Simon Bonner
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This might be because, at lossless quality, most files are too large to be viewed without choppy playback. This is not necessarily a problem however, as final video will usually be compressed before delivery (e.g. converted to flv for web, or mpeg for dvd).
Simon Bonner
youtube.com/simonsaysfx
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You could add an expression to the rotation property of each of your layers that references the rotation of the null. Then they will all rotate in the same way as the null, but around their own anchor points.
Select the null and hit R to reveal the rotation property. Select one of your layers in the timeline and hit R. Hold down Alt and click on the stopwatch. Use the expression pickwhip (the curly line – click and drag) to reference the rotation of the null. Select the rotation property of the layer you just added the expression to, hit ctrl+C to copy it, then select all your remaining layers and hit ctrl+V to paste the expression to them all in one go. Voila!
Simon Bonner
youtube.com/simonsaysfx
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This may not be an issue for you, but remember that footage that is supposed to be non-square pixels (e.g. PAL standard def’ 720×576) will look squashed if opened in QT because the QT player just displays everything as square pixels. Only set the comp to square pixels if it will be delivered that way, otherwise you’re rendering extra pixels to bump up the comp size to the proper aspect ratio. Hope that made sense…
Simon Bonner
youtube.com/simonsaysfx
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It sounds like you might need to toggle the pixel aspect ratio correction button. It’s situated towards the bottom right of the comp panel and looks like a rectangle with an arrow on top. If you’re working on a non-square pixel comp, toggling the button off will show you the comp in square pixels and toggling it on will show you the comp in non-square pixels – how it will appear on a tv.
If this doesn’t solve the issue, please describe what kind of comp you’re working on – hit ctrl+k to show the settings.
Simon Bonner
youtube.com/simonsaysfx
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Ok, I’ll try to go through it step by step.
1: Put your puppet points into the man, including one where you want the violin to be attached to the hand.
2: Add the violin layer to the comp. Use the pan behind tool (hit Y to select this tool. V will get you back to the selection tool later) to move the anchor point of the violin to the point where you want it to be attached to the hand. The neck? Rotate the violin so it is orientated how you want it.
3: Hit P with the violin layer selected to show the position property of the violin. Hold down Alt and click on the stopwatch next to the position property. Paste the code below into the box which opens in the timeline panel.L = thisComp.layer(“puppet layer”);
L.toWorld(L.effect(“Puppet”).arap.mesh(“Mesh 1”).deform(“Puppet Pin 1”).position)4: Replace “puppet layer” with the name of the man layer: the layer you’ve used the puppet tool on.
5: Make sure the code refers to the correct mesh and puppet pin number.
6: Hit enter on the numpad to confirm the expression. The violin should now be attached to the pin, and will move when the pin moves.Simon Bonner
youtube.com/simonsaysfx
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Well, that depends what you mean. AE has some 3D capabilties. You can place layers in 3D space (hitting the 3D switch for the layer in the timeline panel) and move a camera around them. The layers will still be flat, though. Some effects, such as particle effects or the shatter effect, are in true 3D, so search for more info on these if that’s what you want to do. To make text or other vector graphics extruded and 3D-like you can either use a 3rd party plugin from the likes of Zaxwerks or use one of the several tricks that are out there. You might also want to look up vanishing point if you have CS3 or above.
However, if you want to create ‘real’ 3D you will be better off using a programme like Cinema 4D, 3Ds Max or the free Blender.
It’s quite a big topic and to go into it all in detail would take too long, really. But hopefully this will give you an idea of the sort of things of which AE is (and is not) capable.
Simon Bonner
youtube.com/simonsaysFX -
Hi Steve,
I think this previous post by Dan Ebberts will help you.
Simon Bonner
youtube.com/simonsaysFX -
That’s normal. Lossless is, well, lossless. It’s uncompressed. The file you imported is likely to be compressed – is it mpeg or something like that?
If you’re planning to do more editing etc with the footage you’ve rendered out, it’s a good idea to render it out lossless (or use photo jpeg at best settings). That way you won’t be compressing over and over. Or, if your render is intended to be a final render, use a compressed codec like h.264, mpeg or divx.
Simon Bonner
youtube.com/simonsaysFX -
Hi Gabrielle,
You should be able to work on other programmes when AE is rendering the preview (though your machine will inevitably become a bit sluggish). You can also set your ram preview options to render at a lesser frame rate or resolution to speed things up a bit.
Simon Bonner
youtube.com/simonsaysFX -
This sounds like an interlacing issue rather than a keylight issue. Search for interlacing and deinterlacing.
Simon Bonner
youtube.com/simonsaysFX