After Effects Workshop 2

In this lesson workshop we focused on using files from Photoshop and Illustrator in After Effects.

A new Photoshop file should be set up in:
Preset-Film & Video
Size-PAL Widescreen square pixel
and then you can choose to show action/title guides

One way to use Photoshop...
-crop type - fit in guide box
-transparent background
-save with layers box ticked (so then you can still use in AE)
and as Photoshop file (psd)

To put into AE - File-Import-File-Import as footage
-merged layer (this creates one layer)
-drag the layer from the project box into the composition box - this means it will automatically be placed in the centre.

Another way in Photoshop
-type rasterize then create separate layers for each letter
save with layers box ticked
AE- Import-File-Import as-composition
-double click in project file to open as composition

For using illustrator files save file as PAL widescreen - don't need square pixels as Illustrator works in vectors.
Import as footage - one layer
keep rasterize button checked on this layer and it will keep quality on all frames no matter how big it is scaled to.

In Photoshop - to create large text without loosing quality canvas size (2000x2000)
- this still has action guides to show size (in centre)

Having seperate layers from one file still means they have the same anchor point
-to have their own anchor point - when importing file, choose import as - comp retain layer sizes

Storyboarding with Fred 2

Here are some storyboard ideas I came up with for my words:

Compress:

 

Crunch:

Disperse:

Flip Book Workshop with Lorraine

 

 Here is one of my own ideas for the word 'Crunch'. The key frames show the letters coming on screen one by one and as they reach the previous letter they crunch into it which causes it to crack and particles to break off:

 

Storyboarding with Fred

Research different things that you can do in After Effects
Storyboarding before working in After Effects
-work appropriately for design for screen

Moving things in and out of the frame - moving compositions (A to B)
Play around - keep it simple and engaging (twist/appear/move on frame/speed/zoom in/out)
Illusion - scenes of static images (3D appearance yet still 2D)

Storyboarding allows you to get your ideas across:
-brainstorm
-communicate ideas
-thumbnails
-jotting down ideas quickly
-comic Strip

Can make decisions before working on computer
Re-organise easily and finalise ideas
Be thorough
Screen grab/screen shot/screen capture for use in crits and on Blogs

 Taking into consideration, choosing the right type to represent each word, here are a few type examples that I chose. I printed them off in upper/lower case and in different styles so I could use them to trace from when creating my own storyboards:

Crunch ideas:

Disperse Ideas:

Compress Ideas:

Dictionary References for my 3 words

Crunch:
-to crush with teeth, chew with a crunching noise
-to crunch or grind nosily
-to tighten or squeeze financially
-to chew something with a crushing sound
-a shortage or reduction of something needed or wanted ' the energy crunch'
-credit crunch
-a critical or dangerous situation
-craunch, crush
-to make or cause to make a crisp or brittle sound 'the snow crunched beneath his feet'
-abdominal crunch - sport
-cruncth time
-emergency


Disperse:
-to drive or send off in various directions
-scatter - disperse a crowd
-to spread widely
-to dispel - cause something to vanish - 'the wind dispersed the fog' - blown away
-to cause particles to seperate uniformly throughout a solid, liquid or gas
=break up
-disappear
-dissolve
-intersperse
-spray
-span
-shatter
(An AE called pixel folly)

Compress:
-to press together
-force into less space
-cuase to become a solid mass
-to condense, shorten, abbreviate
-squeeze
-constrict
-contract - draw particles together (muscles)
-pull together
-shrink
-bind
-tighten
-crush
-densen
-narrow
-pack
-ram

First Attempt in After Effects

 Within this first attempt at creating a piece of motion graphics in After Effects, I created three layers with solid shapes of different colours of pink. I first the 3 shapes arranged in a line next to eachother, but I then decided to create a transformation for each shape coming into the frame, I did this by changing the position properties, and the shapes move in circular paths into the frame and then back out.



First attempt in After Effects from Kirsty Hair on Vimeo.

Mac Suite Workshop with Mike - Adobe After Effects

When starting a new project you can change the type of workspace of the After Effects programme (such as to 'Animation' - if that is what I am doing) and these change the panels, but for the session we used 'Standard' workspace.
Add panels using: Windows - Additional Panels
And if I close one on accident go to  Windows-Workspace-reset ''Standard''
After Effects-Preferences-Appearance - can change the brightness of the workspace
The yellow box in each panel shows which is the active panel - so it is improtant to make sure the correct one is selected.

Must contain a composition - this should be set up in PAL format:
-PAL widescreen square pixel - for Graphics and photoshop (this is what we are using for 'Silent Movie')
-PAL widescreen - for Video

-Frame rate:should be set to 25 frames per second
-Resolution: full
-Duration - 0:00:05:00 - this means 5 seconds  (hours, minutes, seconds, frames)
-Can also choose a background colour
Composition-Settings - can change the duration and background colour at any time.

Create a shape:
Layer-New-Solid - choose colour and size (width/height)
-can make the box smaller to change the length of time and also when it appears/disappears

The box with the arrow point from the bottom right corner to the top left corner on the keyboard take you back to the first frame.
You can play the composition using the space bar but it is better to use the RAM preview button to give the correct pace of the composition.
There is a bar at the top of the timeline with yellow tabs on either side, which shows the workspace, this can be changed by dragging these yellow tabs so only a section is played in the preview.

An arrow on the layer bar allows you to see the properties of each layer, these are in categories and this is were you can create transformations/effects for you shapes
Click on the transform arrow and 5 layer properties will be shown
The anchor point is the point of which the layer scales and rotates
Rotation 0x + 0.0    - the 0x shows the number of full revoluions and the 0.0 shows the degree angle

Createing transformations:
Next to these properties is a button that looks like a stopwatch - this can be used to animate the layer using key frames. If you click the  stopwatch a diamond shape appears on the timeline, to signify a key frame. You can then move the timeline to how long you want the transformation to happen - then drag the shape to another position and another 'key frame diamond' appears
The anchor points can be changed to shape the 'path' of the movement, and create a smooth curve
Key frames can be copied and pasted, for say if you wanted to reverse the transformation within the composition

Keyboard Shortcuts:
a - anchor
p - position
s - scale
r - rotation
t - opacity
i and o - the out and in points of the layer
u - reveals all properties that have been used 'key frames'
b - sets the beginning of the work area
n - sets the end of the work area


Converting the file before uploading to Vimeo:
Go to 'composition - 'add to render queue'

Best settings - here you can change the time span, from the whole composition or just the work area
Lossless - format - video codec 'H.264'
Output: Save as Quiktime
Then click Render, the file will then be saved and ready for Vimeo.