// Tue 2009.08.4 17:40 // {after effects extendscript}// [after effects bug extendscript]
Just a quick note about a bug and an optimization when scripting After Effects CS4 (and probably earlier versions, too).
addProperty() bug
When adding several effects, each addition invalidates the object variable references to earlier ones. Here’s a code fragment which shows the problem and the solution.
var comp = app.project.activeItem;
var layer = comp.layers.addNull();
layer.name = “null_layer”;
var slider1 = [...]
-->// Mon 2009.07.6 18:00 // {after effects}// [after effects expressions]
After Effects is just about my favorite software application. Very elegant model, and a clean & responsive UI.
But I think I can articulate two well-considered features that would boost its utility quite generally.
Feature Request 1: Foldering
// Sat 2009.05.23 23:31 // {after effects pixel bender}// [3d after effects modo]
This is a rendering simulating an image projected onto a simple 3d scene. There’s nothing too exotic about it, except that the projection was done in 2d, in After Effects.
And… here’s a moving sequence of the same scene. With old family movies.
[...]
-->// Sat 2009.04.18 17:04 // {after effects}// [3d after effects lighting modo]
Here’s another variation on additive lighting tricks…
This one is a little experiment using After Effects’ spotlights on still images which have been rendered with similarly-located light sources.
Here’s one of the several still images.
And here’s a short movie showin a little more of the procedure, and some results.
[...]
-->// Tue 2009.04.7 21:05 // {qt_tools}// [dvd qt_tools quicktime video vob]
My dad recently transferred all his (our!) old 8mm movie reels to dvd. We’re talking 1957 to 1972 for this first batch. He sent me copies, three dvd’s worth.
It was pretty painless; he used yesvideo.com, which distributes through Costco. I think the pickup and delivery was at Costco. Quality seems a bit blurry, but maybe [...]
// Sat 2009.04.4 10:49 // {houdini}// [3d houdini]
Lately been trying 3d apps, looking for my next toy.
Quick recap of 3d software that I’ve used or recently tried:
LightWave. Fluent. This app has everything except proper instancing. Crufty bizarro-world interface… and yet, gets the job done. Expressions and scripting available.
modo. Fluent. Smooth as silk. Clean and modern UI. Like lightwave, but from this universe, [...]
// Wed 2009.04.1 07:21 // {after effects}// [after effects compositing lighting modo radiosity]
Long, long ago I saw an article or talk by Paul Haeberli, of SGI. Oh, he covered many interesting and clever graphics tricks. One of them was the idea of “synthetic lighting”, or, “doing lighting in post”.
He has a page about it, here.
The idea is pretty simple. If you have images (or animations) of individual [...]
// Tue 2009.03.17 00:27 // {after effects}// [after effects expressions]
Here’s a little movie that demonstrates a text track being used to “trigger” the opacity of another track.
one-part.mov
[...]
-->// Sat 2009.03.14 14:20 // {after effects pixel bender}// [after effects pixel bender]
Here are some super short notes about using Pixel Bender inside of After Effects CS4. This post is just another dicing of the available info culled from the After Effects help, and the Pixel Bender Developer Guide.
But it’s the stuff that I most needed to get started, as well as a handy copy-and-paste source for [...]
// Fri 2009.03.13 22:15 // {after effects}// [after effects]
Joy!
I finally have returned from several months away, back into the usual routine. My fresh copy of After Effects CS4 was waiting! (Thanks so much, you know who you are!)
Verrrry brief first impressions.
Darker, Darker
I love how each successive version is a bit darker, more mysterious looking. It’s just like Luke Skywalker, remember how in the [...]
