Shape Layers vs. Masks
by Jakob Christensen
on
Jan 7, 2008 at 5:33:56 pm
Hi!
I want to make a 2D animation about two brain halves that can't cope with each other. This is my first After Effects animation so I don't want to mess things up in the beginning.
Is it better to make those brains with shape layers or to put them into a solid layer as masks?
Also, when making shape layers, shall I put the eyes and mouths into the brain halves' shape layer or is it better to make a seperate shape layer for each element (left brain, left brain half's eye, left brain's mouth, etc.).
I noticed that you cannot group shape layers. Is that true or did I just miss something?
Are there any other important things that I need to know for the beginning?
Re: Shape Layers vs. Masks by Jon Etheridge on Jan 7, 2008 at 8:40:06 pm
Hello Jakob,
I love the idea for your short and I defiantly want to see it when you finish. As far as shape layers go you are right, you cannot group them. But you can parent them. (link them to one another) Check out a tutorial on parenting if you can find one. It will save you tons of time.
My biggest recommendation though is not to draw all your layers in after effects. I would use photoshop or illustrator, whichever one your better at, to construct the cartoon. You can get way more detailed. But yes, DO make separate layers for each element. I would set it up like this.
The Body as the bottom layer (except for your background of course)
The eye whites parented to the body
The eyes pupil layer parented to the eye whites.
Above the eye whites and the eyes put the eyes blinking, then all you have to do is keyframe animate the opacity on the blinking layer up and down again and it gives a great illusion of your character blinking. Parent this layer to the eye whites layer.
Mouths are a different story all together. For me the best result has been to create several mouth layers (like and O layer and an Ah layer, ect.) and bring them in when needed by key-framing the opacity. Studying an episode of south park will help you get the idea. Or you could create a mask and animate it frame by frame. Seems to me that could take longer. Either way make sure you parent the mouth layer(s) to the body.
I hope this helps. I invite you to check out my first after effects animations I did a few years back using simple shapes made in photoshop.
It's rough as hell and I didn't know what parenting was at the time but it turned out OK. It still yells the story. Right now I'm working on one that I hope to pitch to adult swim and it's much better. I promise. Good Luck to us both eh? Cheers :)
Re: Shape Layers vs. Masks by Jakob Christensen on Jan 9, 2008 at 7:57:25 pm
Hi Jon,
Thank you very much for your long answer and helpful tips. I am absolutely amazed by your animation! The house, the kid, the monsters...everything fits together so well!
I have so many questions.
How did you create the shadows and that 3D look? Everything looks so three-dimensional. I would have never thought that far.
How long did it take you to complete the animation?
Did you create the soundtrack by yourself? If so, what software did you use? And where did you get the sound effects?
To be honest, I have never made an animation before. Furthermore, I cannot draw very well. However, I know quite a bit in Illustrator and Photoshop. Actually I like Illustrator more than Photoshop but what is the best way to import Illustrator shapes into After Effects?
Parenting the shapes is a good idea. At least I know the basics of parenting from Maya.
I hope you will let me know when your animation is finished. I definitely will buy a copy of it, that's for sure. ;)
Thanks for the inspiration and keep up the good work.
Re: Shape Layers vs. Masks by Jon Etheridge on Jan 10, 2008 at 2:45:43 pm
Hey Jacob.
Thanks for the nice words.
The shadows create themselves. In After Effects on your timeline beside each layer is a set of buttons to the left of the parenting tool. The one that looks like a square turns any layer into a 3D layer. (2.5D really, because it just becomes 2D objects in 3D space) If you click it you now have control of the Z axis. If you work with maya you should be instantly familiar with how to move objects in 3D space so thats good. Now if you go up to your menus to Layer>New you can now add cameras and lights. The lights create the shadows just like in maya but make sure that all your layers have the cast shadow option on.
This animation took about 2 1/2 months to do. I would try to do one or two shots a night then edit everthing together in Final Cut.
I created the soundtrack in garage band and I pulled all the sound effects from Soundtrack. The big monster sound was an alligator growl slowed waaaaay down.
Illustrator is a great program to know and it goes with after effects very easily. First create your character parts but MAKE SURE they are all separate LAYERS. If you put all your pieces into one layer then this wont work. Once you have every layer complete just go into after effects and File>Import> your illustrator file and wha-la. All your layers should come into the timeline, do the parenting thing and your ready to go.
One more nifty trick for you. Since these are illustrator files they are vector graphics. If you click on the button that looks like a little sunshine it will constantly rasterize the layer you apply it to so you'll be able to zoom in as close as you want and not loose quality.
If you have any more questions, feel free to ask. e-mail me when you finish the animation
Re: Shape Layers vs. Masks by Jakob Christensen on Jan 19, 2008 at 2:23:27 pm
Hey Jon
Sorry that it took me so long to reply. School semester is coming to an end and I have a lot of stuff to do.
Things have changed a little. I will apply for a technical college for Multimedia Art in Salzburg (I'm not sure what it's called in English). Now I need to do an animation and a sountrack for a specific topic in order to have a chance to be one of the 70 people (out of 300) that will be chosen.
Thus I'll need to leave the brain animation for now (hopefully I can do it in summer) and concentrate only on that topic.
I will make the animation with After Effects though because I find it so much cooler than Flash.
It's good to know that Illustrator integrates so well with After Effects. I have been playing around with the 3D functions in AE. That 2.5D thing is really awesome!
However, I guess I need a storyboard before getting started. What were the first things you did in the beginning?
Did you do the soundtrack before animating or the other way around?
Is it a good idea to take some time and learn expressions? I read that expressions can save a lot of time.
I will start the animation in two weeks when school's over. Then I'll have plenty of time.
Until then I will think about the story some more.
Thank you again for your help. I feel much more motivated than I did a couple of weeks ago. Your funny animation gave me a lot of inspiration. I've watched it about six times already and it still fascinates me every time I watch it.
Oh, before I forget: How many frames per second should the animation have?
Re: Shape Layers vs. Masks by Jon Etheridge on Jan 19, 2008 at 10:51:08 pm
Hello Jakob
When I first start a project I first draw out my designs. Then recreate them or scan them into photoshop. I think story boarding is very important. It gives you a feel for the piece and will save animation time because you'll already know your shots.
I did the soundtrack after I completed the short with Soundtrack Pro (go figure). :)
There is a great tutorial on lip syncing here on the cow. Heres the link.
