[Tony Kloiber]

Tyler has your answer.
You can’t apply tracking data to a mask shape directly at this time. So add mask to solid and I would parent the solid to a null that has received the tracking info. This way the mask doesn’t jump to a new location when the tracking info is applied and you can make small adjustments while keeping the overall move.

I have the rant.
This is one of the things people have wanted for… well you add in the length of time that is a appropriate for you.

TonyTony

[Tony Kloiber]

[Zero Point] “disintegrate the people attacking him”

is a 3d model thing unless you shoot it as a practical effect. Shock waves come in all types but the xxx plug-in is one place to start. you could make a really big image in photoshop and scale in AE and some blur and camera shake and a few particles.

TonyTony

[Tony Kloiber]

Working with mask points is a little easier in the layer window. Click outside the mask then just one point. Also zooming in makes selecting easier.

TonyTony

[Tony Kloiber]

I think Dave covered it.

TonyTony

[Tony Kloiber]

Ok, No problem this is a three step solution.

1) Get Powerpoint.
2) Get a Powerpoint Monkey. (lots of them available from the corporate world)
3) Have the Monkey do it.

TonyTony

[Tony Kloiber]

If you have the option shoot a 30p. Work in your 720X540 NTSC comp and render. Even if you shot 24p the length of each shot in a commercial spot is so small you probably won’t have to sweat the milliseconds.

Partly it depends on the look you want, do it all at 24p and it will have that feel, do it all at 30f and it will have that feel. I’d agree with Alex that your biggest problem might be interlace artifacting when scaling and moving an element, but if your using HD in a SD comp those problems (if they happen) will be much smaller because you’ll be scaling down the element so much.

Shooting in a full (or non-compressed) color space would be the other thing to look out for. HDV is not HD it is better then DV for keying when you scale it down but it is still without color.

TonyTony

[Tony Kloiber]

If you can get mpeg 2 output that suits your needs from a AE render then your saved a step and some time but, most of the time I need a file that I can use in an edit and then that program gets mpeg compressed, so rendering to mpeg 2 from AE only comes up as a need (for me) if I were doing DVD menus.

When rendering DVD menus your usually taking about a 20~30 second clip and so the time to compress this in another step with another program is negligible.

TonyTony

[Tony Kloiber]

Does AE have the ability to fine tune your mpeg compression? I would think that most people would like the control of a program meant for mpeg compression. Render the file in whatever format you working with and drop it into a compression program.

TonyTony

[Tony Kloiber]

or duplicate the box layer remove the stroke effect and set to adjustment layer.

TonyTony

[Tony Kloiber]

Did you set keyframes for the postion of the box? Use them for the adjustment layer or, parent the adjustment layer to the box layer.

TonyTony