1. Narrative Motion Graphics
Lesson G: Photoshop for Filling Images
Atmospheric Effects: Paint Particles, Fog, Animated Texture
Color Correction: Enhancement, Integration, and Color Grading

2. Final Projects Pitches: Professional Project Examples
Due this week was your project pitches. As you consider how to create maximally impactful visual experiences based on these ideas (or any other final ideas you choose), consider these examples from professional creators: “To This Day”: Multiple animators contributed to the visualization of this spoken word poem, many of them using Motion Graphics. “Arctic Drilling”: A promotional video for the World Wildlife Federation by Planet Nutshell. “Exploozy”: An advertisement for a company that purports to offer software that makes free explainer videos.

3. Homework #7: MIDTERM: Final 2D-to-3D
Due at our next class meeting is your midterm: the final 2D-to-3D film. This is a longer combination of two sliced depth images showing distance and using a variety of effects to create a visually meaningful journey seconds long, with audio. The midterm is NOT worth more than the other projects: it just means you have an opportunity to include a lot of what you have learned so far. You have seen how to use Depth of Field (keep draft 3D off), how to use a Null to manipulate multiple slices at a time, how to track footage to incorporate other elements, how to animate text in many ways, including along a path, and shapes with Transforms and Puppetry, all of which can work in 3D space. Today we will discuss atmospheric effects you can use to fill the distances between layers, how to use precompose and Luma Matte to animate textures inside of a slice, and how to use color correction in your films, all of which will help to form a more tangible reality for the world you are creating. So many tools at your disposal! QUESTION: Structurally, what are ways to combine the slices of these two images?

4. Photoshop Filling In Layers 1
Your 2D-to-3D project ultimately needs well-cut and filled Layers in Photoshop: cleaner layers with more carefully cut edges, and with missing areas filled-in to remove any gaps that would be visible in the animated film.
Here are the 3 main tools and methods for filling gaps in your layers:
[METHOD #1] Use the Clone Stamp [s] to copy parts of your image elsewhere on the layer.
Click the Clone Stamp tool or hit [s].
Hold the [Alt] key to sample an area of a layer. This can be any layer, as long as that layer is currently selected in the Layer Manager.
Release [Alt] key to draw in desired (selected) layer. This can be a different layer than the sampled layer: pay attention to layer you have selected when sampling and when drawing.
Note the Aligned setting on the top toolbar when Clone Stamp is active.
Off: every new draw starts a new placement of the sample-start. On: each new draw in a new location tracks the relative position from the sample-start.

5. Photoshop Filling In Layers 2
[METHOD #2] Use Content Aware Fill to get a head-start on filling a space before refining with clone-stamping.
Select an area of an image (or a missing area outside of the image) using the marquee tools: Rectangle, Oval, Polygon or regular Lasso.
Hit Edit menu > Fill and for Use: select Content Aware Hit [OK] to populate that space with the surrounding visual data.
This technique can be used for removing thin objects like the wires in practical stunt effects, for continuing the pattern in fabric or architecture, or the irregularity in a ground (sand, dirt, grass, rocks, etc.). A Fill almost always needs to be cleaned-up afterwards.

6. Photoshop Filling In Layers 3
[METHOD #3] Use Paint and Erase Brushes to fill details.
Use a hard brush. Adjust opacity. Hit [ or ] to change brush size. Hold [Alt] to color pick.
To draw a straight line, click one end of the intended line, hold down [Shift], click the other end.
Create a selection with the Polygon lasso tool to limit what is drawn, or select an area and hit [Delete].
FILES: File > Save your Photoshop file (yourname_projectname_work.psd).
To make each of your project layers available for After Effects, make PNG copies:
Make the layer visible in the Photoshop Layer Manager, hide all other layers.
File > Save As, choose Format: PNG, choose name and location, hit [Save]
After revising your fly-through layers, save over those layers. In the After Effects Project panel RightClick those layers and choose Reload Footage.

7. Atmosphere Effects
Making a 3D fly-through feel more substantial and tangibly real can be accomplished through camera effect like animating Depth of Field and turning on Motion Blur for your image layers, and also by considering the space between the 2D-to-3D layers. In addition to animating the image layers, try adding animated text to follow a mask-line through the space, or a visible line animated with Trim Paths (see lesson 4). We can also make the space feel more substantial with particle systems. Consider dust particles moving between photograph layers, or pieces of paint hanging between painting layers. Or imagine a fog surrounding your images, so they are only revealed as we move closer to them. Include these only if they feel like a meaningful fit for your project.

8. Atmosphere Effects: Image Particles
Let’s try making pieces of paint hang in the air with a particle system that references provided source images:
Create a new Comp: 1280x720, 10 seconds
Add your small image to the comp
Add a new Solid. With the Solid selected: Effects > Simulator > CC Particle World.
In the Effects panel set these parameters:
Particle > Particle Type to “Textured Square.” Texture > Texture Layer: choose image Max Opacity =100%, Birth and Death colors = white so image is un-tinted.
Producer > Radius x/y/z= 2.0.
Physics > Velocity =0 and Gravity = 0
Birth Rate = 0.1, Longevity = 10
For more paint chips, duplicate the particle system layer, change the Texture Layer, Producer Radius, and Extra > Random Seed.
Source notes:

9. Atmosphere Effects: Fog
Let’s make some fog, to create layer contrast or hide content in a layer behind we don’t want to see:
Create a new Solid Layer, locate between your current layers
Under Effects/Presets search for Fractal Noise and add it to the new Solid.
With the layer selected hit [Cmd/Ctrl]+[Shift]+[n] to add a new mask, and then [Cmd/Ctrl]+[t] to transform. Drag the mask down to the desired height. Set the Mask Feather to 90.
To animate the fog, go to the Effects panel to set keyframes:
Evolution: at frame 1 = 0, at final frame =2
Transform > Offset Turbulence: key at frame 1, slow drift on X at end frame.
To make the effects gentler, RightClick the layer to set Blending Mode to Screen, hit T to set opacity to 50%.
Source notes:

10. Atmosphere Effects: Animated Texture
Add an animated texture to a layer to create an atmospheric effect, like water caustics (light bouncing off of water below) or leaves blowing in the wind from trees, above:
Select the layer you want to affect, RightClick to Precompose (leave properties above, default).
Enter the precomp and add the animated texture above the image layer.
RightClick the animated texture to set Blending mode: try Multiply, Overlay, or Screen.
To crop the texture layer so it matches the outline of the image layer, create a Luma Mask:
Duplicate the image layer, place above the texture layer.
Apply Effects > Color Correction > Hue/Saturation. Set Saturation down to 0 and Lightness to maximum, to make the layer white.
Select the Texture layer, and set it to Luma Mask the layer above.

11. After Effects Color Enhancement
Color Correction is a big topic, including: [A] enhancing a layer’s colors [B] integrating diverse elements into the same hue, saturation, and value ranges [C] color grading the overall film experience for a specific look and feel [A] BASIC COLOR ENHANCEMENT: When it comes to representing depth, we want foreground colors to be the most saturated, to have the highest contrast (darkest darks and lightest lights), and to show the most detail. Try Effects > Color Correction > Hue/Saturation, like in Photoshop. Curves is a great effects for color enhancement: Select a layer and apply Effect > Color Correction > Curves. The graph by default is set to change all color (RGB) channels. If we click and drag on the line to make an S curve, we can see all of the color contrast enhanced. If we change the channel to just one color, like Blue, we can adjust a line for just that color, to make it more or less prominent.

12. After Effects Color Integration 1
[B] INTEGRATE ELEMENTS: Curves can also adjust one layer to match another, one color channel at a time: Place a character layer above a background. Select the character layer and apply Effects > Color Correction > Curves. In the viewport, find the color channel display (interlocking triangle of circles). Try the red, green, and blue filters to see where darks and lights in the two layers most differentiate. In this example they are fairly similar in the red channel, so the reds in these images must already be well-matched. The greens need a little work and the blues need a lot.

13. After Effects Color Integration 2
We fix the matching between these two images by having the same viewport color filter and Curves color channel active, and then adjusting the Curve line for that specific color channel until the darks and the lights in the two images appear to be a better match. For example, if both the Blue view filter and the Blue Curves channel are active, we can lower the Blue to match the darks. Same for Green! Move the curve bottom lower to make the layer darker and the top higher to make it lighter, until it matches the other layer. When all channels match in value, the colors in RGB will also match. 

14. After Effects Color Grading
[C] Color Grading is the process of adjusting the full stack (all layers in the shot) for a particular look and feel: a specific hue or set of hues, level of contrast, darkness or lightness of values, and saturation. In this way we put a stylistic stamp on the film that filters the shots through our aesthetic vision. Note the shots on the right from Donnie Darko, Marie Antoinette, and The Grand Budapest Hotel. None of these shots had these colors in the original footage; all were significantly adjusted to bring out the Hues, darks, and saturations the director desired to enhance the emotions and meanings of these shots and films. To effect all layers in a sequence in After Effects we add a Layers > New > Adjustment Layer. Any color correction or other effects applied to this Adjustment Layer will affect everything below it. In addition to establishing a specific look and feel for the shot, when building a composite from multiple sources an Adjustment Layer can be useful as a final pass to help these layers integrate.

15. AFTER EFFECTS FLY THROUGH: Animation
ANIMATE CAMERA:
Choose initial camera position/orientation, open camera transforms and enable all animation switches. By default, all keyfreames are type linear (point to point), and we want to convert them to a more gradual, bezier system: With all keyframes selected, RightClick/Keyframe Assist/Easy Easy.
At desired time (3 seconds later) set new camera position/orientation. 
Go one step further: Add Depth of Field!: 
a) Under transforms, go to Camera Options, turn on Depth of Field, and keyframe Focus Distance (rightClick to change to Easy Easy). 
b) In 2-view (top view), set camera depth of field line to initial distance desired. 
c) Increase aperture = 150 and increase blur =200%
Use puppetry pins to animate characters in the scene.
Fly Through Clouds:
Using Projection for moving between walls/floors: youtube.com/watch?v=cf21za9iuCo
After Effects 3D Flythrough Steps
AE:
AE:
PS:

16. GRAD STUDENT VFX PRESENTATION:
To gain graduate credit in this course students must prepare and present a 5-10 minute presentation on a VFX topic in After Effects. This is typically a presentation about how a combination of effects and systems in After Effects can be used to accomplish a particular visual goal. If the presentation can be delivered with a single effect or in much less than 5 minutes it is likely not a good fit for this assignment. Find one or more tutorials, online or in the suggested text. Submit to the class Piazza “VFX Presentations” folder for approval (first posted, first claimed). Practice and prepare your own typed list of instructions and sample files. Practice again to be sure it can be delivered in 5-10 minutes. Post steps and files in response to your link post, and present in class weeks The grade is for well-prepared materials and a well-delivered tutorial. Choose something you might want to use in your final project, or just that you think is awesome.

17. HOMEWORK 7
Due on Piazza hw7 an hour before class next week: HOMEWORK: ALSO: 2Dto3D #3: Re-envision your 3D-flythroughs as a combination of 2 paintings and/or photos with significant depth seconds, include a sound track. Revise your Photoshop layers to fill-in missing areas using Edit > Fill > Content-Aware, Clone Stamp tool, and Brush painting. Revise your After Effects animation. Consider VFX like clouds, fog, shaped particles, rain, Depth of Field, color correction, and animation of elements (Trim Path lines, animated shapes, text, puppetry pins or hierarchies) to impact the experience. Keep your 3D Camera movement smooth and consistently-forward through the space, avoiding sudden jerks or reversals. FINALLY: Please acquire and read David Mamet's "On Directing Film" before week 9 class (very short, exceptional insights into visual storytelling for film).