[Roland R. kahlenberg]

[Frank Feijen] “Hi Roland, You’be got me wondering: why would you need to remove the perspective?”

Cos his insert layer/image is already with perspective and it this perspective is different from the background (mobile phone). Without first removing the inherent perspective and then re-introducing the correct perspective, the resultant composite will likely look strange – which the user has also shared.

HTH
RoRK

Intensive mocha & AE Training in Singapore and Other Dangerous Locations

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[Roland R. kahlenberg]

You’re looking at a two-step procedure –
(1) remove the existing perspective/distortion
(2) apply the correct perspective/distortion to fit the mobile phone

(1) –
(a) use four Guides (two horizontals and two verticals) to create four corners/points that match the outline/perimeter of your video

(b) apply CC Powerpin and enable its Unstretch prop

(c) move Powerpin’s four corners to the respective corners/points that you created in (1a) above

(d) scrub the appropriate Powerpin corner values to perfectly un-distort the image

2 –
(a) apply CC Powerpin again and set the corner values to fit your mobile phone.

HTH
RoRK

Intensive mocha & AE Training in Singapore and Other Dangerous Locations

Imagineer Systems (mocha) Certified Instructor
& Adobe After Effects CS6 ACE/ACI

[Roland R. kahlenberg]

That’s a very good book but as Todd has elaborated, it only covers the VFX part of AE. If you’re keen to studying, there’s this product
https://www.adobemarketplace.com/Adobe_Certification_Practice_Exams_s/1822.htm but it’s for CS5 while the existing AE ACE exam is for CS6. The Classroom in a Book seems to provide a wide range of topics and should be suitable, NOT IDEAL, for prepping yourself.

You should take a look at the current AE exam guide which is available in PDF via link here-> https://training.adobe.com/certification/exams/aftereffects-cs6.html which includes sample exam questions.

HTH
RoRK

Intensive mocha & AE Training in Singapore and Other Dangerous Locations

Imagineer Systems (mocha) Certified Instructor
& Adobe After Effects CS6 ACE/ACI

[Roland R. kahlenberg]

mochaPro’s Scale Tool should do the trick although I’m not certain why you have a requirement not to have scaling as a solution.

FWIW, AE’s Mask Expansion works by scaling the mask from its center. Mask Expansion also works on the entire mask and neglects selected vertices. In mocha, the Scale Tool work on the entire spline or selected vertices and the scale center is user-definable.

HTH
RoRK

Intensive mocha & AE Training in Singapore and Other Dangerous Locations

Imagineer Systems (mocha) Certified Instructor
& Adobe After Effects CS6 ACE/ACI

[Roland R. kahlenberg]

Matthew and Ross have answered your Q BUT I would like to suggest, humbly, that perhaps your issue is with the tracking result and/or user-error. Do provide screencaps if your issue is not resolved.

Further, AFAIK, you only really need to use the Align Surface feature if your insert layer has been designed or created with the exact perspective, to fit into the background plate.

Lastly, ensure that you always make a duplicate of the layer that you wish to apply the Align Surface feature as there is no way back to the original, un-aligned layer.

HTH
RoRK

Intensive mocha & AE Training in Singapore and Other Dangerous Locations

Imagineer Systems (mocha) Certified Instructor
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[Roland R. kahlenberg]

[Hans Oberholz] “1. though use the obscuration layer the particle glow “penetrates” the layer”

Use a variation of the obscuration/emitter layer that accurately obscures the particles within the required layer. Then use this layer as a matte (Track Matte) for the Particular layer.

I’m not sure what the issue is with (2) that you described. Perhaps a few screen captures will be helpful.

HTH
RoRK

Intensive mocha & AE Training in Singapore and Other Dangerous Locations

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[Roland R. kahlenberg]

You’ve selected “Layer” as your Emitter Type BUT did you select the layer itself – you select a specific layer in the Layer Emitter property.

HTH
RoRK

Intensive mocha & AE Training in Singapore and Other Dangerous Locations

Imagineer Systems (mocha) Certified Instructor
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[Roland R. kahlenberg]

AEP is AE’s file extension as well as the acronym for “After Effects Project”.

Cheers
RoRK

Intensive mocha & AE Training in Singapore and Other Dangerous Locations

Imagineer Systems (mocha) Certified Instructor
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[Roland R. kahlenberg]

Dan, see if the info here -> https://www.jaredisham.com/adobe-cs6-part-3-warp-stabilizer/ helps.

Cheers
RoRK

Intensive mocha & AE Training in Singapore and Other Dangerous Locations

Imagineer Systems (mocha) Certified Instructor
& Adobe After Effects CS6 ACE/ACI

[Roland R. kahlenberg]

No tapering with a Stroked Shape Layer. Stroke width also affects the entire path. To have variable sized strokes, create separate Shape Paths and set Stroke width accordingly.

HTH
RoRK

Intensive mocha & AE Training in Singapore and Other Dangerous Locations

Imagineer Systems (mocha) Certified Instructor
& Adobe After Effects CS6 ACE/ACI