Motion Sketch and the Smoother: The Racing Course
 |
Ben Unguren,
Provo, Utah, USA
©2002 by Ben Unguren and CreativeCow.net. All rights are reserved.
|
Article Focus:
By using motion sketch and the smoother, you can achieve a less "computer-generated" motion in your animations, and in less time. This tutorial introduces you to the basic techniques involved with motion sketch and the smoother. This is by no means a complete demonstration of what you can do with motion sketch or the smoother. This simply introduces you to how to use them.
|
This tutorial assumes you are familiar with the basics of After Effects, such as keyframing, previewing animations, and applying motion blur. If you are unfamiliar with these things, by all means continue, but be ready to do some consulting with the book or online help!
|
Four sections follow:
1. a quick sketch
2. a quick smooth
3. subtle adjustments
4. add another car
|
- - - - - a quick sketch - - - - -
|
| We are going to make cars race around a track using Motion Sketch and the Smoother. To see the a sample movie of what we are making, click here. |
- Download the project files, and open the START HERE.aep file.
- Select the RcCar.psd layer in the motionSketch composition.
- Find the Motion Sketch window. If it is not already open, you can find it under Window --> Motion Sketch.
- Make sure that Capture Speed is set to 100%, and that show wireframe and keep background are both selected.
|
|
Once you click Start Capture in the Motion Sketch window, the mouse cursor turns into a crosshair.
- Click on the car, and drag your mouse around the track as if you were driving it around the track. The car will not move with your mouse. But pretend it is.
- After Effects records the POSITION and the TIMING (or SPEED) of your motion.
- Race around the track for the full 15 seconds. If you release the mouse button, it will stop recording. If that happens before the 15 seconds are up, undo and try it again.
Check out the position attribute of your RcCar.psd layer. There are now about 450 keyframes, one per frame for 15 seconds. After Effects has sketched your motion!
|
 |
If you preview your animation now, you'll probably notice that the car isn't turning at all. This is easily remedied by enabling the Auto-Orient switch for the layer:
- Select the RcCar.psd layer in the motionSketch composition.
- Choose Layer --> Auto-Orient.
- Select Orient Along Path in the Auto-Orientation Window.
- Now if you preview your animation you will see the car more or less pointing in the right direction.
|
 click to enlarge
|
- - - - - a quick smooth - - - - -
|
 |
At this point you might be thinking that your little car is a little too shaky as it moves. This is a common problem with motion sketch: Our mouse-made motion, while definitely not "computer-generated-looking," often is too bumpy for comfort. We will use The Smoother plug-in to fix this problem:
- Navigate to the position attribute of the car layer.
You can do this quickly by selecting the layer and pressing the 'p' key
- Click on the word 'position' under the car layer. This automatically selects every position keyframe for that layer.
- Find The Smoother window. (Window--> The Smoother)
|
The Smoother looks at the overall animation of the selected keyframes, and tries to match it using fewer keyframes. By increasing the Tolerance level, you tell it essentially to use fewer keyframes. A higher tolerance number makes a smoother, though usually less accurate, motion. A lower number is bumpier but more faithful to the original animation.
- Double check that all your position keyframes are selected.
- Enter a Tolerance value and click apply.
- Preview your animation. If you are happy with it, continue. If not, undo and try again.
|
 |
Here are my position keyframes before applying The Smoother:
And here they are after applying The Smoother:
NOTE: Whereas Motion Sketch only works for the position attribute, The Smoother will work for other attributes as well, such as rotation and anchor point. The Smoother is a very handy tool to keep in the back of your mind as you are working on your animations.
|
- - - - - subtle adjustments - - - - -
|
 |
|
At this point, you may want to do some manual adjusting of your car's motion. It is much easier to do now that the sketch has been smoothed.
Move different keyframes a little, or adjust the bezier handles to change the shape of a curve a little. Scoot the keyframes around in time to make the speed how you like it.
|
|
- - - - - add another car - - - - -
|
| Now that you are a racin' sketchin' smoothin' expert, bring the RcCar1.psd into your composition and let it race around the track as well. Try to adjust the keyframes so it never collides with the first car.
You will notice that as you Motion Sketch this new car, the red car does not race around the track. This is because Motion Sketch will only show a static background as you sketch. Thus you will have to make your best guess, then adjust keyframes afterwards.
|
 |
Render your animation and enjoy!
see the final movie (472 kb)
back to top
Ben Unguren is a freelance motion graphics designer and documentary filmmaker in Provo, Utah.
|
Please visit our forums and find other articles at Creativecow.net if you found this page from a direct link.
| Related Articles / Tutorials: | | | | |
Adobe After Effects
Creating an After Effects Sunrise
Play Video
Rob Mize shows how to create the effect of a sunrise using only After Effects and a background graphic. This project employs techniques using masks, solids, shapes and effects that can be useful for a variety of projects. Whether creating this effect or some other, After Effects is a great way to start the day.
Tutorial, Video Tutorial
|
| | | | |
| | | |
Adobe After Effects
AE Basics 44: Shaping Text And Advanced Options
Play Video
AE Basics - A Creative COW series for new users of Adobe After Effects. Lesson 44: In this (more advanced) tutorial, Andrew Devis shows the options to change the way text moves through its range and explains how to change this from the default smooth animation to a much more 'digital' or abrupt instant change. Andrew then goes on to demonstrate more of the advanced options in the timeline to 'shape' your text so that it can have a more interesting or dramatic look allowing for the type of animation that would be very difficult to achieve otherwise.
Tutorial, Video Tutorial
|
| | | | |
| | | |
Adobe After Effects
Create a Rotating Counter TWO: Adding & Adjusting a Bounce
Play Video
In the second part of this 2 part tutorial, Andrew Devis shows how to animate the rotation of this group of layers as well as how use and adjust an expression that ships with After Effects to have the layers bounce in place as they stop which can give the sense of the counter having some real mechanical properties rather than just a linear of easy-ease keyframe approach.
Tutorial, Video Tutorial
|
| | | | |
| | | |
Adobe After Effects
Create a Rotating Counter ONE: Positioning 3D Layers
Play Video
In the first part of this 2 part tutorial, Andrew Devis shows how to create and place layers in 3d space such that they can be rotated as a single group to be used for a rotating counter. Andrew shows how to create and place the layers using both the math function of AE as well as a handy and simple expression that places layers a fixed distance or rotation from the previous layer. He then goes on the show how to create and use a controller for the multiple layers so that they act as a single group.
In the next tutorial, Andrew will show how to animate the rotation of this group of layers as well as how use and adjust an expression that ships with After Effects to have the layers bounce in place as they stop which can give the sense of the counter having some real mechanical properties rather than just a linear of easy-ease keyframe approach.
Tutorial, Video Tutorial
|
| | | | |
| | | |
Adobe After Effects
Confessions of a Creative Maniac: Keys to Getting It In
In the history of computing, including the extension to the notion of what actually falls under the guise of history - let's face it, smartphones are really just diminutive computers in a somewhat flimsy disguise - an often overlooked aspect of the entire discussion is something absolutely core to the idea of how these communications devices interface with us - the venerable keyboard.
Editorial
|
| | | | |
| | | |
Adobe After Effects
Introducing After Effects CS6 - Extruded Text and Shapes
Play Video
In this introductory tutorial to the new 3D capabilities of After Effects CS6, Kevin P McAuliffe shows the basics of how to extrude text and shapes inside of After Effects CS6, and also shows how tight integration with Adobe's Illustrator will have you creating powerful client logos in minutes, instead of in separate 3D applications.
Tutorial, Video Tutorial
|
| | | | |
| | | |
Adobe After Effects
Adobe After Effects: Compositing Actors in Virtual 3D Sets
Play Video
Rob Mize follows up his Creating Virtual 3D Sets tutorial with this demonstration of how to composite real-life actors into these 3 dimensional environments. Learn how to create an effective sense of interaction between your actors and their virtual environment using only your green screened footage and AE's 3D capabilities.
Tutorial, Video Tutorial
|
| | | | |
| | | |
Adobe After Effects
Panning Large Scenes Using Target Layers in 3D
Play Video
In this follow-on tutorial to his short series on working in 3D space, Andrew Devis shows how to use this simple technique to quickly and accurately pan around large layers/compositions to zoom in to the exact point required each time. You'll use target layers to get the exact coordinates needed for accurate panning - simple but effective!
Tutorial, Video Tutorial
|
| | | | |
| | MORE |
| |
|
Reply
Like
