Simon Bonner
Forum Replies Created
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h.264 is the current codec of choice for high compression but decent quality. Install the newest quicktime to make use of it. But a 50min video is always going to be large. Your raw video is likely to be hugely compressed. All consumer cameras compress video heavily, or the amount of footage wouldn’t fit on the disc. This is why renders might not look so good: you’re compressing already compressed video, which is a recipe for poor quality.
The titles shouldn’t increase file size so much. Your audio might be a problem though – if your video codec is compressed but your audio one isn’t, a very large proportion of the final file size could be down to the audio.
Also, if you’re planning on uploading the video to youtube or some other website, you might consider outputting to 320×240 instead.
Simon Bonner
youtube.com/simonsaysFX -
Is there a mask around this ‘stencil’ (a solid layer with a rectangular mask on it)? If so, set the expansion property on the mask up a couple of pixels and the black line should disappear.
I think you’re also using the cc pageturn effect – you may want to specify a different colour for the back of the layer (white?) so it isn’t the same colour as the paint. Just an idea.
Simon Bonner
youtube.com/simonsaysFX -
Hi,
I have this book, and you will be fine with it. Obviously it doesn’t cover the features that were new to CS3 (the puppet/starch tool, shape layers, brainstorming), but you can find more than enough info on these new features on the web. For example, Aharon’s tutorials from about a year ago in the AE podcast section here at the Cow deal with a lot of these concepts.
Of course, CS3 has all the things that 7.0 does (and a practically identical user interface), so if you’re learning the programme from scratch the book will be a great help.
I can’t recall if the included disc has project files, but CS3 converts 7.0 files to the new format so you would be able to use these.
Simon Bonner
youtube.com/simonsaysFX -
It will be a lot of work if the track is off in every frame. Some footage is just very difficult to track. You only need to change the position of the cross (the actual position of the track) though, not the boxes around it. They’ll move along with the cross.
Another trick might be to track different parts of the footage and then parent the tracks together (see the videocopilot.net tutorial on “set extensions” to see how to do this). This can be a useful technique if a track point is a good candidate at the start of the track, but is obscured halfway through or disappears off screen, at which point it can be replaced with another track point.
Simon Bonner
youtube.com/simonsaysFX -
This may or may not work, but you might want to check out Maltaannon’s tutorial on removing watermarks. I haven’t watched it for a while, but it came to mind when reading about your problem.
Simon Bonner
youtube.com/simonsaysFX -
If the video has a lot of motion, be sure to expand the size of the outer ‘square’ of your tracking point. This square signifies the area the tracker uses to search for the track point frame to frame. The bigger the area the slower the tracking – but if the video moves a lot, you may need it to be bigger.
If all else fails, use the page up/down keys to identify badly tracked frames and use the cursor key to manually correct tracking.
Simon Bonner
youtube.com/simonsaysFX -
Try parenting the camera to the moving layer and then keyframing the camera’s zoom or z-position property.
Simon Bonner
youtube.com/simonsaysFX -
Are you using compressed audio (e.g. mp3)? AE has problems with compressed audio, so if you are using these formats, it’s best to switch to something like an uncompressed wav. It might even be better to avoid audio in AE altogether and add it using another programme.
Simon Bonner
youtube.com/simonsaysFX -
1: Add the comp to the render queue
2: Click on the link to the right of the output module (Lossless by default).
3: In the Output Module Settings dialogue, click on the topmost dropdown menu (format) and choose png sequence.
4: Change the Channels drop down menu from RGB to RGB + Alpha. In case you don’t know, the alpha channel is where the transparency info is kept.
5: Render and you’re done.I see you want to export a targa sequence. I don’t know if this works as I normally just use png, so feel free to try this with targa.
Simon Bonner
youtube.com/simonsaysFX -
Maltaannon.com has a tutorial on using the fractal noise effect to make a loopable, organic animation like this. It’s an older tutorial, so scroll down to find it.
Simon Bonner
youtube.com/simonsaysFX