Projection
Content Creation
USITT 2016
PDW
After Effects
“Photoshop on Steroids”
• Composition = Canvas
o ⌘N = Create new Comp
o ⌘K = Modify Comp
o ⌘R = Rulers
• Masking = Layer Mask
• Many of the same Tools
• Many of the same Effects
Workspace
• Import Files
o Images/Video/Audio
o Photoshop Files – as footage (flattens layers)
o Photoshop Files – as comp (preserves layers)
• Import Premiere Pro Project
o Can import FCP files as well (export as XML and
use Import/Pro Importer)
Playback in After Effects
• Space bar = Video only
• . = audio only
o (ctrl . on a laptop)
• 0 = audio and video
o (ctrl 0 on a laptop)
• * = make marker
o (ctrl * on a laptop)
Effects
• Choose an effect from the
effects/presets window
• Drag it onto a layer in the timeline
• Adjust the effect properties in the
Effect Control Window.
Example Effects from
Photoshop
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Hue/Saturation
Levels
Liquify
Smart Blur
Effects in Photoshop vs.
After Effects
• After Effects is NON-destructive in
applying effects.
• All effects can be animated.
• Effects can be applied to video
(rather than to just one frame)
Particle Effects
• Create a new solid (⌘Y)
• Select CC Particle Systems II and drag on to
the solid.
• Adjust the effect properties in the Effect
Control Window
o Birth rate – higher numbers, the more particles. Animate this to
start and end the particles.
o Longevity – how long the particles “live”
o Physics
o Particle Type
o Producer – animate this to move the particles around the screen.
Particle Effects: Flames
• CC Particle Systems II
• Effect Settings:
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Birth rate – high (~10)
Longevity – low (less than 1)
Physics - Fire
Particle Type – Motion Polygon
Color – Orange and Red
• Vector Blur
o Add this effect after CC Particle World
o Blur amount medium (~10)
Explosion Effects
• CC Scatterize
o Animate the scatterize amount
o Animate the twist
• Shatter Effect Settings:
o View – Rendered
o Shape – Glass, Brick, Custom
o Force 1 Radius
• Radius = 0, no shatter
• Radius > 0, shatter starts
• Grow Bounds
o Increase the bounds of the original layer
o Place as the effect before shatter.
Animating Time
• Time Remapping (⌘ ALT T)
o Animate each frame of time
o Can animate physics effect but must precompose the layer first.
• ⌘ SHIFT C = Pre-compose a layer.
• Choose Move all Attributes
Texture Effects
• Fractal Noise
o The basis of many pre-made backgrounds in
After Effects
• Effects/Animation
Presets/Backgrounds
Fractal Noise
• Create a new solid (⌘ Y)
• Fractal Noise Settings:
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o
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Fractal Type
Contrast
Transform – set the scale and rotation of the noise.
Turbulence
Evolution – the main method of animating fractal noise.
• Tint or Tritone
o Use this to add color to your noise.
Chroma Effects
• Colorama
o Snazzy
• Change to Color
o Use to change a single color or a range of colors
in an image (ala Pleasantville)
• Keylight
o Use to key out a color and leave it transparent.
o Does NOT work on white or black (use a luma
keyer or extract for white or black).
Keylight
• Screen color – pick the
eyedropper and select the
background color
• Screen Gain/Screen Balance –
adjust to try to remove more of
the background
• Screen Matte
o Clip Black/Clip White – adjust to remove the
rest of the background.
• Screen Shrink/Grow – Adjust to
trim edge
• Screen Softness– Adjust to
soften the edge
Masking
• Select a layer
• Draw a mask
• Animate the Mask
o Path
o Expansion
o Feather
Effects using Masking
• Stroke
o Apply to a layer with a mask
o Choose to animate Start or End Percent
• Lens Flare
o Masks can be used as position animation for
effects.
o Select the mask path
o Copy (⌘C)
o Click on Flare Center and paste (⌘V)
Drawing Shapes
• Deselect all layers
• Draw a shape (using the same
tools as masking)
• Animate the Shapes
Shapes
• Click on the shape
• In the Timeline click “add” and
choose the shape property to
animate.
Puppet
• Animate pick-points on a layer
• Edges are determined by
transparency of layer
• Refine in graph editor or with
The Smoother
Text & Masking
• Create Text
• Draw a path on the text layer
• Toggle open the text layer in the
timeline
o Choose the Path
o Animate First Margin
Text Presets
Animate per-character
Effects/Animation Presets/Text
Drag preset to text layer
Animation will start at the play
head.
• ⌘Z to undo
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Animating Text
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Toggle open text
Click “Add”
Choose a property to animate
Adjust the property
Animate the range selector or
offset
Matte
• Matte
o A layer that dictates transparency for the layer
underneath
• Cookie Analogy
o Matte – Cookie Cutter
o Image – Cookie Dough
Matte
• Mattes in After Effects
o Matte layer must be directly above matted layer.
o In the TrkMatte column for the matted layer
choose the type of matte you want to use.
Types of Mattes
• Luma Matte
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Luminance determines transparency
Black = Transparent
White = Opaque
Gray = somewhat transparent
• Alpha Matte
o Alpha channel determines transparency
Luma Matte
• Use images or video with high
contrast for luma mattes
• Use levels or curves on the matte
layer to improve the contrast.
Alpha Matte
• Use an image with an alpha
channel (such as PNGs, ProRes
4:4:4, PSD layers, AI files, etc.)
• Create an alpha channel
(masking, keying, rotoscoping,
etc.)
Rendering
• CTRL ⌘ M
• Click on “file location” to change
where to save to.
• Click on “lossless” to change the
render settings
Render Settings
• Format: The file format of the
finished render.
• Codec: The compressor/decoder
algorithm used to compress the
file.
Rendering Efficiency
• Templates – change the default
setting of the movie or image
render.
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o
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Edit/Templates/Output Module
Click “Create New”
Edit the settings and give your template a name
In the Movie Default drop down, pick your new
template.