After Effects Lesson 4 Notes

Value Graph Mastery and Graph Editor

  • Goal: Master the value graph within the graph editor.

  • The graph editor provides control over keyframes.

  • Keyframes determine timing and properties (position, rotation, scaling, opacity) of layers.

  • Value graph allows precise control over movement: speed, direction, and pace.

Lesson Overview

  • Mastering the Value Graph: We aim to gain proficiency in using the value graph in After Effects.

  • Decay Curve (DK Curve): Understanding how an object loses energy over time (e.g., starting at 100 and ending at 0) and how to animate that process.

  • Reference Guides: Creating guides to maintain consistent speed and realistic motion in animations.

  • 12 Principles of Animation: Initial introduction to these principles derived from Disney founders for realistic movement. Creativity is essential.

  • Keyframe Interpretation: Learning to "read" value graphs to understand the movement they represent without needing to see the animation.

  • Focus terms: Anticipation and Oscillation

Key Terms

  • Anticipation: Preparing the viewer for an upcoming movement or action.

  • Oscillation: A back-and-forth movement gradually losing energy until settling.

Creating a New Composition

  • New Composition settings:

    • Size: 1920x1080

    • Frame Rate: 29.97 frames per second

    • Duration: 10 seconds

  • Toggle Transparency Grid: Used to view transparency in the composition.

Importing Assets

  • Importing Options: When importing compositions, there are two choices for footage dimensions:

    • Document Size: Scales the imported footage to fit the composition size (e.g., 1920x1080), adding transparent pixels around if the footage is smaller.

    • Layer Size: Imports the footage at its actual size, with the bounding box fitting the layer's dimensions.

  • General Use Case: Usually, importing as "Composition - Layer Size" is preferred for individual layer control.

  • Alternate Uses: Document Size can be useful when artwork fills most of the composition or when importing individual layers to match the background.

Practical Implementation: Pendulum Animation

  • Importing Drag File: Import "drag" file as footage.

  • Composition Settings: Ensures composition is set to 1920x1080 (Composition > Composition Settings).

  • Solid Layer: Create a solid color layer (Layer > New > Solid) for the background.

  • Anchor Point Adjustment: Move the anchor point to the top of the "drag" layer to simulate a hanging object. Use the Pan Behind (Anchor Point) tool (Y).

  • Rotation: Use the rotation property (R) to create a swinging motion.

Creating the Swing

  • Setting Keyframes: Set initial and final rotation keyframes with different values.

  • Linear Keyframes: Initially, the movement is static due to linear keyframes.

  • Easy Ease: Convert keyframes to Easy Ease (select keyframes, press F9) for smoother motion.

  • Graph Editor: Access the Graph Editor to fine-tune the animation curves.

Understanding Oscillation

  • Oscillation Wave: Represents back-and-forth movement. The zero line represents the original position.

  • Real-life Oscillation: Most oscillations lose energy over time, unlike continuous oscillations.

  • Wave Graph:

    • Irregular easy ease is a slow in, fast out or vice-versa

    • weave=movement<br>goingbackandforthweave = movement<br>going back and forth

Adding More Oscillation

  • Creating More Keyframes: Add multiple keyframes to create a continuous swing.

  • Refining Timing: Adjust spacing to create consistent motion.

Value Graph and Motion Examples

  • Irregular Easy Ease: Slow in, fast out.

  • Oscillation Weave: Represents back-and-forth movement in the graph editor.

Examples (Tassel, doorknob, pendulum etc.)

Scaling and Oscillation

  • Import a circle

  • Scaling Property: Use the scale property (S) to create a scaling oscillation.

  • Copying Keyframes: Copy and paste keyframes to replicate the scaling motion.

Manipulating the Value Graph: Customizing the Oscillation

  • Adjusting Handles: Drag handles in the value graph to change the speed and intensity of the scaling.
    *Making the graph flatter will decrease the speed.
    *Making the graph steeper will increase the speed

  • Creating Different Movements: Achieve different effects by manipulating the curve such as creating a bouncing effect.

Finding Assets on Freepiq.com

  • Download logo for animation

  • Illustrator habit: Look for things to bring into After Effects

Setting Up the Logo

  • Modify logo: Change text and change name.

  • Save: Save the new logo as an Illustrator file.

Bringing in Logos to After Effects

  • Bringing in logo from Illustrator with one layer.

  • Creating a new comp with a color

Animating the Logo

  • Scale logo to 0.

  • Scaling: Use the scaling property to make back and forth action.

  • Rasterize: Continuously Rasterize: When importing a vector layer from Illustrator, enable continuous rasterization to maintain high quality. Click the icon continuously rasterize symbol next to rotation.

Oscillation Properties

  • Copy Keyframes: Command + C / Command + V.

  • You can work handles the same way as before.

Seperating Dimensions

  • Use cases: When working with only one set of dimensions we can right-click position and select to seperate dimensions. After Effects usually has the dimensions as a green and red line, so this will alow us to control these dimensions more easily.

Anticipation, Overshoot, and The 12 Principles of Animation

  • Opposite of anticipation, overshoot is telling my viewer, I just moved, I'm done I'm getting back in place

Anticipation and overshoot are telling the viewer, what your keyframes are doing
Where the actions are happening.

Principle Breakdown:

  • Someone wants to get up, you generally don't notice until you think about, you go down before you go up.

  • Throw ball, you go back to go forward.

  • See what you can pick up afterwards, then watch in slomo speed after.

Understanding the 12 Principles

  • Slow and slap: Is easy Linear vs easy ease.

Three D Objects and Cinema Four D

Learning how to find and animate characters
We'll be doing three d objects and things like that
We'll go over the fundamentals

Footage from Illustrator and Photoshop

You have to be able to prepare your own asses. Not everything you're going to be able to find.
The client may send a PDF and that will be the only layer- you couldn't animate it.
If you separate the Illustrator files, you can animate the characters.

Working With a Team

If an illustrator does a great job, but the color is wrong, do you wanna go back and pay another $50 to change the color?*
Maybe.*
Maybe you're fine with that. No problem.*
If your client's budget holds that, go for it.

The KeyFrame Beginning

  • Everyone starts at the beginning. This is normal. Don't beat yourself up over a few mess ups, this does not mean you're going to finish your course and be perfect.

  • Take 2-4 years to really build yourself.

  • Copy examples given from students.

Oscillation Decay Breakdown

What it's doing is my keyframes are telling me, I'm losing energy.*
I'm gonna slow down.*
Right?*
It starts off with a lot of energy, and then it gets less and less and less.*
It doesn't have that energy there.

Tips

*Click include this property in the graph editor to see the editor throughout your project.
*Snap it to the grid
*Convert it to Linear.