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Kathlyn Lindeboom takes a look at some of the tools in Cult Effects 1.5. This tutorial uses Cult Effects CE Paint along with 'Wiggle' Controls and the CE Checker filter. CE Paint is the new Vector Paint in Adobe After Effects 5.0 Pro Bundle.
With Cult Effects Paint, you can paint directly in After Effects. It is a vector based, nondestructive tool that allows easy dust removal, matte touch ups, rotoscoping and animated masks for revealing objects, logotypes and much more. And sometimes, it's just for having fun.
When the Cult Effects team first started working on the enhancement of CE Paint, they came up with the "wiggle" control, and they thought, "This is cool." (In Swedish, of course.) And so this first tutorial to whet your appetite for the new Cult Effects 1.5 upgrade is based on a group of files that Jens Enqvist, the Chief Engineer at Cult Effects sent me and shows the original use for the "wiggle" control. The next tutorial will show some cool tricks that the engineering team came up to enhance the CE Paint filter. But for now, first things first.
So let's get started...
Launch Adobe After Effects, create a new comp of appropriate size. My comp is 768 X 576, 25 fps and 8 sec long.
Add a new solid, size 450 x 180 pixels, any color. Duplicate this layer.
Name the bottom layer "Checkers." To this layer, apply Effect>Cult Effects>CE Checker. Grid Size From...Width Slider; Width: 57.3; Anchor Point: 249.0, 90.0. Leave all other parameters at their default values.
Name the top solid "Text." To this layer, apply Effect>Basic Text>Text. Type BALLOON, hit return and type NETWORK in all caps. Use Courier Bold with alignment left. Change the Size to 54.8, Tracking to 44, Position to 32.0, 90.0. The Fill Color should be Red. The Stroke Color should be Black.
Add a new solid, 768 x 576 or the size of your comp. Any color. Name this layer "Paint." Apply Effect>Cult Effects>CE Paint. Change the Brush settings: Radius: 5; Brush Type: Solid; Color: Red--77%, Green--0%, Blue--100%, or any bright color of your choosing. Draw Strokes...All Strokes. Composite Paint...Only.
Twirl down the arrow for the Wiggle Control. Check Enable Wiggling.
Change the following Parameters. Wiggles/sec: 25.00; Displacement Variation: 10.00; Displacement Detail: 30.0; Pressure Variation: 50.00; Pressure Detail: 5.0
With CE Paint selected in the Effects Controls Window, control click (Windows-right-click) in the comp window: Options>shift-paint>Inserts>to current frame. Make sure Stylus Radius is checked if you're using a stylus. (This can be done with a mouse, but a stylus works better for complete control of the paint functions.)
While holding down the shift key, draw 4 strokes around your BALLOON NETWORK logo.
Make your movie.
See also part two, part three of this series. Note: the interface may change slightly when this filter becomes Vector Paint in AE 5, but the technique should basically be the same. Thanks to Jens Enqvist, Nils Schneider and the rest of the Cult Effects team for giving us these wonderful filters.
Launch Adobe After Effects, create a new comp of appropriate size. My comp is 768 X 576, 25 fps and 8 sec long.
