How do i add a seperate camera and null to a seperate layer

How do i add a seperate camera and null to a seperate layer

on May 20, 2013 at 2:14:32 pm

Im using the camera and null object to make asteroids fly past the frame. However when i add a new layer (asteroid) and add a new camera and null the original camera and null effects the new layer as soon as i add the 3d button. Is there a way to add a new camera to each layer so that i can zoom them seperately or do i have to render out each layer (asteroid) as a seperate project and then composite them all together in a master project. Any help would be appreciated . Cheers

Re: How do i add a seperate camera and null to a seperate layer

by Ridley Walker

on May 20, 2013 at 4:58:22 pm

In After Effects cameras are layers and each time you add a camera it becomes the Active camera at the point it appears in the timeline.

The topmost camera layer is what is rendered, so if you have more than one camera at the same time, only the top one will render.

I'm trying to visualize what you are hoping to achieve when you say "zoom them separately" – do you literally mean zoom as in moving the camera on the Z axis towards the object, or are you moving the objects on the X axis? Is the null controlling the camera or the object?

Re: How do i add a seperate camera and null to a seperate layer

on May 20, 2013 at 8:39:35 pm

Hi thanks for responding. Ive got the camera attached to the null so that the null is controling the camera movement. Imagine the two layer each is an asteroid rock and the are both outside of the viewer in the composition. As the null makes the camera zoom out eventually both asteroid come into the viewer and get smaller as the null continues to make the camera zoom out. I want to know if there is a way to make the asteroid come into the viewer independantly so for example one could move at a different speed to the other. I thought by adding another null and camera and assigning them to that particular asteroid i would be able to do this but as you said the top camera dominates and so controls both. Can you advise cheers

Re: How do i add a seperate camera and null to a seperate layer

by Cassius Marques

on May 20, 2013 at 9:08:05 pm

How about you animate the asteroids instead of the camera? Like it would be in reality?

Re: How do i add a seperate camera and null to a seperate layer

by Ridley Walker

on May 21, 2013 at 2:46:24 am

[mark dowie] "I want to know if there is a way to make the asteroid come into the viewer independantly so for example one could move at a different speed to the other"

Is something preventing you from animation the position of these object independently?

Re: How do i add a seperate camera and null to a seperate layer

on May 21, 2013 at 3:01:55 pm

Hi guys ive never animated before does this require frame by frame re sizing and positioning or is it simpler than that. Could you give me a quick proceedure for how i would animate multiple asteroids to fly into view and dissapear/ shrink int

Re: How do i add a seperate camera and null to a seperate layer

on May 21, 2013 at 3:02:41 pm

Re: How do i add a seperate camera and null to a seperate layer

by Walter Soyka

on May 21, 2013 at 4:28:32 pm

After Effects uses something called keyframing -- you can define "poses" for the asteroids at different points in time, and Ae will tween them: that is, calculate all the in-between frames.

If you're new to After Effects, I'd recommend the following link, in which Adobe's Todd Kopriva pulls together some important introductory materials:
http://blogs.adobe.com/toddkopriva/2010/01/getting-started-with-after-eff.h...

Walter Soyka
Principal & Designer at Keen Live
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