Friday, 11 March 2016

After Effects 5 - 3D Type

This session was a further development from the last session that looked at a specific typeface. The session began with a video to give us inspiration for our pieces that we were to create. The video 'BBC Today - Stephen Hawing' shows how the camera can be used in after effects to give a sense of motion and atmosphere to the animation. In the Stephen Hawking sequence the camera travels through different words and phrases while also taking us on a journey through , what it looks like , a blackboard full of work.

 

For my own piece i decided to use lyrics from The Smiths song : Still Ill. I didn't try create a specific atmosphere for my own piece as i wanted to focus my attention on learning the new skills with the 3D camera. Before finalising my design it had a very messy feel , i couldn't get my text to align in the final frame due to the camera pacing through the text too quickly. I solved this problem by working backwards and arranging the text before adding the 3D effect.

I felt that the alternative above view came in very handy when creating the animation as you could see the exact motion path of the text as it moved throughout the text. The camera tool came with a series of transformations just like shapes and vectors do. These included options such as Depth of Field , Positioning and zoom.

My own animation consists of the camera moving backwards through the text , i used a depth of field to create an atmosphere when the text passed close over the camera. I used different weights of text to draw attention to specific words. I added the flip transformation to the word 'Mine' to draw attention to it. My favourite part about the animation is how it all sets in to one neatly arranged grid.

If i was to improve this animation i would add a background with a texture as it would add add more of a feel to the animation due to it been basic colours such as black and white. I feel that a photographic or textured background would work effectively , preferably one that would relate to the song.