Page turning with 3D Layer Warp

Page turning with 3D Layer Warp

by Bill Fant

on Jul 6, 2009 at 7:30:33 pm

Anyone know where I might find a tutorial on this or something very similar?

I need to animate page flipping while showing facing pages similar to the above animation. I have downloaded a demo of the Zaxwerks 3D Warp plug-in and I've been able to create the basic animation of one page flipping to another, but it is very rigid. I need to apply other warps (probably Bend One Side), but I cannot find the right combo.

Thanks in advance,
Bill

Re: Page turning with 3D Layer Warp

by Edward Wu

on Jul 7, 2009 at 5:39:14 pm

Hi Bill,

To do a similar page flip, here are the values you can adjust in 3D Warps. First, you need to set up the "X Position" for your pages. The X Position allows you to set up where you want your page to be. Next, you will need to adjust the "X Center". The X Center value should be half of the width of your page. If the page is 360 wide, then the "X Center" will be "-180". The value need to be negative because you want the page to turn from right to left, so the center point has to be moved to the left.

To animate the page to "flip" from left to right, keyframe the "Y Rotation" values, and it will flip from one side to the other. However, by doing this, you will run into the issue where the page flip appears "rigid". This is where the "Warp Amount" (Using "Bend One Side") will help. First, set up the "X Warp Center" value to be the same as your "X Center" value. Then, keyframe the "Warp Amount" value to increase as the page is turning. This will help the page look fluid as it's flipping from one side to the other.

You can play with the Warp Amount values to give the page flip the right feel for your animation. I don't know of any 3D Warps page flip tutorials, but hope this helps you out nonetheless.

Best,
Edward

Re: Page turning with 3D Layer Warp

by Bill Fant

on Jul 7, 2009 at 8:12:10 pm

Thanks Edward!

I created a calendar flipping from top to bottom and it looks pretty good. Still need to add some shadows & shading, but the basic effect is done.

Here's the approach I took (since I needed it done pronto):

1) Added starting view spread to layer and disabled view
2) Added ending view spread to layer and disabled view (this view was flipped both horizontally and vertically in Photoshop first)
3) Created a solid and applied 3D Layer Warp
4) Set starting view layer as my Color Map in plug-in dialog
5) Set ending view layer as Backfacing Color Map
6) Set Warp 1 Style to Fold One Side / Warp Axis: X Axis (I'm folding downwards)
7) Keyframed Warp Amount from 0 (start) to 199.9 (end) (this takes care of fold top to bottom)
8) Set Warp 2 Style to Bend One Side / Warp Axis: X Axis
9) Keyframed Warp Direction starting with 90 then to 150 about 25% into fold then back to 90 at end

Your approach sounds similar. I posted my process for others to try as well. There doesn't seem to be much info or any tutorials for page turning since many times this is done with a 3D app.

Re: Page turning with 3D Layer Warp

by Edward Wu

on Jul 7, 2009 at 11:04:12 pm

Hi Bill,

The calendar looks great! Good to hear that you were able to figure it out for your project.

Thanks for taking the time and sharing your techniques!

Best,
Edward

Re: Page turning with 3D Layer Warp

by Josh Keenan

on Nov 17, 2009 at 11:34:34 am

I've followed your steps but changed it to a traditional sideways book. The pages flip from right to left.

Where you had 'X' I changed to "Y". This all worked perfectly until step 9.

"9) Keyframed Warp Direction starting with 90 then to 150 about 25% into fold then back to 90 at end"

After I did that the left side flipped properly but it was the right side that curled.

Could you please tell me in the same style as your steps what I should enter to make the left side (the side that flips) curl.