Animating precomposed layers – Animating a Multimedia Presentation

Earlier, you precomposed the four canvas layers, creating a composition called Canvas. You then positioned the Canvas composition layer to match the balloon, and parented the two. Now, you’ll animate the canvas layers so that they blow off the balloon when the gust of wind occurs.

  1. Double-click the Canvas layer to open the Canvas composition in the Composition panel and the Timeline panel.
  2. Go to 9:10, which is about a second after the wind effect begins.
  3. Shift-select all four layers, and then, in the Properties panel, click the stopwatch icons for the Position and Rotation properties to create initial keyframes for all of the layers.
  1. Go to 9:24.
  2. With all layers still selected, drag a Rotation value until the canvas is nearly horizontal (about 81 degrees). All four canvas layers rotate.
  1. Press F2 or click an empty area in the Timeline panel to deselect all layers so you can adjust their Rotation values separately.
  2. Adjust each Rotation value, using positive and negative numbers so that there is some variation in their appearance. (We used these values: Green +100, Red –74, Blue +113, Yellow –103.)
  3. Go to 10:12.
  4. Move all the canvas layers off the screen to the right. Vary their motion paths to make them more interesting. You can add intermediate rotation and position keyframes (between 10:06 and 10:12), edit Bezier curves, or just drag the canvas layers off the edge. If you edit the Bezier curves, make changes only to the keyframes on the right side of the motion path (at 10:12) so you don’t disturb the original balloon formation.
  1. Move the current-time indicator across the time ruler to preview the animation, and then make any adjustments you want.
  1. Hide the properties for all layers, and save your work.

Adding an adjustment layer
You’ll add a warp effect to the canvas. You can use an adjustment layer to apply an effect to all the layers beneath it at once.

  1. Click an empty area in the Timeline panel to deselect all layers.
  2. Choose Layer > New > Adjustment Layer.
    A new adjustment layer is automatically added to the top of the layer stack.
  3. In the Effects & Presets panel, navigate to the Wave Warp effect in the Distort category, and then double-click the effect.
  4. Go to 9:12.
  1. In the Effect Controls panel, change Wave Height to 0 and Wave Width to 1. Then click the stopwatch icons to create initial keyframes for each of them.
  2. Go to 9:16.
  3. Change the Wave Height value to 90 and the Wave Width value to 478.

Positioning and duplicating a video – Animating a Multimedia Presentation

When the character tugs the cord, flame should emerge from the burner. You’ll use the four-second Fire.mov video to represent the flame each time the cord is tugged.

  1. Go to 3:10.
  2. Drag the Fire.mov video in the Timeline panel so that it starts at 3:10.
  3. Select the Fire.mov layer, and choose Edit > Duplicate.
  4. Go to 7:10.
  5. Press the left bracket key ([) on your keyboard to move the In point of the duplicate Fire.mov layer to 7:10.

Applying an effect

Now that the balloon and character are taken care of, you’ll create the gust of wind that blows the canvas off the balloon. The Fractal Noise and Directional Blur effects will work well.

Adding a solid-color layer

You need to apply the effects on their own layer, which will be a solid-color layer. You’ll create a new composition for the layer.

  1. Press Ctrl+N (Windows) or Command+N (macOS) to create a new composition.
  2. In the Composition Settings dialog box, do the following:
    • Name the composition Wind.
    • Change the width to 1920 px.
    • Change the height to 1080 px.
    • Change the duration to 20 seconds.
    • Change the Frame Rate to 25 fps to match the Balloon Scene composition.
    • Click OK.

    3.Right-click or Control-click in the Timeline panel, and choose New > Solid.

    About solid-color layers

    Use solid layers to color a background or to create simple graphic images. You can create solid layers of any color or size (up to 30,000 x 30,000 pixels) in After Effects. After Effects treats solids as it does any other footage item: You can modify the mask, transform properties, and apply effects to a solid layer. If you change settings for a solid that is used by more than one layer, you can apply the changes to all layers that use the solid or to only the single occurrence of the solid.

    4.In the Solid Settings dialog box, do the following:

    • Name the layer Wind.
    • Select black for the color.
    • Click the Make Comp Size button.
    • Click OK.

    Copying layers into a composition – Animating a Multimedia Presentation

    You’ve worked with the balloon, character, and fire layers in the Balloon composition. Now, you’ll copy those layers into the Balloon Scene composition.

    1. In the Balloon Timeline panel, select the Canvas layer and then Shift-click the Upper arm layer to select all the layers in the composition.

    Note

    Make sure to select the Canvas layer first and then Shift-click the Upper arm layer to copy layers in their original order.

    2.Press Ctrl+C (Windows) or Command+C (macOS) to copy all the layers.

    3.Switch to the Balloon Scene Timeline panel.

    4.Press Ctrl+V (Windows) or Command+V (macOS) to paste the layers.

    5.Click an empty area in the Timeline panel to deselect all layers.

    The layers appear in the same order they were when you copied them, and they retain all the properties they had in the Balloon composition, including parenting relationships.

    Placing initial keyframes

    The balloon will enter the scene from the bottom, drift through the sky, and eventually depart from the upper right corner of the frame. You’ll keyframe the balloon’s starting and ending points first.

    1. Select the Balloon/Balloon.ai layer in the Timeline panel.
    2. In the Properties panel, change the Scale property to 60%.

    The balloon and all of its child layers scale to 60%.

    3.Choose 12.5% or 25% from the Magnification Ratio pop-up menu in the Composition panel so that you can see the pasteboard around the composition.

    4.In the Composition panel, drag the balloon and its child layers offscreen, below the scene. (We used Position values 844.5, 2250.2.)

    5.Drag the Rotation value to rotate the balloon so it tilts to the right. (We used 19 degrees.)

    6.Click the stopwatch icons (Stopwatch icon) for the Position, Scale, and Rotation properties to create initial keyframes.

    7.Go to 14:20 and scale the balloon to about one-third its original size. We used 39.4%.

    8.Drag the balloon off the upper right corner of the frame, tilted slightly to the left. We used the following values: Position 2976.5, –186; Rotation –8.1 degrees.

    9.Move the current-time indicator across the timeline to see the animation so far.

    Precomposing layers – Animating a Multimedia Presentation

    As you’ve seen in previous lessons, sometimes it’s easier to work with a set of layers. Precomposing layers moves them to a new composition, nested inside the original composition. You’ll precompose the canvas layers so that you can work with them separately when you animate them sailing off the balloon.

    1. In the Balloon Timeline panel, Shift-click the Green Canvas and Yellow Canvas layers to select all four canvas layers.
    2. Choose Layer > Pre-compose.
    3. In the Pre-compose dialog box, name the composition Canvas, select Move All Attributes Into The New Composition, and click OK.

    The four layers you selected in the Timeline panel are replaced by a single Canvas composition layer.

    4.Double-click the Canvas layer in the Timeline panel to edit the composition.

    5.Choose Composition > Composition Settings.

    6.In the Composition Settings dialog box, deselect Lock Aspect Ratio, change the Width value to 5000 px, and click OK.

    7.Shift-select all four layers in the Timeline panel, and then drag them to the far left side of the Composition panel. You may need to change the magnification.

    Increasing the width of the composition and then moving the canvas to the far left side will give you room to animate the canvas layers later.

    8.Switch to the Balloon Timeline panel.

    You moved the canvas to the far left side of the Canvas composition, revealing the uncovered balloon in the Balloon composition. At the beginning of the animation, though, the canvas should be on the balloon. You’ll reposition the Canvas layer.

    9.Choose Fit from the Magnification Ratio pop-up menu in the Composition panel so you can see the full balloon.

    10.Select the Canvas layer in the Timeline panel, and then drag the layer so that it covers the bare balloon in the Composition panel.

    11.In the Parent column of the Canvas layer, choose 5. Balloon from the pop-up menu so that the canvas will follow the balloon.

      Keyframing a motion path

      Now that all the initial pieces are set up, you’re ready to animate the balloon and the character using position and rotation keyframes.

      Importing the footage – Animating a Multimedia Presentation

      Next, you’ll import the footage you need for the project, including the balloon.ai composition.

      1. Double-click an empty area of the Project panel to open the Import File dialog box.
      2. Navigate to the Lessons/Lesson05/Assets folder on your hard disk, and select the Sky.ai file.
      3. Choose Footage from the Import As menu, and then click Import or Open.
      4. In the Sky.ai dialog box, make sure Merged Layers is selected, and then click OK.

      5.Double-click an empty area of the Project panel, navigate to the Lessons/Lesson05 /Assets folder, and select the Balloon.ai file.

      6.Choose Composition – Retain Layer Sizes from the Import As menu, and click Import or Open.

      7.Press Ctrl+I (Windows) or Command+I (macOS) to open the Import File dialog box again.

      Using Creative Cloud Libraries in After Effects

      Easily access images, videos, colors, and other assets you’ve created in After Effects and other Adobe applications. Through Creative Cloud Libraries, you can also use Looks, shapes, and other assets you create with Adobe Capture and other mobile apps. Creative Cloud Libraries also make it easy to access After Effects motion graphic templates in Adobe Premiere Pro.

      Even Adobe Stock images and videos are available in the Libraries panel: Search and browse assets within the panel, download watermarked versions to see how they work with your projects, and license the ones you want to keep—all without leaving After Effects.

      The same search bar you use to search Adobe Stock makes it easier to find specific items in your Creative Cloud Libraries, too.

      To learn more about all the ways you can use Creative Cloud Libraries, see After Effects Help.

      8.Navigate to the Lessons/Lesson05/Assets folder, and select the Fire.mov file.

      9.Make sure Footage is chosen in the Import As menu, and click Import or Open.

      Creating the composition

      You’ll create the composition and add the sky.

      1. Click New Composition in the Composition panel.
      2. In the Composition Settings dialog box, do the following:

      Note

      If you change Pixel Aspect Ratio or Width settings, the Preset name may change to Custom in the Composition Settings panel.

      • Name the composition Balloon Scene.
      • Choose HD ♦ 1920×1080 ♦ 25fps from the Preset menu.
      • Make sure Square Pixels is chosen from the Pixel Aspect Ratio menu.
      • Make sure the Width is 1920 px and Height is 1080 px.
      • Choose Quarter for the Resolution.
      • Set Duration to 20 seconds (20:00).
      • Click OK.

        3.Drag the Sky.ai footage item from the Project panel into the Timeline panel.

        The balloon will float across the Sky.ai image. The far right of the image contains the canvas-wrapped clouds that appear at the end of the scene. The wrapped clouds shouldn’t be visible earlier in the movie.

        4.In the Composition panel, drag the Sky layer so that its lower left corner is even with the lower left corner of the composition.