Lesson 2: Compositions and Animations CMM204 – Digital Media Effects

Chapter Objectives Learn how to create a composition Add source footage as layers Navigate in both space and time Learn concepts such as safe area, grid guide and ruler overlay in the composition panel

Topics to be covered Adding a new composition The different panels Adding footage to a composition Layers Navigating in space Navigating in time Animating position Animating scale

Adding a new composition There are several ways to creating a new composition –Select Composition then select New Composition –Press Ctrl+N –Click New Composition from the bottom of the project panel

The Composition Panel Displays the image you are creating at the current point of time in sync with the timeline panel Center region of the panel is the stage Grey area around the panel is the additional working area

The Timeline Panel Control animations Contains a number of columns that displays various parameters for the layers used in a composition

Adding footage to a comp There are several ways to add footage to a comp –Drag the footage in the project panel to the desired comp in the project panel –Drag the footage in the project panel to the comp panel, you can position it to your liking here –Drag the footage in the project panel to the timeline panel

Layers Source in a composition are known as layers Comps can have an unlimited number of layers Layers typically stack in the topmost item in the timeline panel

Keeping Tabs on Multiple Comps When you have more then one comp in your project you will see them in tabs in the timeline panel Click on the tabs will bring that particular comp forward in the comp panel

Navigating in space You can zoom in/out in the comp panel using the zoom tool (Shortcut key: Z) You can move the image using the Hand Tool ( Shortcut key: H) You can click on the selection tool when you are done (Shortcut key: V)

Resolutions It tells After Effects how many pixels to render when calculating the images to shoe in the comp/layer panels Different resolutions available –Full –Half –Third –Quarter Reducing resolution frees up more RAM for preview

Quality Set on a layer-by-layer basis in the timeline panel Has three options –Best –Draft –Wireframe

Navigating in Time Live update is the behavior where dragging the current time indicator will change the current frame in the comp panel You can click on the time ruler in the timeline panel to go to that particular time You can zoom in/out in the timeline panel with the slider at the bottom of the panel

The work area Is a resizable bar in the timeline bar that resides directly below the time ruler Used as a section to foretaste the animation

Safe Areas Are areas where the images can be projected without being over scanned A.Grid B.Title-Safe Zone C.Action-Safe Zone D.Overscan

Animating Position Open a comp Turn on the animation stopwatch under position Set a keyframe at the start of the timeline Move to the ending timeline that you want and set a keyframe In the ending timeline change the position values to the preferred values

Keyframes Auto Bezier Keyframe –Creates smooth angle in & out of a keyframe Continuous Bezier Keyframe –Better control of the curves of the motion path Bezier Keyframe –Able to create any combination of straight lines and smooth curves Linear Keyframe –Straights and hard angles in the motion

Pen Tool Used to break and retract handles in motion Create mask and shape paths Shortcut key is G

Navigating Keyframes Keyframe navigators consist of a left and a right arrow and a diamond-shaped checkbox in the center Prevents new keyframes from being created when trying to edit keyframes

Transformations There are 5 different transformations –Anchor point Starting position of the object –Position Current position of the object –Scale Size of the object –Rotation Degree of rotation of the object –Opacity Transparency of the object

Animating Scale Open a comp Turn on the animation stopwatch under Scale Set a keyframe at the start of the timeline Move to the ending timeline that you want and set a keyframe In the ending timeline change the scale values to the preferred values

Thank You!