After Effects Render Specs

To export an After Effects file as a playable quicktime, you need to render it out through the render queue.

The best luck I've had, in terms of file quality, was to render out a lossless QT file from After Effects, then re-export that QT file through MPEG streamclip with the proper video and audio compression settings that we need for projecting at the planetarium.

To render your file from AE, go to:

Composition: add to render queue

That will open up the render queue where your timeline usually is.

From there, choose:
Render settings: best settings
Output module: click on lossless, make sure audio is checked in the dialog box that pops up, and choose lossless for that as well.

Then, click on the "render" button at the upper right hand corner of the render queue.

Once you've rendered that QT movie, open that file in MPEG Streamclip, go:

File > Export to Quicktime

With video compression settings set to H264
And audio compression settings set to MPEG-4 AAC
Click on "De-Interlace Video."

After Effects tip sheet

The tutorials that I am basing this assignment on are here:

http://library.creativecow.net/tutorials/adobeaftereffects/camera

And here are a few tips, for easier reference:

Settings for the project:
1920x1080 pixels (remember, only a center circle of 1050 pixels will be projected)
Open AE, select "New Composition," make sure it's set to HDTV 1080 29.97

Making a layer a 3D layer:
Clicking the cube in the layer allows it to be 3d

Setting keyframes:
open up the layers with the triangle - to set keyframes, click on the stopwatch. You'll get a keyframe setter between the two arrows on the left of the layer.


Looping a video clip:
Select in properties window, then File / Interpret Footage / Main will give you access to a looping parameter

Particle system - the system used in the tutorial is under:
Effects and presets
Simulation
CC particle world

Layer>New>solid

Creating a camera:
Layer>New>camera

Create a null object:
Layer>New>Null Object

To right of camera layer, select "Null 1" where "None" is displayed, to "parent: the null object.

To copy and paste properties:
Shift or command select the properties in the layer, then command-c to copy - click the layer where you wish to paste the properties, and command-v. By giving the null object the position properties of your layers, you can direct the camera to point directly at those layers.

Due Tuesday, 4/10: Sketches for your AfterEffects Project

A reminder: come to Tuesday's class with some sketches showing elements of the virtual 3D environment you'll be sending your "camera" through for the AfterEffects project.

Starting Video Assignment: The YouTube Doubler

As a start to the coursework looking at digital media for projection (as opposed to print), you have a Split Screen assignment, due on Thursday. You should use the youtube doubler to make a mash-up of two videos currently hosted on youtube. Remember that juxtaposition is key to this sort of approach -- how do the two videos relate to each other, when they're presented simultaneously, side-by-side. Connections can be on a formal level (shape, color, rhythm) or a content level (having one video "commenting" on the video beside it).

Please paste the URL of your doubled video in the comments section of this blog post; if you can't post comments, then email me the URL at my school address.

Here's the doubler:

http://youtubedoubler.com/

Here are links to some of the split screen examples I showed in class:

Sisters:
http://youtu.be/c88HD5-m39o

Rules of Attraction:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dzv_B-f0t9o

500 Days of Summer:
http://vimeo.com/29879349

Chelsea Girls:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwwNntW3RBg

Here are links of doublers I made a couple years ago:

Soothing:
http://youtubedoubler.com/14H1

The stuff of nightmares:
http://youtubedoubler.com/wlU

What's due for Tues, April 3

At the beginning of class on Tuesday, you need to have three things done:

1. Your tweaked, finalized six interior pages for the lulu book, exported as a pdf with the bleeds included (to include the bleeds in the export, when you go File >> Export, export it as a an Adobe PDF (Print), and in the dialogue box that appears, from the options on the left, you can choose "Marks and Bleeds." Once you click on that, there is a "Bleed and Slug" dialogue box, and in that, check the box for "Use Document Bleed Settings." That should export the pages with bleeds.

IMPORTANT NOTE: I actually goofed up when mentally converting inches to picas when I gave you the bleed settings for your InDesign document. 1p5 is not an eighth of an inch, it's a quarter inch. And unfortunately the picas setting in InDesign doesn't seem to recognize 0p75 (which would be an eighth of an inch) as a valid value. So you'll need to convert your InDesign document settings to inches, and then set the bleed as an eighth of an inch. to do that, in InDesign, go to "inDesign" in the top left menu, like so:

InDesign > Preferences > Units and Increments
And in the dialog box, select the horizontal and vertical ruler units as inches instead of picas.

After that, in the upper menu, go:
File > Document Setup, and in the bleed section, set the bleeds to .125 inches

Then you should be good to export with bleeds.

2. Your finished cover art for the book -- "The Lunch Box." This should be sized to 8.75in x 8.75in (the book is 8.5x8.5, so this includes and eighth of an inch bleed). You should own all the rights to the images you use on the cover.

3. I want you to bring in some example of an ad or page layout that you find, in a magazine, a book, or online, that you can step us through in terms of how you think the image was put together -- what settings in Photoshop, Illustrator, or InDesign were used? On Tuesday, I'll have you present the image, an verbally walk us through a kind of "reverse engineering" process for it.

Recap on a couple of the InDesign tips

Spellcheck in InDesign is located under the "Edit" menu: Spelling : Check Spelling

To adjust hyphenation settings, select the text you want to adjust the setting for, and then under the "Window" menu: type and tables: paragraph

Once the paragraph menu is open, click the little triangle in the upper right corner, and in the submenu that appears, click hyphenation. That gives you access to hyphenation parameters and the hyphenation slider.

AND A REMINDER: you six lulu pages are due at the beginning of Monday's class.

Note for Tuesday, March 6

Hi all. My apologies for not showing up today, I'm very under the weather – feeling like death warmed over, pretty much, but I picked up some antibiotics and will definitely be there this thursday, even if I'm still feeling crummy, so we can have a decent check-in before spring break.

I was going to have you look at each others' two-page spreads today, so we could all get some ideas, and you could get some feedback on your designs. Instead, I'll just have you push on and continue to work on your six pages. It would be great if you could have all six pages laid out by the beginning of next class, and then we'll look at your work on Thursday. I'm sure I'll have tweaks and changes from there – I want to be really focused on the text/image balance, and the layout of the text in particular. I have a couple more things to share about InDesign, which I'll do Thursday, towards that end.

There is a link on the left sidebar to this blog that has some online InDesign reference. I'd recommend you show your current work to whoever sitting next to you, to get some feedback in process. Again, sorry to not be there today, but have a good work period – I'm looking forward to seeing your pages on Thursday.