In the second part (which did not get recorded) we’ve created a Christmas tree using Trapcode Particular and 3D Serpentine. Also – I gave away a copy of Zaxwerks Serpentine, Toolfarms AE Camera Training, and my very own Youveelizer plugin.

It was much fun. See you next year.

If you ever struggled with your After Effects 3D camera than this tutorial is for you. Learn to rig your camera in seconds or buy a my script that will do it for you.

Click here to watch the video tutorial

Get Simple Camera Rig Script 1.0 (CS3) for only 14.90 USD

I don’t know about you my friends, but each time I’m thinking about using After Effects camera I get the shivers. It’s good for panning and zooming, but once you start to make a more classy and smooth motion, or you want to sex it up a bit with some curves you get into trouble. You need to keep track of zoom, point of interest, position, orientation and rotation keyframes all at once. We should be very grateful for Separate Dimensions feature in After Effects CS4, but it does not solve all the problems.

In this tutorial I will show you a technique that is widely used in camera animation by many artists that work in 3D Studio Max, Cinema 4D, or any other 3d application. I hope it will open your eyes on the subject of camera animation, and that you’ll start making your own more complex rigs. Good luck. Enjoy the tutorial.

And for those of you who don’t have time to build the rig each time you need to use it here’s a handy script that will set up the camera and the rig for you. Enjoy!

Get Simple Camera Rig 1.0 (CS3) for only 14.90 USD

UV mapping finally available in After Effects. Check out this amazing tutorial to learn how to integrate your 3D artwork with After Effects to improve your workflow, save time and money. It’s a must-see!

Click here to watch the video tutorial

Dear Friends! This one is huge! From this day forward you are able to take your 3D render and replace textures or even add reflections and environment. Watch this tutorial to learn how to work with my new Youveelizer plugin.

In a nutshell all you need to do is to apply the Youveelizer to a layer with a UV render pass to apply a texture to a rendered 3d object, or to a Normal render pass to add reflections. All 3d objects should be rendered out from a 3d application such as 3d Studio Max, Maxon Cinema 4D, or any other 3d package capable of rendering UV and Normal render passes.However it’s sometimes difficult to render out a nice UV pass. A solution to that problem may be simply applying a texture that simulates a good UV map. That’s why I’ve included a nice 2000×2000 pixels “uvmap_texture.tif” in the product package. It’s a 32bpc texture representing UV coordinates. Please note that the UV pass needs to be rendered at least at 16bpc, and you should also work in 16bpc or 32bpc mode in After Effects.

Youveelizer is a great tool to help you with your 3D renders and composits, and if used wisely, it can in some cases completly elimitane 3D rendering process. It’s compatible with CS4 and above, and works on Mac’s and PC’s. Enjoy!

Further info
This is the post where it all started – UV Mapping with Pixel Bender. If you’re completely new to the concept of UV maps and Normal maps check out Lutz Albrecht’s article on Working with UV data

Get Youveelizer 1.2 (CS4, CS5) for only 29.90 USD

Update
The plugin is now available for purchace. Check out the Youveelizer tutorial for more info. Read on if you’d like to learn more about the concept of UV mapping, or just watch the Youveelizer tutorial.

UV Mapping (source: wiki)
UV mapping is a 3D modeling process of making a 2D image representing a 3D model. The map transforms the 3D object onto an image known as a texture. In contrast to “X”, “Y” and “Z”, which are the coordinates for the original 3D object in the modeling space, “U” and “V” are the coordinates of the transformed object. This creates the effect of painting the image onto the surface of the 3D object.

Every 3D application is capable of generating UV maps and rendering out a UV pass. What if we could use those UV maps in After Effects to change textures, replace 3D screens, change pictures hanging on our 3D walls, or even add reflections to our 3D models?

I did some tests and came up with a very rough Pixel Bender plugin for painting an image onto a surface of a 3D object using UV maps. Here is the result of the first test.
This technique opens up new opportunities to cutting down render times and making changes on the fly inside After Effects. There are some problems that need to be faced, but all and all it looks promising. I’ll keep you posted. The tutorial and plugin should be available after publishing all of the 4 tutorials I have already announced. Two of them are already online, so it shouldn’t be longer than two weeks. I’d do it now, but I’m a bit busy (for a change).

Update
The plugin is now available for purchace. Check out the Youveelizer tutorial for more info.

It’s finally here. Trapcode Particular 2. Check out this video tutorial to learn more about my favorite new features.

Click here to watch the video tutorial

We’ve all been waiting for this moment. Trapcode has finally released the second version of the most popular plugin in the After Effects world – Particular. In this tutorial I’ll present some of the new features of this amazing plugin creating four small projects. We’ll start off slowly and then move to some more advanced things, but as always – Peder Norby (who is the founder of Trapcode and the plugin developer) had made all the new features super easy, and the Particular itself is now even more accessible and robust.

Below is the list of those four mini projects we’ll be creating in this tutorial along with the features they explain. If you want to see the results there’s a video on my YouTube channel.

1. Light Streaks [Streaklet, Shading, Position Subframe, Light Emitters]
2. Dark Alley [Shading, Trapcode Lux, Light Falloff]
3. Micro Particles [Textured Polygon, 3d Rotation, Spherical Field, Emission Extras]
4. School of salmon [Textured Polygon, Orient To Motion, Motion Paths, Turbulence Field]

This tutorial is very brief on all the subjects, but it will surely fill your head with some ideas and hopefully make you create something that you’ve always wanted to do, but never had the tool to do it. Well… now you have it – Trapcode Particular 2. I will be making more tutorials on this amazing plugin, so stay tuned.

As a side note: you can support this site by buying Trapcode Particular at Toolfarm, or if you already own it you can simply get Trapcode Particular Upgrade. Trapcode plugins are one of the few that I recommend for any After Effects user to have in his toolbox – whatever you do, at some point you will need it, so get it now.

Download: Tutorial project file (After Effects CS3)

You think you need a 3D application to create something like this? Well… think again. Nice DNA chain made entirely in After Effects and Trapcode Form.

Click here to watch the video tutorial

Three dimensional shapes are pretty hard to create in After Effects. Usually you are forced to use some 3D application like 3D Studio Max, or Cinema4D. But there are exceptions. As I mentioned in my blog post More 3D stuff coming soon some time ago I will be posting more of these tutorials to show you how much of 3D you can actually have in After Effects.

This tutorial was originally made for AETuts.com. It focuses on using Trapcode Form and it’s layer maps as a main tool to create an illusion of three dimensional shape.

Download: Tutorial project file (After Effects CS4)

Download: Tutorial project file (After Effects CS3)