Courtney's Advanced Computer Applications Journal

This is the unlisted link to my creative application:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vc3cLJOnbro I pulled a long all-nighter creating this application video for an advertising internship I was dying for. Luckily, my basic skills in AE were helpful in making the video have some fun visual interest without having to relearn the effects all over again. I also used a voice-over application online for the intro in my video. Something interesting with this was that I had to keep altering the volume of the audio vs my stock music I chose. Another note on the stock music- I found that it is so much easier and exciting to find music that has very sharp beats and a "chorus" even if there are no lyrics.  I adjusted audio using the audio panel and dragging/sliding the adjustor up and down until it felt more balanced.  I was happy to also throw a mask of fire behind my name whenever possible to give it some memorability. I learned how to do this because of learning basic masking tec...

 I did this in a previous tutorial, but I figured it would be good to cover it again so that I would be able to remember it more easily.  I downloaded some camera shake effects earlier from an animator and wanted to use them, but I had to search how to get them into AfterEffects.  I went to Finder and chose Applications. I then found the AE folder and clicked it. There, a Presets folder is the one you need to choose. Then, I found the correct folder that I wanted these effects to be listed under (there are multiple categories).  Something I struggled with was finding my effects in the AE application-especially since it was already open to my correct comp and I did not want to close out. I found these specific folders in the Effects folder to the right in the program under "*Animation Presets". It did not show up at first, so I did some sleuthing and realized I had to click "Refresh List". This did the job. Viola! I was able to refresh, find the effect I needed, and ...

In order to avoid extra shots of filming a phone and then the character reacting to a text they received, there is an easier way to combine both in one shot. In this method, Graphics on-screen can also make your film appear outdated quite easily, especially if you're setting it in a future/science-fiction world, where graphics could look increasingly more "ridiculous" as time goes on. It has become popular now to just display text on the screen in plain, unfiltered, simple text over the video. This makes the film look "phone-agnostic", meaning it would make sense on an early flip phone AND a futuristic gadget.  I got this information here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9JCnHMO4Sc&list=PLiHybYpWvASFukxYOlSw9DdmFxquaLT3z&index=20 I thought the tutorial might show me how- but it was more explanatory on why we do this. So, I created a quick clip to showcase the third method.

 Here is the original tutorial I based this post on: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zb2UiX3Ws3Q&list=PLiHybYpWvASFukxYOlSw9DdmFxquaLT3z&index=7 If you were doing some basic product shots and wanted to add some movement, more specifically a transition with a little more action than just a standard cut zoom in. This is a basic "cheat" effect from using your actual camera lens. I am just using one stock footage clip of Pexels, so I will have to adjust accordingly for the tutorial.  I aligned one cropped/zoomed in version of the clip perfectly over the full clip. I then put the close up layer underneath the wide shot.  Now, I am animating the crash zoom.  I will be doing this by creating a null object and naming it Crash Zoom.  I turned off the visibility of the closeup so I could just focus on the null object and then I zoomed in my close up shot/changed the scale with keyframes. Now, to make it more interesting I am using the speed graph to give it a...

An expression is just a piece of Javascript code that you can insert into the properties of shapes, texts, and media. A script will tell the application to do something, but an expression will inform the individual property of a layer when instructing the property, like scale, opacity etc., to wiggle within the set parameters. This is much faster than continually animating the media back and forth. I watched a tutorial in which the animator had an end card on a commercial with a visible parallax between the foreground and the mountains he included. He also added a "3D push in".  First, select the layer you want to animate. Then hit p to open up the position transform properties.  Then hit option on Mac and click on the stopwatch to create the expression. Then TYPE: wiggle (frequency# USING 2 ,amplitude# USING 50). This expression reads as wiggling 50 pixels twice a second.  I used a png from work- we make social media posts for ESPN's Armed Forces Bowl. I also added a sim...

 I am beginning where I left off in my last post, so I redid the steps on another project and am now using ANIMATE, ROTATE and rotating the selected text to 20. Then, under my range selector I do the same thing, changing the offset to -100 and my 1 second offset to 100. Then I easy ease it.  When I did it initially, it actually looked a bit stiff, so I went back into my -100 keyframe on offset and just switched it to 100 instead! I never thought I would use the Offset feature as much as I do, but once I began getting the hang of it it was not hard to do.

 While I have already learned some reveal tricks, I found a tutorial that does it a different way and is able to create less "static" reveals than the original tutorial I had watched earlier.  Step one was to create a composition and add text, then draw a rectangle in a shape layer and have it sit below your text, not completely over top. Name it MATTE, put it below the text layer, and drop the SET MATTE effect on your text layer. The select the Invert Matte feature.  Then, go to the text layer and hit ANIMATE and POSITION. Then animate the OFFSET and set it to 100 after placing the keyframe. Use Easy Ease and then play around with the speed graph.  Under Advanced, change the shape to RAMP UP and then change the OFFSET on the first keyframe to -100. This is just a way to make it look much smoother.  I really like the way this looks! I never thought about going into the speed graph and adjusting it but I'm glad I did.

1. A nice way to easily present text in a clean fashion is the "Fade Up Character" preset. I like this one because it looks more professional and minimal, which means I can even use this effect on projects that do not accept a lot of extra frills.  2. Next up is Wheatfield, which is a much more organic looking present. This is a nice tool not to fade in or fade out but to add a peaceful element to a project that includes slower music etc. I would describe it as "slinky". 3. The “Slow Fade on Preset” is from the 3D reveal folder. It’s a great way to create a really dramatic reveal, possibly with music in the background. 4. Next is “Blur by Word”, and I honestly am sad I didn’t know about this earlier. I was using the usual gaussian blur effect and applying it to my text for a project and adjusting it with keyframes. It’s true that the more you know, the faster you can work. 5. Lastly, my final effect I am exploring is Typewriter. I have actually learned this one befo...

 Today I will be exploring features I can add to my typography toolkit to continue to add more visual interest to projects. 1. The first preset I am exploring is called DATA STREAM. This one is interesting because there is a detailed text animation already worked into it, which will save me some time if I have a lot of information and desire to make it look "jumbled" at first 2. The second is rotating hue. This may be one of my favorites because, like the others, I can simply use the keyframes to adjust how fast and slow I want it to go and if I want it to stop on a certain color. Simple, yet effective at getting attention! 3. Next up I learned how to add the "Drop in By Character" preset. I would have to have a certain intention when using this effect, because it honestly reminds me of when I worked with iMovie in middle school. 4. Under the 3D text folder there is a preset called "Rotate in By Character". This could be added for a nice text reveal. Like ...

 Today I will be learning how to put either text, a logo, or whatever graphics I wish behind a mask to animate them using AfterEffects. When I am using just text, all I need to do is use the CMD/SHIFT/N shortcut to create a perfect mask around my text. You can use the Text > Animate tool specifically for text and have a variety of effects that follow. It is very important that I use the Animate button from the text menu, because if I simply use position, the mask will move with it- doing no desired effect. Once I have the Animator 1 drop down menu added, I select it and then alter it with the position tool underneath it. You can use keyframes to have it move in any direction you desire.  When animating a logo, you can create a new shape layer to start out. Select the rectangle tool over it and put it directly over the logo. When I click on my logo again, I have to make sure it is below my shape layer on my timeline. I then select toggle switches in modes, which pulls up my ...