Animating the Filmstrip


"Now is the time on Sprockets when we dance!" In other words, it's time to animate the strip of film to run across the screen. The film will go across the screen at different speeds, slowing down so the viewer can see particular sequences playing within the filmstrip frames and appreciate all your hard work, and then speeding up to fast-forward through some sequences. In addition, you'll animate the filmstrip's Scale to add a sense of space around the filmstrip as it appears to move closer to the user.

Follow these steps:

1.

Add a Position keyframe to the Film Strip layer at time 0:00, and set the Position to 160, 940; this value moves the entire layer offscreen and just below the composition's bottom edge.

2.

Go to time 2:00, and change the Film Strip layer's Position to 160, 600. This moves the filmstrip upward and across the Comp window.

3.

Go to time 2:15, and change the Film Strip layer's Position to 160, 150.

4.

Go to time 3:00, and change the layer's Position to 160, 340.

5.

To make the filmstrip hold its current position from time 3:00 to 4:15, go to time 4:15 and put a checkmark next to the Film Strip layer's Position property in the Timeline's A/V Features column. Doing so adds another Position keyframe with the same value as the previous one.

6.

Go to time 5:00, and change the layer's Position to 160, 0.

7.

Go to time 6:00, and change the Position value to 160, 340.

8.

Still at time 6:00, add a Scale keyframe with a value of 70, 70%.

9.

Go to time 8:00, and change the layer's Scale to 100, 100% and Position to 160, 630.

Simulating motion blur

To make your animated filmstrip even more convincing, it should appear blurred when it's zipping by at its faster speeds. To exaggerate the motion blurring, you'll use a blurring effect and animate the blurriness so that the filmstrip goes in and out of focus as it slows down and speeds up:

1.

Apply Effect > Blur & Sharpen > Box Blur to the Film Strip layer. Set the effect's Iterations to 3 and Blur Dimensions to Vertical.

2.

Go time 2:00, and add a Blur Radius keyframe with a value of 0 to the effect. This value leaves the movie in focus; no blurring occurs.

3.

Go to time 2:10, and change the effect's Blur Radius to 30.

4.

Go to time 3:00, and change the effect's Blur Radius to 0 to bring the movie into focus again.

5.

Go to time 4:15, expand the Box Blur effect in the Film Strip layer, and put a checkmark next to the Blur Radius property in the A/V Features column to create another Blur Radius keyframe with a value of 0.

6.

Go to time 4:20, and set the effect's Blur Radius to 30.

7.

Go to time 5:00, and change the Blur Radius to 0.



    Adobe After Effects 6.5 Magic
    Adobe After Effects 6.5 Magic
    ISBN: 0321267230
    EAN: 2147483647
    Year: 2005
    Pages: 236

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