland R. kahlenberg]

Stabilization inevitably results in lost pixels along the edges. Professional camera work is still a requirement today as it was yesterday. Regardless, it does sound like a pretty tool to have.

HTH
Roland Kahlenberg
https://www.broadcastGEMs.com – Adobe After Effects project files
https://www.myspace.com/rorkrgbspace

[Roland R. kahlenberg]

Instead of scaling, try the Camera Zoom parameter.

HTH
Roland Kahlenberg
https://www.broadcastGEMs.com – Adobe After Effects project files
https://www.myspace.com/rorkrgbspace

[Roland R. kahlenberg]

I’d take a look at the max. white and black levels of the outdoor shot and note their intensities. Then I’d use levels or curves on the indoor shot to match them. For colour matching, there are a whole bunch of tools under Color Correction to help you out.

HTH
Roland Kahlenberg
https://www.broadcastGEMs.com – Adobe After Effects project files
https://www.myspace.com/rorkrgbspace

[Roland R. kahlenberg]

In the image that you provided, there are four columns. Let’s call them A,B,C and D; going from left to right, respectively.

Columns A and C should be in the same pre-comp, while B and D should go together. in fact, columns B and D are identical to A and C except for a slight offset along the y-axis. So you really need to only setup one set of A and C type of columns, duplicate it and offset the copy’s x and y positions accordingly.

The thing to note about CardWipe is that it abides by a very strict ordering with respect to each card’s (tile) size. This is the reason why you’ll have to break up your hexagon design into two parts in order for your effect to work.

As I mentioned, do your math first so that you’ll know how columns and rows you’ll need.

HTH
Roland Kahlenberg
https://www.broadcastGEMs.com – Adobe After Effects project files
https://www.myspace.com/rorkrgbspace

[Roland R. kahlenberg]

It’s possibly doable with two instances of CardWipe. You’ll need to split your hexagons into two parts and have them alpha channeled. Set your columns and rows such that rows are tighter than columns. best to work with a calculator to get the numbers right here.

HTH
Roland Kahlenberg
https://www.broadcastGEMs.com – Adobe After Effects project files
https://www.myspace.com/rorkrgbspace

[Roland R. kahlenberg]

Download the tryout version of AE7 and see if the Create Outline feature works for you. This feature works with the Text tool, so you’ll need to re-input your text. Depending on how you animated your text, a simple copy-paste routine will make the transition less painful.

HTH
Roland Kahlenberg

https://www.broadcastGEMs.com – Adobe After Effects project files
https://www.myspace.com/rorkrgbspace

[Roland R. kahlenberg]

Why don’t you post an uncompressed frame of both the before-and-after shots for us to have a look at?

I feel that it’ll be a good idea for the COW to create a new forum, Matte Creation – one that is not software specific. There seems to be so many ways to skin a cat and good keyers (the folks that actually perform the task) usually have more than one technique handy. This is to account for the large variability in terms of the quality of the footage that come their way.

HTH
Roland Kahlenberg

https://www.broadcastGEMs.com – Adobe After Effects project files
https://www.myspace.com/rorkrgbspace

[Roland R. kahlenberg]

[bradcowan] “THANKS A LOT, ROLAND. SORRY FOR TYPING IN ALL CAPS BUT I’VE ACTUALLY GOT IT TO RENDER! (SO I HAVE CAPS-LOCK ON TO STOP THE REFRESH).”

Ahh, I tohught you were upset. 😉

You didn’t mention the text layers and logo. Pre-rendering helps a lot when working with high-res layers, 3D or otherwise. You may want to render to sequenced stills in case the render fails mid-way. Better safe than sorry.

Hope things work out – live and learn bro.

Cheers
Roland Kahlenberg

https://www.broadcastGEMs.com – Adobe After Effects project files
https://www.myspace.com/rorkrgbspace