10 Building the Final Animation At this point, you bring everything together in one overall project, and your careful organization really pays off. Find- ing the files you need is much easier because you’ve thought ahead and taken the time to keep your file structure logical and tidy—setting a good example for when you go on to create even larger and more complex After Effects projects of your own. AE_CIB.book Page 307 Monday, October 8, 2001 12:08 PM LESSON 10 308 Building the Final Animation In this lesson, you’ll learn to do the following: • Import After Effects projects • Organize the Project window with multiple imported projects • Apply a track matte • Work with the Spherize, Lens Flare, and Bevel Alpha effects • Add a light to a composition and animate it • Place items in compositions at specific points in time • Rotoscope an image, using the mask tools • Create a realistic reflection layer You continue compositing both 2D and 3D layers in a final composition to complete the animation. You’ll start by building a reflection that you’ll position on the glowing ball and add a light burst to it. Then, after making a number of adjustments and creating a some new layers, you’ll import, place, and set properties for the final image files, which come together as the final scene, showing the client’s logo. Then you’ll be completely finished building the visuals and ready to render your final animation—which you’ll do in Lesson 11. This lesson takes approximately an hour and a half to complete. Getting started Make sure that the following files are in the AE_CIB job folder on your hard drive, or copy them from the After Effects Classroom in a Book CD now. • In the _psd folder: A.psd, R.psd, and Adobe.psd • In the Sample_Movies folder: FinalComposite_final.mov from the Sample_Movies/Lesson10 folder on the CD • In the Finished_Projects folder: FinalComposite10_finished.aep This lesson also uses several files you created in earlier lessons. Make sure that the following files are also stored in the appropriate folders in your AE_CIB job folder: • In the _aep folder: 2DComposite07_work.aep and 3DComposite09_work.aep • In the _mov folder: 3DHexagons.mov, 3DHexLines.mov, LensFlare.mov, and Squares01.mov AE_CIB.book Page 308 Monday, October 8, 2001 12:08 PM 309 ADOBE AFTER EFFECTS 5.0 Classroom in a Book Open and play the sample movie FinalComposite_final.mov, to see the work you’ll complete in this lesson. When you finish, quit the QuickTime player. You can delete the sample movie now to save storage space, if necessary. Begin by creating a new project. 1 Start After Effects 5.0, if it is not already open. 2 Choose File > New > New Project. 3 Choose File > Save As. 4 In the Save Project As dialog box, find and open the _aep folder in the AE_CIB job folder you created earlier. 5 In File Name, type FinalComposite10_work.aep and click Save. Importing the source files You start by importing all your source files, including two After Effects projects. 1 Choose File > Import > Multiple Files. 2 Locate the _mov folder inside your AE_CIB job folder and individually select and import the following movie files that you built in earlier lessons: • 3DHexagons.mov • 3DHexLines.mov • LensFlare.mov • Squares01.mov 3 Locate the _psd folder and import each of the following Photoshop files. Each time the Interpret Footage dialog box appears, be sure that the Straight – Unmatted option is selected, and then click OK. • A.psd • Adobe.psd • R.psd 4 Locate the _aep folder and import each of the following After Effects project files: • 2DComposite07_work.aep • 3DComposite09_work.aep AE_CIB.book Page 309 Monday, October 8, 2001 12:08 PM LESSON 10 310 Building the Final Animation 5 Click Done to close the Import Multiple Files dialog box. The two After Effects projects you imported appear as folders in the Project window. Inside, you’ll find all the compositions and source files you used when you created these projects. You’ll reuse some of these source files to create new images in the final composite. Organizing the Project window The number of items in your Project window is larger than any previous project in these lessons. Keeping the window logically and efficiently arranged makes your work faster and easier, so it’s well worth the small effort required to do this. 1 Choose File > New > New Folder to create a new folder in the Project window, and then type mov files as the folder name, and press Enter or Return. 2 Drag the 3DHexagons.mov, 3DHexLines.mov, LensFlare.mov, and Squares01.mov files into the mov files folder. Click the arrow to the left of the folder to expand it so that these files inside are visible. 3 Create two more folders, and type psd files to name the first one and aep files to name the second one. 4 Drag the A.psd, R.psd, and Adobe.psd files into the psd files folder. 5 Drag the 3DComposite09_work.aep and 2DComposite07_work.aep folders into the aep files folder. 6 Click the arrows next to the folders to expand them so that you can see the folder contents. AE_CIB.book Page 310 Monday, October 8, 2001 12:08 PM 311 ADOBE AFTER EFFECTS 5.0 Classroom in a Book 7 In the aep files folder, expand each of the project folders. All the compositions and source files you used in these projects are stored within these folders. Leave them organized as they are. 8 To save space in the Project window, close all the folders. Now all the files you need for this project are imported and you have a well-organized Project window. Note: Leaving the original source files nested under the two imported projects helps you keep track of which files are associated with the different projects. The location of these file refer- ences in the Project window does not affect what happens in your compositions. AE_CIB.book Page 311 Monday, October 8, 2001 12:08 PM LESSON 10 312 Building the Final Animation Creating the glowing-ball reflection In this section, you’ll build a reflection element and apply it to the glowing ball that the actress appears to hold in her hands. This reflection of the composition image helps to convey a more believable impression of the ball shape, as if it were a three-dimensional sphere with a mirror finish. Then you’ll add a light burst to the reflection, to give it another realistic touch. Duplicating to create a new composition Yo u’ll create the reflection image by making a few adjustments to a duplicate of the 3D Composite Comp that you built in Lessons 8 and 9. 1 In the Project window, expand the aep files folder and the 3DComposite09_work.aep folder, and then select the 3D Composite Comp. 2 Press Ctrl + D (Windows) or Command + D (Mac OS) to duplicate the composition. 3 Select the duplicate (named 3D Composite Comp*) and press Ctrl + K (Windows) or Command + K (Mac OS) to open the Composition Settings dialog box. 4 In Composition Name, type Reflection Comp. Leave all other settings as they are, and click OK. AE_CIB.book Page 312 Monday, October 8, 2001 12:08 PM 313 ADOBE AFTER EFFECTS 5.0 Classroom in a Book 5 In the Project window, drag the Reflection Comp to the top level of the Project window hierarchy. You duplicated the composition as an easy way of re-creating the camera layer and its movement, which is governed by the null object. Adding and removing files from a composition You can delete the layers you don’t use from the duplicated composition and add other files that you need for the design. Then, you’ll place another movie of the same scene, which will become a reflection in the surface of the glowing-ball element. 1 In the Project window, double-click the Reflection Comp to open it in the Compo- sition and Timeline windows, and make sure that the current-time marker is at 0:00. 2 Select and delete all the layers in the composition except the Camera 1 layer and the Null 1 layer so that only these two layers remain in the composition. 3 In the Project window, expand the 3DComposite09_work.aep folder and its nested _mov folder to find the 3DComposite.mov. Drag this movie into the Timeline window so that it is Layer 1 in the layer stack. 4 Select the 3DComposite.mov layer and choose Edit > Duplicate. AE_CIB.book Page 313 Monday, October 8, 2001 12:08 PM LESSON 10 314 Building the Final Animation 5 Press Enter or Return and type Reflection to rename Layer 1. Then press Enter or Return again. 6 Move the current-time marker to 3:21, select Layer 1, and press [ (left bracket) to set the In point at this frame. Drawing a mask You now mask the reflection layer to create a circular shape for the image. Then, when you place the reflection above the glowing-ball image in the composite, the reflection matches the glowing ball and appears to be coming from the surface of the ball. 1 In the Tools palette, select the oval mask tool. Make sure that the Reflection layer is still selected in the Timeline window. AE_CIB.book Page 314 Monday, October 8, 2001 12:08 PM 315 ADOBE AFTER EFFECTS 5.0 Classroom in a Book 2 Move the tool to the center of the Composition window. Start to drag and then press Ctrl + Shift (Windows) or Command + Shift (Mac OS) to draw a circle from the center, making the circle slightly smaller than the height of the composition frame. 3 In the Tools palette, select the selection tool (). 4 With the Reflection layer selected, press F to reveal the Mask Feather property in the Timeline window. 5 Scrub or type 20 to create a 20-pixel feather, softening the edge of the mask. Setting transform properties for the Reflection layer You placed the second (reflection) version of the 3DComposite.mov on top of the original layer so that it appears as a reflection on the glowing ball, and then you masked it to the appropriate shape. The reflection layer needs just a few more adjustments. 1 With the Reflection layer selected, click the 3D Layer switch () to make it a 3D layer, and make sure that the Active Camera view is selected. The yellow mask circle moves partly out of view in the upper left corner of the composition frame. 2 Press S to reveal the Reflection layer Scale property, and set the Scale value to 1.4%. 3 Press P to reveal the Position property, and scrub or type 383.3, 291.9, 932.3 as the Position coordinates. The mask now moves back into view. Note: Precision is important here, so that the reflection element exactly matches the position of the glowing ball. AE_CIB.book Page 315 Monday, October 8, 2001 12:08 PM LESSON 10 316 Building the Final Animation 4 Press R to reveal Rotation and Orientation properties. For the Orientation values, scrub or type 35˚, 20˚, 0˚. In the Composition window, small yellow handles show the layer position in the actress’s hands. The second image of the girl is visible as a ghost image inside the glowing ball. 5 Move the current-time marker to 5:00, and press T to reveal the Opacity property for the Reflection layer. Scrub or type 0% as the Opacity value, and set a keyframe. 6 Move the current-time marker to 6:00 and change the Opacity value to 60% so that a second keyframe appears. Press T to hide the Opacity property, and save the project. If you preview the composition, you’ll see the reflection on the glowing ball. However, it looks as if it were reflected from a flat mirror rather than from a spherical surface, so it needs a little more work. Applying effects to the Reflection layer Now you add three effects and make a few final adjustments to this layer to give it a ball- shaped appearance. 1 Move the current-time marker to about 9:00 so that you can see the results as you work. 2 Select the Reflection layer and choose Effect > Distort > Spherize. 3 In the Effect Controls window, under Spherize, scrub or type 250 as the Radius value. Leave the Center of Sphere at its default position. The image appears warped, as if it is wrapped around a sphere. 4 Choose Effect > Render > PS+Lens Flare. 5 In the Lens Flare options dialog box, enter the following: • In Brightness, drag the slider or type 116%. • In Lens type, select 35mm prime, and then click OK. AE_CIB.book Page 316 Monday, October 8, 2001 12:08 PM [...]... element, which is already in the composition You use one of the After Effects perspective effects to add texture to the HexOutlines.mov 1 In the Timeline window, select HexOutlines.mov and drag it above 3DComposite_ball.mov in the layer stack Leave the HexOutlines layer selected AE_CIB.book Page 329 Monday, October 8, 2001 12:08 PM ADOBE AFTER EFFECTS 5.0 329 Classroom in a Book It may be helpful to widen... composition tab), and save the project For more information about track mattes, see “Creating track mattes and traveling mattes” and related subtopics in After Effects online Help AE_CIB.book Page 321 Monday, October 8, 2001 12:08 PM ADOBE AFTER EFFECTS 5.0 321 Classroom in a Book Combining the LightBurst and Reflection compositions Next you add the Light Burst Comp to the Reflection Comp, creating...AE_CIB.book Page 317 Monday, October 8, 2001 12:08 PM ADOBE AFTER EFFECTS 5.0 317 Classroom in a Book 6 In the Effect Controls window, under PS+Lens Flare, make sure that Flare Center is at 288, 216 and that Blend with Original is at 0% A lens flare appears on the... all the layer properties Then deselect all the layers 8 With the current-time marker at 5:00, press B to set the beginning of the work area AE_CIB.book Page 323 Monday, October 8, 2001 12:08 PM ADOBE AFTER EFFECTS 5.0 323 Classroom in a Book 9 Move the current-time marker to 9:00 and press N to set the end of the work area 10 Preview the animation and save the project The first expression makes the... Project window, and drag it into the mov files folder You can double-click the movie to play it When you are ready to continue, close the player AE_CIB.book Page 325 Monday, October 8, 2001 12:08 PM ADOBE AFTER EFFECTS 5.0 325 Classroom in a Book Building the final composition Now you can begin building the final composition Using the composition that you built in Lesson 7 as a starting point, you add other... box, type 3DComp_still.psd as the filename and save it in the _psd folder inside the AE_CIB job folder The item appears in the Render Queue AE_CIB.book Page 327 Monday, October 8, 2001 12:08 PM ADOBE AFTER EFFECTS 5.0 327 Classroom in a Book 5 In Render Settings, select Best Settings 6 In Output Module, select Custom 7 In the Output Module Settings dialog box, set the following: • In Format, select... Also in the Project window, expand the 2DComposite07_work.aep folder and then expand the mov files folder inside it to find the LightRays.mov AE_CIB.book Page 319 Monday, October 8, 2001 12:08 PM ADOBE AFTER EFFECTS 5.0 319 Classroom in a Book 4 Drag the LightRays.mov into the Timeline window, positioning it as Layer 1, above the LensFlare.mov The Composition window is now entirely black 5 Move the current-time... the Timeline window, move the current-time marker to 7:07, and select the 3DComposite_ball.mov layer 2 Choose Layer > Enable Time Remapping AE_CIB.book Page 331 Monday, October 8, 2001 12:08 PM ADOBE AFTER EFFECTS 5.0 331 Classroom in a Book 3 In the Timeline window, expand the 3DComposite_ball.mov layer to see the Time Remap category Two Time Remap keyframes are already in place, indicating the start... select Color Dodge transfer mode to create a dark glow for the movie You’ll use the In/Out/Stretch panel again soon, so leave it open for now AE_CIB.book Page 333 Monday, October 8, 2001 12:08 PM ADOBE AFTER EFFECTS 5.0 333 Classroom in a Book Adding transformations to the second set of numbers In this task, you’ll use a different dialog box to set Scale values for the numbers, distorting their appearance... starburst 2 Press P to reveal the Position property, and scrub or type 180, 270 so that the layer moves to the left of the composition frame AE_CIB.book Page 335 Monday, October 8, 2001 12:08 PM ADOBE AFTER EFFECTS 5.0 335 Classroom in a Book 3 Press T to reveal the Opacity property Scrub or type 0%, and click the stopwatch to set an Opacity keyframe 4 Move the current-time marker to 2:08 and change . traveling mattes” and related subtopics in After Effects online Help. AE_CIB.book Page 320 Monday, October 8, 2001 12:08 PM 321 ADOBE AFTER EFFECTS 5. 0 Classroom in a Book Combining the LightBurst. selected in the Timeline window. AE_CIB.book Page 314 Monday, October 8, 2001 12:08 PM 3 15 ADOBE AFTER EFFECTS 5. 0 Classroom in a Book 2 Move the tool to the center of the Composition window. Start. slider or type 116%. • In Lens type, select 35mm prime, and then click OK. AE_CIB.book Page 316 Monday, October 8, 2001 12:08 PM 317 ADOBE AFTER EFFECTS 5. 0 Classroom in a Book 6 In the Effect Controls