Tuesday 13 December 2011

AfterEffects software workshop 13/12

Keyframe Interpolation

Interpolation = 'to insert between fixed points'

keyframe interpolation = change settings of bezier

'toggle hold keyframe' = no interpolation.

'rove across time' - will position square relative to first and last keyframe - A CONSTANT SPEED


Today we began by learning a few things about keyframe interpolation. Interpolation means the transition between one point and the next.

Say we take a simple object such as a square solid and animate it:





This will leave us with a simple animation - the square will move smoothly from point A to point B. The smooth movement is due to the path being formed by bezier curves, so there are no sharp movements. 

In some cases however we may want sudden, sharp movements. We can achieve this by altering the Keyframe Interpolation:







By switching this to Linear the path will switch to one without bezier curves and handles, meaning the square solid will very suddenly change direction.




We can also achieve a slightly different level of control by selecting Continuous Bezier. 






There may also be occasions where we do not want consistent movement whatsoever; we might want the square solid to disappear and reappear in various places. Say we've made an animation with a few keyframes, as shown below:








If we select the keyframes and select 'toggle hold keyframe' the square will not move between the points, instead it will just disappear from one and reappear at the next.





















Magic.

 The second half of the lesson involved making use of Illustrator as well as mask functions.

For example we can make a shape follow a path created in Illustrator:






Set the keyframe and then copy the shape from Illustrator. The shape will then follow this path.


















We can also make the shape retain its orientation around the path by selecting 'auto-orient':














Masks work fairly similarly to other Adobe programmes.


































Wednesday 7 December 2011

Sequential Storyboards

Further initial storyboarding. The first three are made up using single letters, where I found it pretty difficult to convey they word effectively. The five following storyboards that follow however involved using the word as a whole, which obviously made it far easier to convey a meaning effectively. There are a few that I am pretty happy with, although it is the first time I have tried something along these lines so there is vast room for improvement. 

Each sequence is 5 rectangles long in a horizontal line; as in none of them move from one line to the next just yet. 

I am particularly enjoying working with the word 'collide' at the moment, it seems there is a lot more scope for ideas compared the word 'float', so I'll probably carry on in that direction for my After Effects animation.