After effects lessons

Lesson 1 - Getting to know the Workflow.

We started with this task to teach us the basics of After effects. We learnt how to create compositions, arrange layers, add effects, importing and organising footage, rendering/outputting and some animation. When importing footage I could either Choose File > Import > File. Or I could drop the files into the project window from the finder windows. For this task I had 3 pieces of footage and 1 Photoshop file - this had to be imported as a composition instead of footage - I was given the option of footage or composition when importing. There was also an option to keep the layers editable or merge the layers into footage - for this I wanted the layers editable. I then created a composition. There are a few ways to create a composition, I dragged all our footage items and compositions into the Timeline panel and the New Composition From Selection box appeared. After effects then based the new composition dimensions on the footages we had selected. All of our footage is the same size, so we could accept the settings it had chosen. Now all of our footage was in the Timeline panel. Compositions can have lots of layers, these layers can include other compositions. I had to change the length of the composition to match the length of the dancers footage. I went into composition settings and changed the duration to 1:15. I then added a text layer to the bottom by placing it at the bottom of the timeline. I then selected the kaleidoscope layer and duplicated that and named them left and right. I then added the radial blur to the dancers layer. In the effects controls I changed the type to Zoom. I also had to make sure that the cross hair was in the centre of the composition. I then started using the transform tools. I used key framing to move both kaleidoscope layers. One moved to the left and back to the middle and the other went right and then back to the middle. I then went back to my text layer and changed the text.

Lesson 2

 I created a new composition using the button at the bottom of the project panel. I set the composition to 3 seconds. I added the Parthenon file to the timeline but it was too large. So I then went into the layer, then transform menu and selected fit to comp and it was scaled down to the size of the composition. I then added the destinations logo composition into the timeline. This composition is made up of illustrator files as layers. When the composition is opened, I can edit the individual layers. I added text that said TRAVEL EUROPE. I changed the text to the same colour as the text around the globe. I added a drop shadow to the destinations logo composition so that it doesn't affect the background. I also added other effects like Colour emboss to make the globe brighter. I then put an animation preset onto the Travel Europe text by opening the destinations logo comp. I added Bullet train. The text them appears letter by letter. I then added a Dissolve transition to the globe logo. I then made the destination logo comp. slightly transparent. This is done because it is what is done with logos in the corner of TVs. If it is too bright or clear it will stay on a TV screen after it is turned off or the visuals are changed.

 

Lesson 3

Our next lesson was on animating text. We imported an MOV. and an SWF. I selected NTSC DV from the preset menu in the Comp settings and changed the duration to 10 seconds. I dragged both footage items into the timeline panel. The compass layer had to be above the background mov. I added text that said 'Road trip'. I changed the font size to 90 and the font to something that looked bold. I then set the text to fit to comp width. I added an animation from the presets - evaporate. This preset made my text disappear but we wanted it to appear instead. To change this, we used the key frame assistant and time-reverse key frames. It switched the order of our 2 key frames. 3 seconds into the comp. I key framed the text's scale and at 5 seconds reduced the scale. We then used parenting. Using the parenting pop up menu for the compass layer, I chose Road trip layer. It now scales at the same rate as the text layer. We then imported a Photoshop file that was text. I changed the text by double clicking the file in when it is in the timeline to make the layers editable. I had the text appear in the comp at 5 seconds. I used the Fade Up Characters animation preset to that the text fades in. We next used and customized a preset path. We used the pips path at 6.05 and wrote the text - Directed by. We could then adjust the pipes path so that the text moved around the Road Trip text. We then did the same and added another bit of text that said our names. We then added a new composition to our timeline that was a car. We then used the path tools to make the car drive across the screen in a similar path to the text.

Lesson 4

This lesson was on Motion Graphics. In this we had to animate a man slipping on a banana skin. We started off making the composition and adding a background. We then used the puppet tool to make the man moveable. We used the puppet pin to put points on his arms, legs, torso and head. We then us. We then selected the Puppet Overlap tool. This was to make sure certain parts of the body overlapped correctly. We then used the triangle mesh to highlight the left side of his body and the left leg. We then selected the Puppet Starch tool to stiffen certain parts of the character. Here we selected the lower part of the torso so that it didn't move much. We could then animated his arms and legs to make him walk using key frames. From this we could repeat his actions using a simple copy and paste so that he continues to walk until he reaches the banana. We then animated the slip in the same way, using key frames and animated by eye. We also animated the banana so that it moved with his foot and flew off afterwards.


Lesson 5

We started by making a comp that was 10 seconds long. We drew a rectangle and made it big enough to cover the whole composition. We changed the fill options and used a gradient. We chose radial gradient and made it light blue and dark blue. We expanded the gradient so that it filled more of the comp. We then locked the background so that we couldn't select it by accident. We then drew a polygon and changed the outer radius and points so that is became a flower-type shape. We then twisted the shape in the Add menu from Contents. We then repeated the shape by using the repeater. We made about 12 of these shapes and lined them up on the comp. We then rotated the shapes using the transform tools. We changed the rotation using key framing. From the Mode pop up menu select Overlay and change the opacity to 25%. We then repeated the process with stars. We then added a DJ .mov and an mp3. The mp3 should be placed as the bottom layer, we then lock the audio layer. we had to double the length of the DJ .mov. We then added a cartoon effect from the stylise effects. We altered the threshold, edge enhancement and black levels to adjust the cartoon look. We then made our own shape for the bottom of the comp. It started as a rectangle and then we chose Wiggle Paths from the Add pop up menu, we selected the speed to 5 wiggles/second. We then added text that said DJ Quad Master and selected the 3D rotate from the 3D text folder.

Lesson 6

This lesson was making an animated multimedia presentation. We used parenting like we did before. We parented leaves, FG and Full skyline to parent with BG (the background). Then I key framed the background so that is was showing the left side of the image at the start of the comp. Then at the end set the key frame to show the right side of the image. This meant that during the comp the image pans along. Then using positioning key frames, I added a Bee to the beginning of the comp. I then applied motion blur to the bee so that it looked like it was flying instead of floating across the screen. I changed the anchor point for the car layer and put the point on the back wheel. I then changed the positioning and rotation values so that the car was going along to road and then at the end of the comp, stopped and then when up on it's back wheels and drove off. I then added a face to the car. This was done using masking. We opened a new composition to do this. We then added a shape layer and drew around the man's face, making a P. We then changed the Track Matte

to Alpha Matte Shape Layer 1. I then put the head into the composition and placed him in the car and parented him with the car. The last thing we did was make the traffic behind the car move. This was done using position key framing as well.



Incorporating 3D titles

For this we started by importing the files we needed - only one. We then dragged the file to the new comp button at the bottom of the project panel. Then we changed the Workspace to Motion tracking. We then selected 'Track Camera'. After effects will start analysing the clip for the 3D motion tracking. It will then solve the camera. When it is done the clip is then covered in 3D X markers which represent all available tracking points. In the effects controls we selected Create Camera. This will make a 3D tracked camera in the comp timeline. To finish off we need a 3D layer. I then added some text near the floor of the footage. Then the layer needs to be 3D, this can be done by checking the 3D box on the left of the timeline. Then we RAM preview by pressing 0 to see the effect.

Photoshop - retouching lesson

 We were given a photo of a girl with a graffiti wall behind her. It was tilted and a pinky colour. We opened it in Camera Raw to adjust the colour. We adjusted the white balance so that the colour tone changes. We then moved the basic colour levels to make the colours more natural. We then put the photo into Photoshop. We then cropped the image so that there was less of a white frame. We then used the straighten tool, with this we make a straight line across the top edge of the photo. Photoshop then straightens the image. We can then crop all of the white frame out. We then used the Colour Replacement tool to change the colour of the girl's hat from pink to blue. We then used the Clone Stamp tool to clone parts of the brick and cover up any messy parts of the wall. To get rid of the dark corner we used the Spot Healing Brush. We then got rid of the crack in the wall using the Content-Aware from the patch menu. We dragged the tool around the crack in the wall to select. Then drag the selected area to the right and it closes the wall.

Point tracking

For this last lesson we had a few small tasks to do. First was to use motion tracking to put a black box over someone's eyes. For this we used the motion tracking tab and selected track motion. We selected the eyes and played the tracking using the play button in the tracking tab. We then went through every frame and moved any tracking points that were wrong. We could then add a black rectangle and  selected it as the motion source and it then would stay in front of her eyes. We were given footage of a TV on a wall and a photo of trees. Then, we had to place the photo on the TV so that it was tracked with it. We used 4 point tracking and put 1 point in each of the corners of the TV. We then used the motion source menu to select the photo, played it in the tab and then it was done. We were then given a piece of footage of someone using a computer and we were asked to put something on the screen. I chose a street photo of Tokyo and used the 4 point tracking to place the photo, played it again and it worked well. Here is the finished clip -