Set the Background layer as the parent of the Minute layer and, if you move the clock 10 p ixels to the left, the arm moves the same distance. If the relationship between the clock a nd the arm was an absolute relationship, the arm would move to the same location as the clock. What happened there was After Effects calculated the change in position between the Anchor point of the child and Origin point of the parent. What you really need to under- stand is that the Origin point is not the same as the Anchor point. The Origin point is the upper-left corner of a layer. If you click the clock face on the Comp, the handle in the upper-left corner is the Origin point of the layer. The Origin point is the value of the Position point minus the Anchor point value. In the case of our clock, the Origin point is located at 200 – 250 and 200 – 335, or –50, –135. If you still have the clock face selected, this makes sense because the upper-left corner of layer is outside of the Comp area. This relationship is extremely important to understand because sometimes, when a parent has multiple children, you may move the position of the parent, but the children don’t appear to move in lockstep. The reason is the Anchor point (the crosshairs in the center of the Comp) of any object is relative to the layer, while the Position property is relative to the Comp. In Figure 8-3, we have placed a solid that matches the 500 ✕500 pixel size of the Comp. The Anchor point of the solid and its Position property are the same. Figure 8-3. Position and Anchor point are an exact match. The Origin point for any Comp is always the upper-left corner, or the 0, 0 point. FROM AFTER EFFECTS TO FLASH: POETRY IN MOTION GRAPHICS 280 7486CH08.qxd 11/7/06 6:06 PM Page 280 In Figure 8-4, we change the position to 300, 300. Notice how the Position property c hanges but the A nchor Point p roperty, the intersection of the guides, remains the same. W hat you can gather from this is the Anchor point is the pivot for all animation. Figure 8-4. Changing the solid’s position has no effect upon its Anchor point property. When we change the Anchor Point property values to 350, 350, as shown in Figure 8-5, the gray solid moves up and to the left, but its Position property values remain unchanged. What we did was change the pivot point. We didn’t change the Position point. Moving an Anchor point causes the object to move in the opposite direction in the Comp window. This is because the Position property is relatively clueless regarding the boundaries of a layer. It only keeps an eye on the position of the Anchor point relative to the layer . . . not the Comp. MEET THE PARENTS 281 8 7486CH08.qxd 11/7/06 6:06 PM Page 281 Figure 8-5. Changing the Anchor Point property has no effect upon an object’s Position property. It simply moves the pivot point from one location to another in the layer, not the Comp. Rotation also has a couple of gotchas you should be aware of. To see what we are talking about, let’s go back to our clock. The Background layer is the parent of the Minute layer. If you select both layers and press the R key, the Rotation properties for each layer will appear. Scrub through the degrees value of the Background layer and you will notice that as the values change in the Background layer’s Rotation values, the Minute layer rotates, but there is no corresponding change to the Minute layer ’s Rotation property . How the Minute layer rotates is by subtract - ing the parent’s Rotation value from the child’s Rotation value (see Figure 8-6). The other thing to be aware of is changing the Rotation value of the parent can have an effect upon the child’s Position property. Another way of changing the Anchor point position is to double-click any layer. This will open the Layer window. From there you can drag the Anchor point to any position in the Comp. FROM AFTER EFFECTS TO FLASH: POETRY IN MOTION GRAPHICS 282 7486CH08.qxd 11/7/06 6:06 PM Page 282 Figure 8-6. Rotate the parent and the child goes for a spin as well, but the child’s Rotation property remains unchanged. Finally, scaling is one those tasks that can get you into a world of hurt if you don’t scale the parent uniformly. To see what we are talking about, follow these steps: 1. Remove the parent from the Minute layer and set the Minute layer’s Scale value to 50%. 2. Select the Background layer and set its Scale value to 75%. 3. Use the Pick Whip tool to make the Background layer parent to the Minute layer. When you release the mouse, the Scale property values for the Minute layer change from 50% to 66.7%. Not only that, but the size of the minute hand in the Comp doesn’t change to reflect the increased Scale value. If you remove the parent, the Scale property will return to 50%. What happened? Again, it comes down to math. The child’s original Scale value is divided by the parent’s scale value: 50% divided by 75% is 66.7%. When it is time to render the Comp, the oppo - site occurs. The child’s scale value is multiplied by the parent’s scale value. In this case, 66.7% ✕ 75% roughly equals 50%. MEET THE PARENTS 283 8 7486CH08.qxd 11/7/06 6:06 PM Page 283 The world of hurt facing you involves nonuniform scaling of the parent. 4. R emove the parent from the Minute l ayer and select the Background l ayer. 5. Click the chain link icon in the Scale property of the Background layer to turn off uniform scaling. 6. Change one of the values from 75% to 50%. Reapply the parent to the Minute layer. 7. Open the R otation values for the B ackground layer—you can press the R key—and scrub through it. As you change the value, the minute hand rotates, squashes, and stretches in unison with the Background layer. 8. Set the Rotation value for the Background layer to 0. 9. Open the Rotation property for the Minute layer and scrub through it. As the graphic rotates through the Background layer, notice how it squashes and stretches even though its parent is doing nothing (see Figure 8-7). Figure 8-7. Nonuniform scaling of a parent can have unpredictable results when it comes to the children. 10. Close the Parenting202.aep file and, if prompted to save the changes, click No. FROM AFTER EFFECTS TO FLASH: POETRY IN MOTION GRAPHICS 284 7486CH08.qxd 11/7/06 6:07 PM Page 284 This is why applying nonuniform Scaling and Rotation values to a parent is not a good idea. The results for the child are unpredictable. Enough theory and “techie talk.” Let’s put what we know to use. The words on the rim go around and around In this exercise, you will pull off what is, at best, extremely difficult to do in Flash. You are going to have text on a circular path rotate at the same rate as the circle that is its parent. 1. If it isn’t open, launch After Effects and create a new project. Name the project Rims and save it to the Rims folder in your Chapter 7 Exercise folder. 2. Create a new Comp using the following settings: Composition Name: Rims Width : 320 Height : 240 Pixel Aspect Ratio : Square Pixels Duration : 0:00:12:00 3. Set the Background color to #000000 (black). 4. Import the Rim.tif file from the Rims folder into the project. Having assembled your assets, you can now concentrate on creating the animation. To get started, you are going to put the rim into position on the stage and then enter a line of text that will be animated. 1. Drag the Rim.tif image to the timeline instead of the Comp window. 2. Press the P key to open the Position layer property and set the position of the image to 81, 122. 3. Select the Text tool, click the Comp once, and enter the text racing. Use the follow- ing settings in the Character panel: Font: Arial Style : Bold Color : #868712 (gold) Size: 28 px Tracking : 160 If you have a font named either Arial Bold or Arial Black, feel free to substitute the font. If you do have either one, don’t change the style to Bold. If you have Arial but don’t have Bold in the Style pull-down, click the Faux Bold button in the Character panel. MEET THE PARENTS 285 8 7486CH08.qxd 11/7/06 6:07 PM Page 285 4. S elect the racing l ayer and press the P key to open the layer’s Position p roperty. Set the position of the text to 84, 135. If you use text with a different alignment, point size, or font, just position the text so it resembles Figure 8-8. Figure 8-8. The words and image are positioned in the Comp. Rotating the word Here is the plan. The tire starts spinning and so does the word. At a certain point in time, the rim, along with the word, shrinks and rolls off of the right edge of the screen. Knowing how parenting works, this is not an insurmountable task. In fact, it is now dead simple to accomplish. Here’s how: 1. Twirl down the Rim layer and, with the Shift key held down, press the P, S, and R keys to open the Position, Scale, and Rotation properties for the layer. 2. Select the Position strip and press the Home key to return to the starting point of the timeline. 3. Add the following keyframes and Position values at the times indicated: 0 seconds: 81, 122. 8 seconds: Add a keyframe. 10 seconds: 480, 125. 4. Select the Scale strip and press the Home key to return to the starting point of the timeline. FROM AFTER EFFECTS TO FLASH: POETRY IN MOTION GRAPHICS 286 7486CH08.qxd 11/7/06 6:07 PM Page 286 5. A dd the following keyframes and Scale v alues at the times indicated: 0 seconds: 100% 6 seconds: 15% 6. S elect the R otation s trip and press the Home key to return to the starting point of the timeline. 7. Add the following keyframes and position values at the times indicated: 0 seconds : 0 x +0.0 8 seconds: 4 x +0.0 12 seconds: 6 x +0.0 8. Select the Pick Whip tool in the Parent column of the racing layer and make the Rim layer the parent of the racing layer. If you scrub through the timeline, the word spins, resizes, and moves in lockstep with the Rim layer (see Figure 8-9). Rotation does not require you to enter an angle value if the object is only going to spin. That first number tells After Effects how many times the object is to rotate by that point in time. MEET THE PARENTS 287 8 Figure 8-9. The timeline and the Comp so far 7486CH08.qxd 11/7/06 6:07 PM Page 287 The client has looked at what we have done so far and is wondering, “Dudes, where is our b randing? The company name is speedrims racing!” Let’s keep the customer satisfied. I n the previous chapter, we showed you how to place text on a straight path, a curved path, and a jagged path. In this final part of the exercise, you put some text on a circular path. If you have never done this before in After Effects, you may find the process to be a bit confusing. It isn’t, and, once you get the hang of it, you will wonder what all the fuss was about in the first place. 1. Create a new black solid by selecting Layer ➤ New ➤ Solid. When the New Solid dia- log box opens, give the solid a name and set the color to #000000 (Black). Click OK to close the dialog box. The new solid will appear on the timeline. 2. Select the Elliptical mask tool and draw a circle on the solid. Adjust the size of the circle to fit over the hub of the rims as shown in Figure 8-10. This circle will serve as the path for the text. Figure 8-10. You start by creating and positioning the path for the text. If you have ever done text on a circular path in Illustrator, Photoshop, or Fireworks, you are going to find how After Effects handles this chore to be quite different, yet oddly more intuitive than the workflow used in those applications. It is a three-step process: Add the Path Text effect to the solid. Enter the text to be placed on the path in a separate dialog box. Fiddle with the text formatting and placement in the Effect Controls panel. Did you know you can choose the Elliptical Mask tool by simply pressing the Q key on your keyboard? Press it again, and you switch to the Rectangular Mask tool. FROM AFTER EFFECTS TO FLASH: POETRY IN MOTION GRAPHICS 288 7486CH08.qxd 11/7/06 6:07 PM Page 288 Let’s go to work: 1. S elect the solid layer on the timeline. Open Presets & Effects ➤ Text a nd drag the Path Text e ffect on top of the solid in the Comp. 2. As soon as you release the mouse, the Path Text dialog box opens (see Figure 8-11). This is where the text used in the effects is entered. Select Arial from the Font pull- down and Bold from the Style pull-down. Click once in the text entry area and enter the word speedrims. Click OK to close the dialog box. When you release the mouse, the text will appear in the Comp. Of course, it is totally inap- propriate for our use, meaning the time has arrived to “fiddle” with the text in the Effect Controls panel. The best way of learning to work with any new panel or dialog box is to work from the top to the bottom of the panel. The Path Options determine the path the text will follow. There are a number of shape types—the default is Bezier—and, if you twirl down the Control Points, depending upon the shape chosen, you can adjust the start and end points and even the shape of the path. Thankfully, we aren’t going to get that fancy. 3. Twirl down the Path Options in the Effect Controls panel. Select Mask 1 from the Custom Path pull-down. You will see the text curl up inside the circle as shown in Figure 8-12. No problem, you’ll deal with that in a moment. Figure 8-12. Choose the mask as a Path Option, and the text curls up inside the mask. Figure 8-11. The Text Path dialog box is how text is added to a circular path. MEET THE PARENTS 289 8 7486CH08.qxd 11/7/06 6:07 PM Page 289 [...]... kbps (mono) 293 74 86CH08.qxd 11 /7/ 06 6: 07 PM Page 294 FROM AFTER EFFECTS TO FLASH: POETRY IN MOTION GRAPHICS Figure 8-1 6 Reducing the data rate for the empty audio track in the video 3 Click OK to return to the Encoding Queue, click the Start Queue button, and when the encoding is finished, quit the Flash Video Encoder A “down-and-dirty” poster frame If you get into discussions with the Flash Video crew,... same way they can be brought into Flash You can choose to import the individual layers or bring the image into After Effects as a single, flattened bitmap The Photoshop file you will be using for this exercise is the image of a large excavator, shown in Figure 8-1 8, that is composed of four layers What you are going to do is to put the arm and shovel into motion in After Effects The key aspect of this... Figure 8-1 8 The Photoshop image and the layers that will be put into motion 2 97 7486CH08.qxd 11 /7/ 06 6: 07 PM Page 298 FROM AFTER EFFECTS TO FLASH: POETRY IN MOTION GRAPHICS It is not uncommon for a Flash developer or designer to be handed a multilayer Photoshop document and be asked whether the bits and pieces comprising the image can somehow be animated Though the animation can be done in Flash, the... and scrub through the timeline Everything rotates, moves across the Comp, and gets smaller as the tire rolls off of the screen 12 Save the project 291 74 86CH08.qxd 11 /7/ 06 6: 07 PM Page 292 FROM AFTER EFFECTS TO FLASH: POETRY IN MOTION GRAPHICS Rendering the video and using it in Flash There will be occasions, especially in situations involving high-definition video, where the Flash video, regardless of... dragons In the next chapter, our dragon hunt takes us into the realm of masks You have only been scratching the surface of this topic to this point in the book Turn the page to find out more 306 74 86CH08.qxd 11 /7/ 06 6: 07 PM Page 3 07 7486CH09.qxd 11/10/06 5:15 PM Page 308 74 86CH09.qxd 11/10/06 5:15 PM Page 309 9 THE VIDEO BEHIND THE MASK 74 86CH09.qxd 11/10/06 5:15 PM Page 310 FROM AFTER EFFECTS TO FLASH: POETRY. .. complicated to accomplish in Flash and complete them in short order in After Effects 305 74 86CH08.qxd 11 /7/ 06 6: 07 PM Page 306 FROM AFTER EFFECTS TO FLASH: POETRY IN MOTION GRAPHICS You have learned how the parent/child relationship works and have really dug into some of the more important aspects of this feature in the “Parenting 201” section of the chapter As you learned, parenting isn’t as simple as... designed to demonstrate the technique, it has application ranging from banner ads that have to fit a small space to putting objects in motion without spending an inordinate amount of time in Flash getting it just right It is the prudent Flash developer or designer who understands parenting in After Effects and uses it to his or her client’s advantage You dig? 8 When null is more than nothing In this final... will be spent ensuring all the movie clips are properly aligned with each other and the tweens used in the animation are coordinated with each other We aren’t raising this point to discourage you from considering Flash to do the work Instead, this exercise is here more to change your mindset from thinking every animation task handed to you can be done in Flash to using the “the right tool for the right... point to the position shown in Figure 8-2 0 8 Figure 8-2 0 Using the Pan Behind tool to change Anchor points in a layer 7 Change the Anchor points for the ShovelArm and Shovel layers Here’s a quick way of revealing only those layers to be worked on Click the Solo Switch, as shown in Figure 8-2 1, for the MainArm and ShovelArm layers, and everything else in the Comp is turned off 299 74 86CH08.qxd 11 /7/ 06... at the 8-second mark of the timeline and use the following Rotation values: MainArm: 10 ShovelArm: 11 Shovel: 73 10 Place the playback head at the 9-second mark of the timeline and use the following Rotation values: MainArm: 5 ShovelArm: –80 Shovel: –18 301 74 86CH08.qxd 11 /7/ 06 6: 07 PM Page 302 FROM AFTER EFFECTS TO FLASH: POETRY IN MOTION GRAPHICS 11 Do a RAM preview, and you will see the machine at . Origin point for any Comp is always the upper-left corner, or the 0, 0 point. FROM AFTER EFFECTS TO FLASH: POETRY IN MOTION GRAPHICS 280 74 86CH08.qxd 11 /7/ 06 6:06 PM Page 280 In Figure 8-4 , we. the Project panel to open it. Figure 8-1 9. Importing multilayer Photoshop documents as a Comp FROM AFTER EFFECTS TO FLASH: POETRY IN MOTION GRAPHICS 298 74 86CH08.qxd 11 /7/ 06 6: 07 PM Page 298 Now. mask. FROM AFTER EFFECTS TO FLASH: POETRY IN MOTION GRAPHICS 290 74 86CH08.qxd 11 /7/ 06 6: 07 PM Page 290 8. T wirl down the Paragraph s ettings. Scrub through the Left Margin s ettings to get