[Tim Boknecht]

This response helped me determine why my own mask handles had mysteriously disappeared: The RotoBezier had been enabled.

Trouble is, it’s enabled…and grayed out. I can’t access it to uncheck it. WTF?

Help?

Tim Boknecht
Media Producer
Bravo Productions

[Tim Boknecht]

Thanks, Dan The Expressions Man. I checked it out – apparently it’s just for 2D physics, but WOW!

I’m guessing the best solution might be to set up a camera, drop a flat object with markers on the corners and use them for tracking data.

Appreciate your time!
TB

[Tim Boknecht]

Thanks to all for your answers!

Chris, why do you spin them up your externals every so often? The context leads me to believe this is important somehow…

Tim Boknecht
Media Producer
Bravo Productions

[Tim Boknecht]

Kept researching while waiting for an answer. Found the solution at Video Copilot (Andrew Kramer rocks). Posting here for future seekers.

Pretty easy, actually. Just create a slider and name it “Control”, then paste the expression below to the position property of each 3D layer you want to affect.

Brilliant!

value+[0,0,index*thisComp.layer("Control").effect("Slider Control")("Slider")]

Tim Boknecht
Media Producer
Bravo Productions

[Tim Boknecht]

Thanks, Dan. While I appreciate all the work Ebberts has done to demystify the subject, I’m looking for an actual COURSE designed to take someone from expressions nube to at least an intermediate user.

I’m not done searching, yet, but right now the best I’ve found is https://jjgifford.com/expressions/basics/index.html

I’m still open to suggestions.

Tim Boknecht
Media Producer
Bravo Productions

[Tim Boknecht]

I’m currently researching a way to do pretty much the same thing. Did this suggestion work for you? If not, can you tell us what worked for you?

Tim Boknecht
Media Producer
Bravo Productions

[Tim Boknecht]

Thanks, I checked it out. The tip at the bottom of the page for centering the view does just that…and only that. It doesn’t actually change the anchor point for rotation.

I’ve given up. Adobe just needs to do a lot more work incorporating this functionality, not to mention opening up the formats to beyond just 3DS.

Tim Boknecht
Media Producer
Bravo Productions

[Tim Boknecht]

Actually, the anchor point of the controlling null that’s created when you import a 3DS PSD into AE doesn’t have any effect. I can change it all day to no avail. It appears AE creates 13 expressions for Photoshop Live 3D layers. I’ve done some playing around…again, to no avail.

Tim Boknecht
Media Producer
Bravo Productions

[Tim Boknecht]

Well, Maxon is clearly not the player Adobe is when it comes to all forms of media production. They don’t have the market share. Adobe’s acquisitions of other companies (and therefor software) demonstrates their vision is to be a major player in practically all forms of media production and consumption.

Given that, it only makes sense that they also develop a 3D modeling program – especially since ALL the major players in that arena were bought up by Autodesk. Now if you want to enter that game you have to pay a minimum $3500 ticket price. Adobe could develop a program and bundle it for a smaller price and destroy Autodesk in market share in short order.

They already bifurcated Media Encoder with the release of CS4. Why not just sell it independently as well and pad the bottomline?

Tim Boknecht
Media Producer
Bravo Productions

[Tim Boknecht]

Ah, but it would be extremely helpful if Adobe sold Media Encoder as a standalone program. For instance, master control operations in small to medium stations often need to flip problematic electronic media files to the proper format or running time for their station. Say a spot comes in from another station in town that for whatever reason can’t seem to make a :30 that’s not longer than :30, plus the format is all jacked up. Instead of having someone in the creative services department run the spot through media encoder, the master control guys could have their own standalone license and do it themselves.

Makes sense, no? So why hasn’t Adobe done it? Probably the same reason they update flash player every 3 seconds but still haven’t developed a true 3D modeling program; they’re not as forward-sighted as they should be.

Tim Boknecht
Media Producer
Bravo Productions