Linking Particles to a Null with Particular
Back from the dead! Thanks for stopping by, here’s a new one for you that I think you’ll find very valuable if it’s not already in your workflow. I use this literally everytime I’m moving particles on a path, I find the technique much better than emitting particles from a light.
Linking your particle simulation directly to a null also gives you the ability to link multiple simulations to the same null and gives you the flexibility to really create some killer simulations.
Enjoy!!
Downloads:
Top 10 Semi-Underground After Effects Hotkeys
I’m a hotkey fanatic, in case you haven’t noticed. Yesterday Aaron Knapp dropped a shifty unknown-to-me photoshop hotkey right on my head, so in honor of that, here are my top 10 favorite underground* After Effects hotkey combos.
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cmd+up / cmd+downwith layer selected in timelineWhat it does: Selects the layer above/below
I use this hotkey a lot when I am in tight, nudging layers around with page-up and page-down and don’t want to go back and grab my mouse to select another layer. Bonus Tip: if you hold down
shiftyou can select multiple layers like this. -
shift+scrollwheelwhile cursor is in timelineWhat it does: scrolls the timeline left and right
I like this one because if I’m in super-animator-mode, and I don’t want to be breaking my focus looking for that damn scollbar or zooming in and out of my timeline, I can just use this baby. Wacom users, sorry you’re out of luck unless you have a fancy pen with a scroller. Bonus Tip: Use option+scrollwheel to zoom in and out… best of both worlds!
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EE(tap twice)What it does: reveal any expressions on a layer
I’m a big expressions user, so it’s a pain in the ass to be tracking down expressions and having to twirl down the expressions window all the time. EE, and you’re ready to code.
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cmd+option+shift+EWhat it does: applies the last used effect
This one is just handy, there’s not any particular time I use it more often.
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cmd+option+zeroWhat it does: brings your render queue to the front
This one I love too, because I like a really clean work area and I don’t enjoy seeing my Render Queue all the time. Personal preference, but the render queue is for rendering times only, otherwise I don’t want to see it.
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shift+cmd+EWhat it does: removes all effects from selected layer
What do you mean the client doesn’t like my exorbitant use of Shine and Starglow‽ This is my creative vision we are talking about here!! FINE! I’ll just delete everything!
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cmd+option+shift+vWhat it does: toggles selected layer visibility
Couple this with the Bonus Tip from #1 and you’ve got yourself a pretty nifty workflow.
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shft+F9 / cmd+shift+F9What it does: toggles easy-ease keyframe in/out
I’m actually surprised at how few people I see use this hotkey. It was one of the first ones I learned in After Effects and I use it all the time. I’ve seen way to many people using the right-click menu to set their easing. Another way I know not many people use this, is everytime I sit down at a new studio running OS X, and I hit
cmd+shift+F9, Expose’ gives me the middle finger and I have to go to the OS X prefs and turn it off for the 5 millionth time. -
option+dbl-click any keyframeWhat it does: shows the keyframe velocity dialog
Maybe it’s the programmer in me, but thinking in numbers instead of battling the f-curve editor in After Effects is just faster for me. Over the years I’ve gotten pretty good at knowing exactly what numbers I need to use to get the visual I want, and this is the quickest way to get it. Also, this is GREAT when you are trying to smooth out keyframes with secondary motion, it’s much easier to pop this dialog open and set your speeds for in/out equal to each other, then it is to try to match your curves in the pseudo f-curve editor.
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cmd+j / cmd+shift+j / cmd+shift+option+jWhat it does: toggles resolution Full/Half/Quarter
Another one of my faves to finish off the list. I like to work at low resolutions whenever possible, but sometimes you need a quick hi-res preview to see how things are going… use this to go from quarter to full and back to quarter in the blink of an eye! Bonus Tip:
cmd+option+jwill throw you into your last used custom resolution mode.
So, there it is. 10 of my favorite After Effects hotkeys. I could go on for days, but I think there’s a Dunbar’s Number for learning hotkeys in one sitting, so I’ll leave it at this for now.
What did I miss? What are your favorites? Leave ‘em in the comments!
Free themographblog.com t-shirt** to anybody that can name a hotkey that I didn’t already know - I’ll be honest I swear.
*underground status is derived from the following equation: (FrequencyOfUse/NumberOfUsersThatKnowItOutOfOneHundred)*100…. ok not really
**I don’t have any TMB t-shirts, so you can’t actually win one. But I will bow down to your uber-hotkey authority.
Nesting Cameras in After Effects Using Expressions
I use this technique in a lot of my projects, and I have seen others use it too it’s a pretty common task - but what I don’t see very often is people using the activeCamera property. If you don’t use activeCamera and instead write your expressions with hard-coded layer names, you’re bound to break your expression somewhere down the line. This video will show you how and why to use activeCamera when nesting AE cameras into precomps.
Loop Particular the Right Way
Download the After Effects file for this tutorial:
I’ve seen this question floating out on the web a few times, and I personally run into it often when I’m working on broadcast stuff. Most of the time I see people recommend just fading your particles off, or crossfading between to layers, but I don’t like that. Here is a video about my workflow on how I make Trapcode Particular loop “the right way”.
5 tips to Speed up your After Effects workflow
I’ve worked with a lot of other artists over the last 8 years and sometimes you work with people and think “Damn they turn stuff out quick”. Other times it’s the exact opposite, and you’re convinced they must have slipped in to a coma because how on earth could that logo resolve take so long to animate…
To no suprise, much of the delta between these scenarios comes from workflow. A smooth workflow and the ability to adapt for each project are crucial characteristics of a successful animator. I’m going to share 5 of my favorite After Effects-related animation workflow tips.
Using Unmult on Whites
For years and years Unmult has been one of the best free (and essential) plug-ins out there. If you don’t already use it, Unmult (though certainly offering a more technical role… but I’ll leave that to Stu and Mark) is often used to simply “knock out the black” from a layer in After Effects. For example, say I have a sexy lens-flare that I want to have alpha everywhere the flare is not… sure, I could put the layer in “screen” or “add” mode, but I don’t want to fuss with transfer modes and how it will affect my composite. So in steps Unmult - apply to your layer, and BAM, alpha everywhere you want and not where you don’t.
Ok great, so that works fine for black backgrounds. WTF, the headline says unmult on whites - what are you on about? What if I have a layer with a white background that I want to knock out?