[Ron Coy]

um… no?

I think you can use anything as a particle, but I don’t know if you can do what you’re describing, or if it would be worth the time to attempt.

3D arrays like a cornfield are best done in a 3D program. IMHO, of course.

[Ron Coy]

as long as you can create a path, you can use it in 3D Stroke.

I don’t see why it wouldn’t be doable. You’d just have to make a path in 3D space that moves around and through and behind your 3D text layer.

[Ron Coy]

Andrew Kramer has something in his blog about it. Go to the Video Copilot site and click on blog.

Short answer, there may be a tutorial on it.

They used 3D Studio MAX to achieve that effect

[Ron Coy]

are you only tracking position, or are you doing rotation and scale as well?

[Ron Coy]

yeah, they fixed that in the next update after the one that hosed everyone.

[Ron Coy]

From Adobe’s website… in relation to AE 6.5 but should still be relevant.

3. Re-create the After Effects preferences file.

If After Effects started successfully in the past, but won’t start now, a damaged preferences file may be the cause. You might be able to resolve the issue by re-creating the preferences file.

To re-create the preferences file:

1. Remove or rename the After Effects preferences file in the Users/[user profile]/Library/Preferences folder.

2. Restart After Effects. After Effects creates a new preferences file.

3. If the problem isn’t resolved, the preference file was not the problem. Replace or rename the preference file with its original name.

Note: After you re-create the preferences file, you need to respecify any custom settings.

[Ron Coy]

try trashing your preferences for After Effects.

[Ron Coy]

I don’t think there is a way to get position values for the Stroke effect. It effects the path, based on a percentage of the path being affected, and I don’t think it uses any X,Y coordinates at all.

You can manually move the camera or link it to a null object as a camera controller. Getting it to follow the stroke as it happens isn’t going to be easy or automatic. You can fly by the stroke in 3D space though.

Andrew Kramer has some cool tutorials on using a null as a camera controller.

[Ron Coy]

ok. I found something that might work, but it’s in beta.

Masks to Shapes

http://www.redefinery.com/ae/view.php?item=rd_MasksToShapes

There is also one called Shapes to Masks

http://www.redefinery.com/ae/view.php?item=rd_ShapesToMasks

One of these may be able to get you there. They only work in CS3 though.

[Ron Coy]

it’s on my Tivo. I didn’t care to watch the video, as I’m not a fan… A little too operatic or whatever for my tastes.

I just don’t dig the ripoff. It would be one thing to use the idea and apply your own footage or even just change it up a bit… ya know, maybe use the earth spin tutorial as well and use that as the final image, or maybe even use your own city maps, so that you’re starting from somewhere else… I don’t know if San Francisco ties into their location in the video or not, but it seems like they could have used a shot of LA or NY or wherever.

Just weak sauce IMHO.