Transparency Maps & Custom Edges in Zaxwerks Invigorator Pro AE

Jon Okerstrom, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, USA ©2003 Jon Okerstrom and Creativecow.net. All rights reserved.

Custom edges allow Invigorator Pro AE to create all kinds of shapes, from bottles to martini glasses and beyond. Take a look at the set that comes with Invigorator Pro AE to see how they work and notice the guidelines. In this project, we'll create the general profile of the crown as a custom edge. Think of the general shape of a short, wide vase, from which we’ll use transparency to cut away material and reveal the crown. In my Illustrator document, I’ve created two layers: one for the crown shape, the second for the rim that runs around the bottom. I’ve labeled them “crown vase shape” and “crown bottom.” The distance from the point where the guidelines meet determines the ratio of the radius of the crown to the height. The art looks like this in Adobe Illustrator: Place this Illustrator document in the “Custom Edges” folder. You’ll find that folder nested inside the Invigorator folder, which is in AE’s plug-ins folder. We need to create two more Illustrator documents, before the fun starts in After Effects. The first document represents the general shape of the crown, as if it were unwrapped. This document will be used as a transparency map -- the black parts will be seen, the rest will not. In this example, I've added some cut-out details. The shape is a compound path. I've called this "crownmask.ai." We'll rely on the alpha channel created by this artwork in After Effects to accomplish our transparency. The color you assign to the crown shape in Illustrator doesn't matter. You could create a transparency map with Photoshop, but using Illustrator gives more resolution flexibility in AE. If you choose to use a conventional pict or tga image as your transparency map, you would create a white crown shape on a black background. That's because in the absence of an alpha channel, Invigorator treats white as opaque, black as transparent and gray as semi-transparent. Our last Illustrator document amounts to two very small filled circles. One will become the crown -- the other will become the rim once Invigorator does its magic. I’ve labeled the layers “crown” and “bottom rim.” Call this document “circle.ai.” (One reminder -- all Illustrator art must be saved as Version 8 or earlier, because Adobe changed the file format in versions 9 and 10.) Now, we’re ready to begin our work in Adobe After Effects. You’ll need Invigorator Pro AE or the demo version. Add a layer to your comp and apply the Invigorator Effect to that layer. When prompted to open an Illustrator document, open circle.ai and check the “open by layers” box. Then, in the Invigorator effect window, choose the crown object and apply the custom Edge “crown vase shape.” Choose the rim object and apply the custom bevel “crown bottom.” Uncheck all but the “outside edges” faces and you’ll see the beginnings of our crown in the Invigorator Set-up window. In this screen shot, I’ve changed the rotation of the Invigorator camera so you can see it in the correct orientation. Now, we’ll work on the transparency map and adding the Creative Cow logo. Import both Illustrator documents and put them in their own precomps. You can turn off their visibility in the main comp while you’re at it. The resolution of your transparency and texture maps plays a role in how smooth they appear in the final product. In this case, I’ve made both precomps very high resolution -- you will probably be able to get away with lower resolution and gain rendering speed in the process. The screen shot here shows the transparency map precomp. It contains two copies of crownmask.ai. Wanting to avoid being longwinded, let’s just say that they’re placed in this position because of how Invigorator wraps textures around the edges of objects. In the COW logo precomp, I’ve placed the COW logo artwork so it lines up between the two “squiggles” in the Transparency precomp. The next step is to assign the Transparency Precomp to Layermap 1 in the Invigorator Effect control window. Assign the COW logo precomp to Layermap 2 in the Invigorator Effect control window. At this point, we’ll build the texture for the crown. I started with a metalic golden texture. Then I assigned Layermap 2 to the texture pop-up, and Layermap 1 to the Transparency popup. Apply the texture to the crown. Apply a different texture to the crown base. When you switch to “best quality” rendering in the timeline, you should see a crown like the one at the start of this tutorial. If not, stop by the Zaxwerks forum and ask a question. We’re glad to give you the royal treatment. ---Jon Okerstrom

---

Please visit our forums and view other articles at CreativeCOW.net if you found this page from a direct link.

Related Articles / Tutorials:

Adobe After Effects Imagineer mocha Pro 5 Plug-In for Adobe: An In Depth Review Imagineer mocha Pro 5 Plug-in for Adobe brings all the amazing features of the professional version of the mocha Planar Tracker directly into After Effects and Premiere Pro in the form of a plugin. In this in-depth review, After Effects tutorial guru Tobias Gleissenberger of Surfaced Studio will show you what you can do with this new plug-in, and discuss what he likes and doesn't like about the new update. Tutorial Tobias Gleissenberger Adobe After Effects After Effects 2015.3 - My Favorite Features Learn why you should upgrade to After Effects CC 2015.3 - 13.8.1 - a close and detailed look at the latest release of After Effects (August 2016). Roei Tzoref will be focusing on his favorite features that set this release apart from previous versions: Performance, Queue in AME, Lumetri Color new features, and more. Tutorial Roei Tzoref Adobe After Effects Advanced Masking in Adobe After Effects Some of the coolest stuff you can do inside of Adobe After Effects is only possible once you unlock the power of masks. Join After Effects whiz Tobias Gleissenberger of Surfaced Studio to learn about mask animation and interpolation, using the variable width feathering tool, managing mask modes and ordering, and more. Tutorial Tobias Gleissenberger Adobe After Effects Fixing Common After Effects Problems and Mistakes Got problems using Adobe After Effects? Exported files too large, Expressions not working, mixing shapes and makes, modes/switches, selecting previews for layers vs. comps - Surfaced Studio's Tobias Gleissenberger shows you fast fixes for these and more! Tutorial Tobias Gleissenberger Adobe After Effects mocha AE Planar Tracker for Absolute Beginners Want to learn how to create advanced visual effects? Learn how to use mocha AE to track your shot and add advanced visual effects to live action footage inside Adobe After Effects. mocha can help you track shots that would be hard to track using traditional 2D point or feature trackers because it is a PLANAR TRACKER. A planar tracker uses planes and textures to track as opposed to points or groups of pixels. This allows the tracker to stay on track even if your shot contains motion blur or a very shallow depth of field. mocha AE comes included with Adobe After Effects and is available since CS3 and there is no reason for you not to use this awesome tool to make it easier for you to track your shot, replace screens or rotoscope! Tutorial Tobias Gleissenberger Adobe After Effects How to Make After Effects Faster with Proxies Learn how to make Adobe After Effects faster by using PROXIES! A proxy is a placeholder that stands in place for a very large video file or image sequence in your project. You can easily create proxies for the large source files that you are using and After Effects will automatically link them to the item in your project panel. Tutorial Tobias Gleissenberger Adobe After Effects Stabilize & Smooth: mocha 5 Plug-in for Adobe & Avid Imagineer Systems and Boris FX product specialist Mary Poplin shows you how to stabilize with the new mocha Pro 5 plug-in inside of Avid Media Composer, Adobe Premiere Pro and After Effects. This tutorial covers artistic stabilization, such as smoothing out camera movements or stabilizing around moving objects, completely locking down shots, and automatically replacing edge fill on planar backgrounds. Tutorial Mary Poplin Adobe After Effects Adobe After Effects Puppet Tool Become a puppet master by learning how to use the Puppet Tool in Adobe After Effects! This intermediate-level tutorial from After Effects guru Tobias will show you how the Puppet Tool allows you to add joints and animations to bring life to any static image! Tutorial Tobias Gleissenberger Adobe After Effects How to Spawn A Clone in Adobe After Effects Want to learn how to create a cool clone spawn effect in Adobe After Effects? Follow along with After Effects whiz Tobias from Surfaced Studio in this exciting new visual effects tutorial that combines green screen using Keylight, CC Vector Blur, the Liquefy Effect, CC Particle World, and much more, delivered in Tobias' inimitable style! Tutorial Tobias Gleissenberger Adobe After Effects Creating A Flame on Your Finger with After Effects It is easy to do some motion tracking and attach a basic stock footage element of fire onto your hands, but there is a little bit of work involved if you actually want to make it look good. In this intermediate tutorial by After Effects expert Tobias, you'll see how to use a fire stock footage element to set your thumb on fire! There are lots of useful tricks for null objects, expressions, and more in this tutorial that will help you create all sorts of other cool visual effects -- or set even more things on fire! Tutorial Tobias Gleissenberger

MORE