[Todd Kopriva]

from After Effects Help:
“After Effects supports a maximum image size of 30,000×30,000 pixels for importing and rendering files, except for PICT (4,000×4,000 pixels) and BMP (16,000×30,000 pixels). The size of image that you can import or export is influenced by the amount of physical RAM available to After Effects. The maximum composition dimensions are also 30,000×30,000 pixels.”

That said, the image buffer that is needed for a layer that is 3D or has certain effects applied to it may be larger than the pixel dimensions of the layer itself.

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Todd Kopriva, Adobe Systems Incorporated
putting the ‘T’ back in ‘RTFM’ : After Effects Help on the Web
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[Todd Kopriva]

I think that Darby is spot-on.

Here’s an excerpt from the “Motion blur” section of After Effects Help:

“A Shutter Phase value that is -1/2 of the Shutter Angle value is best for a layer that is composited on top of another using motion tracking data. (For example, Shutter Phase = -90, Shutter Angle = 180.) This setting combination causes a blur that is centered on the original object.”

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Todd Kopriva, Adobe Systems Incorporated
putting the ‘T’ back in ‘RTFM’ : After Effects Help on the Web
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[Todd Kopriva]

This should be fixed in the After Effects CS4 (9.0.2) update.

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Todd Kopriva, Adobe Systems Incorporated
putting the ‘T’ back in ‘RTFM’ : After Effects Help on the Web
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[Todd Kopriva]

I have an extensive post on the update, which I announced in this thread.

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Todd Kopriva, Adobe Systems Incorporated
putting the ‘T’ back in ‘RTFM’ : After Effects Help on the Web
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[Todd Kopriva]

If I’m interpreting your screenshot and message right…

Try setting the blending mode to Alpha Add for these layers.

When the edges of a layer are anti-aliased, there’s some partial transparency at the edges. When two areas of 50% transparency overlap, the result is not 100% opacity but 75% opacity, because the default operation is multiplication. (50% of the light gets through one layer, and then 50% of _that_ gets through the next layer, so 25% gets through the system.) This is just like partial transparency in the real world.

But, you don’t want this default blending. You want the two 50% opacity areas to combine to make a seamless, opaque join. You want the alpha values to be added. Hence Alpha Add.

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Todd Kopriva, Adobe Systems Incorporated
putting the ‘T’ back in ‘RTFM’ : After Effects Help on the Web
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[Todd Kopriva]

There are some tips in the “Best practices for creating text and vector graphics for video” section of After Effects Help that might help, especially with regard to setting your vertical scroll speed correctly and avoiding overly sharp color transitions and overly fine details.

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Todd Kopriva, Adobe Systems Incorporated
putting the ‘T’ back in ‘RTFM’ : After Effects Help on the Web
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[Todd Kopriva]

The “period” key on the numeric keypad is a different key than the “period” key on the main keyboard. In fact, the one on the numeric keypad is more properly called the “decimal point” key. If you look at a laptop keyboard that still has the numeric keypad overlaid onto the main keyboard, you’ll see that both symbols (which are visually identical) are represented, side by side.

The MacBook Pro has no numeric keypad. None. Which means that you don’t have the decimal key.

If I had a MacBook Pro and an iPhone, I’d get that iPhone app that makes the iPhone into a numeric keypad. I’d also consider remapping a different key to this command using KeyEd Up.

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Todd Kopriva, Adobe Systems Incorporated
putting the ‘T’ back in ‘RTFM’ : After Effects Help on the Web
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[Todd Kopriva]

A match?

Seriously, it’s often easier to shoot something than it is to simulate it.

Or you could get free stock footage of flames. (I like Detonation Films for this purpose.)

There are some links to articles about making, using, and compositing fire in After Effects Help.

If you do need to simulate flames entirely from synthetic elements… well, I’ll let someone else do the heavy lifting on explaining that. I’ve never had the patience for it. And I like lighting things on fire in front of a camera.

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Todd Kopriva, Adobe Systems Incorporated
putting the ‘T’ back in ‘RTFM’ : After Effects Help on the Web
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[Todd Kopriva]

I just have to ask, since I’ve seen this mistake made before…

Are you certain that you’ve relocated the actual media cache to a different disk, as opposed to just relocating the media cache _database_ to a different disk?

(I’ve seen a couple of instances of someone setting one of these when they meant to set the other.)

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Todd Kopriva, Adobe Systems Incorporated
putting the ‘T’ back in ‘RTFM’ : After Effects Help on the Web
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[Todd Kopriva]

> I just heard that CS4 has a lot of bugs. is this true?

Several bugs were fixed in an update.

There’s another update coming very, very soon that addresses some more bugs and adds support for some new equipment (like the Core i7 processors).

Yes, I’m biased. But I do use After Effects CS4 for my personal projects, too. I greatly prefer it to After Effects CS3, which I of course have easy access to.

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Todd Kopriva, Adobe Systems Incorporated
putting the ‘T’ back in ‘RTFM’ : After Effects Help on the Web
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