[Trevor Gent]

Not sure if this is what your after but check out “The Blueprints.com” they have a few setup tutorials there.

Trev

[Trevor Gent]

Whoah Sweet! Does he “transform”?

[Trevor Gent]

As far as 3d programs go everyone has their favs and some are better for certain tasks. I tried Maya for a bit and although I got some terrific results I just didn’t have the time to really dive into it. Cinema 4d is very intuitive and you can get great results without spending a year locked in your room. I also hear great things about Blender, it’s a free/ open source 3d App that a lot of people swear by. There is also RealFLow which specializes in fluid simulations ( as well as particles and dynamics).

Back to Ae…:) for the highlights, I would use a white or light colored solid, mask out the shape you want, feather it then switch the transfer mode to Add or Screen or the like, then parent it to your “color” layer and animate it. Same sort of idea for the Shadows. There is a great tutorial on Video Copilot called “The Ring” or something like that. Andrew Kramer has got some great tips and tricks in there for making a 2d object look 3d using masks to make highlights and shadows.

For the drips you could try a particle generator. CC particle world might do the trick depending on the level of realism you want. Or you could look into Trapcode Particular which lets you use custom layers as particles that you can make into anything you want ( even animate them ) This might be the way to go for a lot of what you’re trying to achieve.

For the Mr Mercury idea I would again apply a mask to the layer in the shape you want the paint to eventually create then play around with the effect settings. Birth and Death sizes should give the effect of smaller blobs coming together and filling in to make a solid shape.

I’ve emptied my head of any ideas I have. I’m sure there are a lot more!
Best of luck!

Trev

[Trevor Gent]

If you are going for something realistic looking and/or you want to animate it. ( Move it around, rotate it whatever) I’d suggest looking into a 3d program. You could check out Blender ( free! ) Ive never used it but I hear its gaining popularity and some folks swear its as good or better than some retail 3d packages. Or you could check out Zaxwerks 3d invigorator plugin. Also, If youre not looking for something “photoreal” but still has some 3d depth you could try monkeying with cc sphere or cylinder and some deformed layers but I think it would be less of a headache to go for one of the many 3d programs out there.

Good luck!

Trev

[Trevor Gent]

What kind of hat?

[Trevor Gent]

Hey Seb,

This is one of those “not just one way around it” kind of deals.It probably depends on the look you are going for ( photo-real/ “catoonish”…)

You might try messing around with CC Mr Mercury if you want “blobby” looking stuff.

There are probably a few retail plugins that would do this and a 3d package sure would help.

Personally I would go for animated masks. Just keyframe the heck out of them until you get the look you want.
I would go for one masked layer for color and then add more layers with different blend modes for highlights and shadows ect.. Then add more layers for splatters etc.. Maybe try to find a photo of splashed paint and try to ape it.

Its probably the most tedious way to do it but I cant think of anything that would give you more control over the final look as you can animate the masks into any shape you want and make adjustments.

(Unless yeah, you get a 3d app or Particle/Dynamics simulator.)

Cheers

Trev

[Trevor Gent]

Hey Mark,

You could try twirling down the layer settings for the corridor layers and go to material options then find “accepts lights” and check it as “no”. You will probably then have to adjust the color of the layers to better suit the lighting.

Another thing you could try is using spot lights as you can actually aim them so theyre just affecting the room itself and you could even have some of the light “bleed out” into the hallway for a more natural look.

Just a few suggestions.

Cheers

[Trevor Gent]

Hey Mark,

In your timeline window there should be a little empty tick box next to your pre-comped layer ( look for the thing that looks like a small “sun”) It’s the “collapse tranformation” switch. Check that baby and you’re “3Dness” should return.

Cheers

Trev

[Trevor Gent]

Figured it.

I’m using a symmetry object and did not know that this must be shut off AS WELL as the Hypernurbs object in order to use the wieght tool properly.

Thanks anyway!

[Trevor Gent]

Grinner and Scott,

Thank you so much for your input.

It really helps to know just what a great community we have here and that there are folks out there that are willing to take the time to help out.

I’ll be sure to post here again the next time I have a question that is gnawing away at me!

Thanks again. I truly appreciate it.

-Trevor