too many layers for precomps even?! need to loop
by Ignacio Triana
on
Oct 6, 2008 at 5:46:08 pm
hello, I have a large composition in after effects CS3 that consists of basically the same couple shots. each lasting anywhere from 5-10 frames each.
to create a loop, or stutter motion, with this image, i'll have precomps of up to 30 layers of this same shots (staggered in points every 5 or so frames). these are then made into 3d layers and i'm doing a simple, short, z-axis movement with a camera.
but before i even get to this final stage, my composition which is up to 20 layers (each a precomp, with up to 20layers each) makes my after effects sluggish beyond functioning and will make my brand new mac pro tower freeze and i'll have to manually shut down after staring at the pinwheel spin for over ten minutes.
i realize that this project, or comp, is alot to handle for the computer but it's at a point where 2/3 of my time are in front of a pinwheel.
in terms of reducing these precomps (rendering them out as quicktimes is not desirable in this situation): i know one can set a movie to loop by selecting it with control and you can set the number of times to loop. but is there a way to set the interval of the loops? meaning not just loop: 3 times, but loop: 3 times every 2 frames or whatever?
i'm trying to address something in the software first before i have to start spending money on hardware (ram).
Re: too many layers for precomps even?! need to loop by Dave LaRonde on Oct 6, 2008 at 8:19:16 pm
[Ignacio Triana]"...is there a way to set the interval of the loops? meaning not just loop: 3 times, but loop: 3 times every 2 frames or whatever? "
No. AE's interpret footage settings let you do basic looping.
But you CAN save yourself a lot of render time by prerendering those precomps. In Days or Yore when a hot Mac ran at 266 mHz and had a whole 512 MB of memory, you had to do that a lot.
Dave LaRonde
Sr. Promotion Producer
KCRG-TV (ABC) Cedar Rapids, IA
Re: too many layers for precomps even?! need to loop by Roland R. Kahlenberg on Oct 6, 2008 at 8:43:06 pm
Your best bet is to post in the COW's AE Expressions Forum. And should you post there, you should state if you want some form of randomness in the playback of your frames.
Good Luck!
RoRK
broadcastGEMs.com - the leader in customizable royalty-free animated backdrops
Re: too many layers for precomps even?! need to loop by Roland R. Kahlenberg on Oct 6, 2008 at 8:44:31 pm
Your best bet is to post in the COW's AE Expressions Forum. And should you post there, you should state if you want some form of randomness in the playback of your frames.
Good Luck!
RoRK
broadcastGEMs.com - the leader in customizable royalty-free animated backdrops
Re: too many layers for precomps even?! need to loop by Kevin Camp on Oct 6, 2008 at 10:39:45 pm
a loop expression is pretty simple, i usually use them instead of the interpret footage method.
to loop footage (or a nested comp):
select the footage and enable time remapping (layer>time>enable time remapping). this adds the time remapping parameter to the layer with two key frames, the start point and the end point.
go to the end keyframe, page-up one frame and add a keyframe, then delete the end keyframe (this is to remove the 'blank' end keyframe and set the end point to the last real frame of the clip)
enable expressions for time remapping (option or alt click the stopwatch for time remapping) and type loopOut()
extend the in or out points as long as you need them, and the footage will loop until it hits the end point
now, say you didn't want it to loop the entire piece of footage, maybe just the last second. go to the point where you want to start the loop, add a keyframe to the time remapping parameter, and modify the expression to loopOut("cycle",1). this will cause the loop to start back one keyframe form the end keyframe.
you can also use loop expressions for other keyframed parameters... maybe you want to loop a position change for layer to move continuously from left to right across the screen. keyframe the move, the add the loopOut() expression to the position property and will move continuously until the end point of the layer. you can modify the values or the timing and the loop expression will continue to work...
you can learn more about loop expressions and the types of loops (cycle, pingpong, offset, continue) here or in the help file.
Re: too many layers for precomps even?! need to loop by Roland R. Kahlenberg on Oct 6, 2008 at 8:59:20 pm
Your best bet is to post in the COW's AE Expressions Forum. And should you post there, you should state if you want some form of randomness in the playback of your frames.
Good Luck!
RoRK
broadcastGEMs.com - the leader in customizable royalty-free animated backdrops
Re: too many layers for precomps even?! need to loop by Roland R. Kahlenberg on Oct 6, 2008 at 9:01:49 pm
Your best bet is to post in the COW's AE Expressions Forum. And should you post there, you should state if you want some form of randomness in the playback of your frames.
Good Luck!
RoRK
broadcastGEMs.com - the leader in customizable royalty-free animated backdrops
Re: too many layers for precomps even?! need to loop by Roland R. Kahlenberg on Oct 6, 2008 at 9:06:47 pm
Your best bet is to post in the COW's AE Expressions Forum. And should you post there, you should state if you want some form of randomness in the playback of your frames.
Good Luck!
RoRK
broadcastGEMs.com - the leader in customizable royalty-free animated backdrops
Re: too many layers for precomps even?! need to loop by Roland R. Kahlenberg on Oct 6, 2008 at 9:08:43 pm
Your best bet is to post in the COW's AE Expressions Forum. And should you post there, you should state if you want some form of randomness in the playback of your frames.
Good Luck!
RoRK
broadcastGEMs.com - the leader in customizable royalty-free animated backdrops
Re: too many layers for precomps even?! need to loop by Roland R. Kahlenberg on Oct 6, 2008 at 9:10:58 pm
Your best bet is to post in the COW's AE Expressions Forum. And should you post there, you should state if you want some form of randomness in the playback of your frames.
Good Luck!
RoRK
broadcastGEMs.com - the leader in customizable royalty-free animated backdrops
