Showreel

The aim of todays session was to create a showreel using the work we had created in these tutorials so far.

I created a title slate to go at the beginning of the showreel which contained my name and title. I then created an end board with my blog address. These both lasted 5 seconds in duration. I made sure that any animation was in the first two seconds to be able to let the text be seen.

Using a copyright free website I searched for music to be played in the showreel, I decided on Dr Wiley – Happy Money

I imported the audio to the composition and decided on which section of the audio I wanted to use. By pressing ‘*’ while running through the audio I could add marker for where the beat changed. This would help when editing the animations I would import later.

Once this was finished I imported the 5, 10 second animations I had created over the weeks. Using keyboard shortcuts, I was able to skip through the clips and edit them effectively.

[ – in point
] – out point
‘shift’ ‘cmd’ D – splits in half
‘alt’ [ – cuts to the left
‘alt’ ] – cuts to the right

Here is the finished showreel.

Infographics

Infographics are a simple way to make data look interesting.

In todays session I was given the choice of 20 different statistics about the University of Huddersfield. The challenge was to create a 10 second info graphic for this statistic using two frames.

The Universities colour needed to be in the video which is:

Red: 44
Green: 60
Blue: 103

I chose my statistic randomly as I didn’t want to waste time trying to decide which to use. My statistic was:

STAT 16 – Best Careers Service in the UK

I started by drawing how I wanted the frames to look, in Illustrator. I drew different components that I thought best represented this statistic which were: A man in a suit, a sound icon and a trophy.

I used two art boards on Illustrator to represent the two frames and started to layout the components on how I wanted them to look. I used different layers so I would be able to animate them separately in AfterEffects. I saved the art boards as two separate files, so they could be important separately in After Effects.

In AfterEffects I imported the files and made sure they weren’t imported as ‘Footage’ so all the layers still remained. I created a new ‘Composition’ that was:

1920 px x 1080 px
25 frames per second
5 seconds in duration

I then created a second which was exactly the same. These were to act as the two separate frames.

I created a new solid that was the same size as the composition, to use as a background. The first frame used the University colour, the second frame used white.

I dragged which files I wanted into each frame and began animating them using the ‘Opacity’ and ‘Position’ animation.

After I was finished I created another composition that was less than a second long. This was going to act as a transition between my two frames and at the end of my animation. I created a solid that was as big as the composition and tilted it. I pulled it off the screen on the left hand side and turned on the position animation, I then pulled it across to the other side until it disappeared on the right hand side. This was to act as a ‘Wipe’ effect.

I then created another composition that was 10 seconds in length and added all 4 components. I positioned the first and second frame straight after each other and the wipe frame overlapped the two.

Here is the finished animation.

I wasn’t happy with my animation so I decided to change the frames in Illustrator. I then repeated the process in After Effects.

Here is the finished animation.

As a group the finished animations are going to be placed in a composition together to create a longer animation. This is then going to be projected onto the side of the Creative Arts Building at the University of Huddersfield.

Camera Tracking

Before starting the tutorial, I created a scene in Illustrator. Each object needed to be on a separate layer with the use of only one colour. This was so I could animate it in After Effects later. The art board size was HD 1920 px x 1080 px.

In After Effects I started looking into 3D Space and camera tracking. By using a camera and pulling it backwards, it reveals the scene. This enables better use of time and space.

I created a composition:

Width: 1920 px
Length: 1080 px
Frame Rate: 25 Frames Per Second
Duration: 10 Seconds

I selected all the layers in the composition and turned on the 3D layer.

In the project window I turned on 2 Views Horizontal which enabled me to see Active Camera and the Top of the composition.

I selected the Top View window and selected a layer that would be furthest away in the scene. Using the Z axis, I moved the layer out and further away. I repeated this process with the other layers, to create a stack which added dimension.

I created a camera by selecting Layer > New > Camera

Using the Z axis again I moved the camera further away, to the back of the scene. Turning on the Position animation using the stop watch at the start of the timeline, I could change the position of the camera. I then moved the timeline curser all the way to the end and then moved the camera out to the front of the scene so all the layers were in view.

To add textures to a few of the layers, I selected the layer > Layer > Pre Compose. This turned the layer into a composition. By double clicking it I could animate the composition separately. I dragged a texture I wanted to use into the project window. It needs to be bigger than the object so the texture covers it all. Using the toggle button, I created a Track Mat which masked the object.

I then selected a layer > Effect > Distort > CC Page Turn.

I changed the settings to:

Controls: Classic UI
Fold Direction: -180 Degrees

I moved the timeline curser to when the layer appears on screen in the animation. I selected Fold Position and dragged this until the layer disappeared. I turned on the animation by using the stopwatch and then moved the timeline curser along a couple of seconds and dragged the Fold Position back so the layer would appear again.

I repeated this for all the layers that I wanted to fold onto the screen.

Here is the final animation

This video reminds me of a current advert.

The effect is similar to CC Page turn, which is what I used for my animation. I would like to experiment in creating something of this style. By using Track Mats the video seems more realistic.

Hand Drawn Animation

Before the tutorial, I drew a rough sketch of a tomato ketchup bottle. On a separate piece of paper, I then traced the first sketch and repeated the process, so I had 3. I then scanned all three onto my computer.

I uploaded these files to Photoshop and aligned them all so they were directly on top of each other. I made each image a separate layer, 1920 x 1080 px. I turned off two off the layers, flattened the other and then saved the file. I then repeated the process for the other two layers.

I then opened these files in After Effects and turned on JPEG sequence, so the files would play one after the other. I created a new composition with the settings:

1920 x 1080 px
Square Pixels
25 frames per second
10 seconds in duration

In the project window I selected the footage. Then went to File > Interpret Footage > Main and made the frame rate 25 frames per second, and I also made it loop 50 times.

I then dragged the footage to the end of the composition until it was restricted.

I selected Timeline Options > Columns > Stretch and changed this from 100.0% to 200.0%

I selected the layers and went to Effect > Colour correction > Levels and changed the colour to red.

I turned on Screen Safe Area to see whether the animation currently fits in the screen. The 1st box is slightly bigger and this is action safe. So any animation that is needed to be seen, such as someone talking, would need to stay within this box. The 2nd box is slightly smaller and this is text safe, so any text would need to stay within this box.

Each company will have different dimensions, so it’s important to find out what they are.

I then typed some text and imported a texture, by placing the texture layer underneath the text layer, I could create an Alpha Matt. Using the pen tool I drew over it and made sure not to close the drawing. I went to Effect > Generate > Stroke, to change the brush size so it would cover all the text. I then selected Reveal. So the text would appear as the stroke moved along.

Here is the final animation.

To improve the animation I would draw over the original drawings in pen to make the stroke more visible. I also made the mistake of writing 2 and 3 on a page so it appears in the animation. I would also write the text by hand and upload the layer as it adds to the drawing effect.

Hand drawn animation is quick and easy to do, however the process would become much more difficult the longer the duration becomes, as lots of drawings would need to be done.

Rotoscoping

Before starting the tutorial I recorded a 10 second video of someone walking.

I found that the shorter the video, the easier and quicker it is to cut out. I uploaded the video to After Effects and then I chose a point that had the most movement and pressed shift and ‘I’ to mark the point. I then used the Pen Tool to draw around the person. I then turned this into a mask to cut it out. I moved along two keyframes and reshaped the mask to fit around the new position the person was in. I preceded to do this a few more times.

I then used time remapping to create a keyframe at every rotoscope and delete the frames that wasn’t used. I then selected all the keyframes, stretched them out and copied them, to create a 10 second video.

I created two solids, both different colours and made them the size of the composition. By using trackmat to make the person a solid colour and also the background.

I duplicated the person and flipped it so I had two people walking towards each other

Here is the final animation

To improve this animation I would start by having a more interesting video of movement to enable more rotoscopes. I would then take more care when using the pen tool, to define the edges better. However this would take time.

I would like to attempt to make something similar to the Gnarls Barkley video, Crazy.

Queen of Hearts

Before this tutorial I created an illustration of the Queen of Hearts from the Alice in wonderland film. I used the pen tool in Illustrator and drew around the picture.

I uploaded the file to after effects. By creating separate layers, I was able to animate features individually.

By using the Pan behind tool, I was able to change the anchor points and animate the layers differently. I then used the Pick whip tool by clicking and dragging to what I want each layers parent to be. The parent object is the main, and the child object follows the parent. So when I animate the parent, the child will also copy. This is useful for the head and neck to keep everything in proportion and looking natural.

Here is the completed video

This is a really quick and simple animation. By adding more characters a short film can be created.