Titles, Slates and End-boards

In this session we looked at 3D tools and masks.  The first task we did was create the assets that would be used in our After Effects work, which we did on Illustrator, using 5-10 layers and set up using HD settings. For my work I took inspiration from the sequence shown to us at the start of the session which featured the title 'Jojo in the Stars' which had been animated along with some images of stars. I felt the idea of a single word that had a simple image to represent that word like 'Stars' was quite effective so decided upon the word 'Rain' using an appropriate font, with quite a heavy weight so any applied textures could be seen, and drew some simple shapes that would be 'rain drops' which I felt would work well. 

Once the assets had been created these were imported in to After Effects on a new Composition with the 'retain layer size' option selected so the different layers created in Illustrator would be the same when imported and be editable. 

Then we looked at toggles, switches and modes and made sure all layers had the 3D option turned on. We then focused on X and Y rotation - how you spin objects in 3D space. We applied this to the text and staggered the layers so the letters would animate in turn, but made sure all animation of text had happened by 4 or 5 seconds. To make the letters 'spin' we changed the values to 360 degrees.

We then created a background layer, using a flat block of colour and made this the same size as the comp, and chose an appropriate colour, mine being grey to reflect a grey sky behind the 'rain'. This flat background layer was placed behind all other layers.

After this we imported a texture we had found, to be used to fill the letters and objects. Firstly we selected the layer we wanted to work on, selected 'layer new' then the option pre-compose, and then the 3D layer attribute, which meant that everything stayed in a new comp by selecting 'leave all attributes in main comp' option. Double-clicking this opened a new comp which appeared in the time line. Then we dropped the texture in to the background and then using the track mats option, in the toggles, switches and modes selection and clicking 'alpha mat' the texture was 'pushed through' the object/letter.

The next thing we did was apply styles to layers, by choosing 'layer new' then 'layer styles'. The two styles I looked at and applied were the 'bevel and emboss' and 'drop shadow' effect. The bevel and emboss style changed the look of the depth of the object and a inner or outer bevel could be chosen. The drop shadow effect affected the outline of the object and 'pulled out' the shadow from object.  I then copy and pasted my layer styles on to each object so the effects were identical on other layers.

The final technique we looked at was masks, a post-production technique. We created a new black solid, selected a new layer then selected the mask layer option, the mask option then appeared in the timeline. Then we adjusted the width and height and the feather , which softened the edges of the mask.

Here is my final clip:

Overall I am fairly happy with how this turned out, as I managed to follow all the instructions correctly and apply all the effects covered in the session so that my final work plays properly and the applied effects work well.