June Sale : Text rotating in 3D Space
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I saw a similar animation to this someplace online and I thought it was pretty cool, so I thought I'd recreate something similar. (Note: It's been found! This tutorial was inspired by Chaise Two of Chaise DVD Magazine. It's such a cool piece! Thanks Michelle Higa of Slanted.org for the link.)
This project uses 3D layers, cameras and lights, so it's a good introduction to those features of After Effects. We'll also use a null object and set up Parenting, so if you've got a good grasp of the basics in AE, this is the tutorial for you.
I'll also use DigiEffects Cinelook, which is one of my favorite plug-ins. Cinelook 2 just came out and it combines broadcast resolution and film resolution into one plug-in, so if you haven't upgraded to Cinelook 2.... what are you waiting for? It's just so much fun and so versatile. It can make crummy footage look edgy and hip or video look like film, so it's saved my butt a couple of times.
Make the Text
- Create a new comp in After Effects. Mine is 320x240, square pixels, 3 seconds in duration, 29.97 fps and with a light gray background. Call it "June Sale Final". To change the background color, press Command-B/Ctrl-B.
- Select the Type Tool from the Tools palette. Did the Character palette open? You can click the "Auto Open Palettes" checkbox. The Character palette won't open right away, so after you check the box, click on another tool, then click back on the Type tool. The Character palette should open. Click on a Select a teal color in the foreground color in your Character palette.
- Click on your Comp window and type the word "JUNE" in all caps. I used Arial Black since it's nice and heavy.
- Click on the Title/Action Safe button on the bottom of the Comp Window. This will bring up cross-hairs in the middle of the comp window. Position JUNE so that the bottom lines up with the middle of the crosshairs.
- Click down again with the Type tool, making sure that you create a new text layer. Type "SALE". Position it so that the top of the text is lined up with the crosshairs in the middle of the screen.
- Track your text, using the Character Palette, so that the width of JUNE and SALE are exactly the same width. They need to be aligned horizontally with the center of the screen.
Animate the Rotation
- Now, we need to pre-compose each text layer, separately. Select JUNE. Layer>Pre-compose. Select Open in New Window. Go back to the June Sale Final comp and Pre-compose SALE in the same manner. We'll bounce back to those comps in a bit.
- In June Sale Final comp, check the box to make SALE Comp 1 and JUNE Comp 1 3D layers.
- Select both SALE Comp 1 and JUNE Comp 1, then press the R key to bring up the Rotation parameters. Click elsewhere to deselect.
Set the Orientation of SALE Comp 1 to 33,0,0. Set the Orientation of JUNE Comp 1 to 123,0,0.
- Time for a null object. A null is usually that which has no value (nothingness). This Null Object is invisible, but will have a value. This will be linked to both of the layers and cause them to rotate. Using a Null Object to do this is simply easier than keyframing each layer individually.
To create a Null Object, go to Layer>New>Null Object. A layer called Null 1 will appear in your timeline. - Name Null 1 a 3D layer by checking the little isometric square, then go to 1:00 in the timeline. Cmd-G/Ctrl-G to bring up the Go To dialog box and then enter 1, followed by a period. Press OK.
- With Null 1 selected, hit the R key to bring up the rotation values. Set the value of X Rotation to -1 x -120.
- Go to 1:19 and set a keyframe for X Rotation with the value of 0 x -120.
- Select both keyframes for Null 1 by clicking on the word X Rotation. Now apply Easy Ease to smooth out the motion. Animation>Keyframe Assistant>Easy Ease.
- Is the Parent column available to you? If not, bring up the Parent column by clicking the little black arrow on the right side of the timeline to bring out the flyout menu.
- Go to the Parent column and set SALE Comp 1 and JUNE Comp 1 to 1. Null 1. See below.
At this point, this is what your movie should look like.
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