HOUSE M.D. Questions

HOUSE M.D. Questions

by Dalton Duncan

on Apr 8, 2011 at 9:17:45 pm

I was wondering, does anyone know how to do the extending nerve axon effect in the House M.D. intro with After Effects CS5?

I'm part of a high school class that is working on this intro for our news show, and we need to get it done asap so I can start on the Senior Video.

For what I mean, see (0.09) of the following video;

It doesn't have to be perfect, just similar. Thanks for any help! I will post when we finish! :)

Re: HOUSE M.D. Questions

by Joseph W. Bourke

on Apr 8, 2011 at 9:28:53 pm

Hi Dalton -

It sure looks to me to have been done in a 3D package, what with the nerve ganglion growing and rotating in 3D space. What you might do if you don't have 3D is to take some stills of tree roots (or go out and shoot some branches), cut the various branches apart so they still look attached (Photoshop), put the pivot points where the bases of the branches join the main trunk, then size them up over time, and maybe overlay a few of these in 3D space, all well blurred, so nobody can see how it was done. Look up "growing" on VideoCopilot for some specific ideas on this. Good luck!

Joe Bourke
Owner/Creative Director
Bourke Media
http://www.bourkemedia.com

Re: HOUSE M.D. Questions

by Dalton Duncan

on Apr 8, 2011 at 9:43:51 pm

This gives me a perfect plan. I've been very much too stuck in 2 dimensional, digital space. I will do something similar to what you said, though slightly different and without image editing. Maybe you could critique this idea?

I will get a plant root, clean it thoroughly, put it in front of our green screen, rotate it, and add a multitude of shining and coloration effects.

Re: HOUSE M.D. Questions

by Dave LaRonde

on Apr 8, 2011 at 9:30:37 pm

You can do it by animating paths (think of a mask that isn't a closed shape: that's a path) on a solid, then applying the Stroke effect.

It'll be 2D instead of Joe's 3D suggestion.

Dave LaRonde
Sr. Promotion Producer
KCRG-TV (ABC) Cedar Rapids, IA

Re: HOUSE M.D. Questions

by Carlos Angeli

on Apr 8, 2011 at 10:52:44 pm

I´m thinking animated masks in After effects. Also the different branches of the nerve could be in different 3D layers, to give more of a "volumetric" effect.

Another solution would be a 3D app, like Maxon´s C4D. You could use it with a 3D stroke plugin to create the nerve.

Good luck

Re: HOUSE M.D. Questions

by Jason Mettler

on Apr 10, 2011 at 10:10:39 pm

check out this tutorial:

http://www.videocopilot.net/tutorials/advanced_camera_tips/

Re: HOUSE M.D. Questions

by Dalton Duncan

on Apr 29, 2011 at 12:08:30 pm

As promised, our first aftereffects and premiere pro edited video: