Extreme Z axis on After Effects? « Videomaker Community

shippocaio
Member

Hey guys. So, the other day i was making a quick video for my sister (REALLY QUICK! I made it in 40 minutes or so...) on After Effects, and i was working in 3D. Well, the values for my X,Y, and Z axis were huge, about 7 thousand and something... So my question is if those values normal or am i controlling the camera in a wrong way? The way i do it is just to create a Null Object, add the "Separate XYZ" effect to it (So i can control each one individually), and i parent the camera to it. but after some time, working with those inmense numbers get really confusing and frustrating!

So, any tips on how i should control the camera to get smaller values?

Btw, if yall need to see how "far" the camera was moving, here is the video. The language is in portuguese, so i am sorry if yall dont understand it... =D

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Posted 3 months ago # Login to Send PM
Eventvideoguy
Member

That is pretty cool. How long have you been working with After Effects?

Posted 3 months ago # Login to Send PM
composite1
Moderator

Shippo,

Contact Andrew Kramer at: http://www.videocopilot.net. If anyone can answer your question he can.

Posted 3 months ago # Login to Send PM
shippocaio
Member

EventVideoguy, i am glad you liked it. i have been watching some tutorials on videocopilot.net for a few weeks now, but i am really dont know how to really use AF by myself. I kinda got how to do the 3D movements that i used on the video a day before i actually made the video. That's why it is not really "professional" (Oh, the fact that i am a 14 years old and and my school's computer that has AF is crappy also helps =D) LOL

Composite1, i sure will sent him an email. I just wanted to see if anyone here knew, and if i got an answer, someone who had the same question i have could also been helped.

Thanks guys!

Posted 3 months ago # Login to Send PM
composite1
Moderator

Shippo,

Odds are very few if any folks in these forums have done an AFX project on the scale you're working on. I've worked with AFX for a few years now and never pulled down numbers like you're talking about. However, Andy does that kind of stuff everyday. Info's where you find it and you'll find a lot of VM forum participants who if they can't answer your question directly, will point you to someone who can.

When you get an answer, feel free to update this post. I wouldn't mind knowing the answer myself.

Posted 3 months ago # Login to Send PM
Coreece
Member

First of all, there are many ways to control camera movement within AE and all are going to be frustrating especially for newer users...it's just giong to take time and practice....no way around that.

Using both the null object and XYZ Seperate plug-in together are supposed to make it a little easier to keyframe the camera movement, however when using the XYZ Seperate you are now basically limited by having to control the movement by either changing the coordinates manually or by sliding the X, Y, and Z axis within the effects control panel, which as you found out can be a little tedious when working with large coordinates...

I generally like to just use the null object without the XYZ Seperat plug-in allowing me to keyframe the movement by actually moving the null object within the composition itself instead of using the effects control panel, thus illiminating the need to actually know what my coordinates are since i'm just using a visual reference...you just have to be careful because now the X,Y, and Z coordinates aren't seperated and any new keyframes or changes placed between exsisting keyframes can cause many problems and screw up the movement...

As you can see, both methods have their advantages and disadvantages....it's basically a trade-off and getting used to your preferred method....

You can also try creative cow tutorials to help you understand camera controls and other methods to achieve the movement you desire.

Posted 3 months ago # Login to Send PM
SargeHero
Member

Shippocaio

I was wondering how have you done that awesome animation so fast. I import a few pictures to After Effects and make a 3D animation, but I didn't knew that by parenting the camera to the null object the camera is much easier to control. I did my animation moving the camera "Point of Interest" and "Position" and my God it was awful. Why didn't parenting the camera to the null ever cross my mind? I now laugh at myself, but well this happen a lot when learning.Thanks for sharing how you did it.

I have seen huge X,Y, and Z values when I import a 3D model from Google SketchUp (it happen with some models. Here its a post I did about this: http://videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/3d-models-for-your-movies-using-google-sketchup). I haven't figure out how to make the values less without the 3D model disappearing from the canvas.

Posted 1 month ago # Login to Send PM