3D modeling and After Effects 7

[Smob]

I am trying to find a way to improve my ability to do 3D modeling/animation that works well with After effect 7. I could move to CS3 Master Collection, but can't handle the price. I am currently using ULead's Cool3D, but am looking for something better. I recently located "Art of Illusion" that seems pretty cool.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

[blazer003]

Well, depending on how serious you are into getting into 3d (just text, or actual 3d animation) but I have been a Blender user since 2002 and it is the greatest free program there is. It is 75% (and always growing) of what 3ds max is and it is completely free! I do all kinds of animations with it for announcements, sermon illustrations and the like. If you want full featured modeling and animation, you can do just about anything but the most advanced character animations, and you can't beat the price.

As for getting it into After Effects, I've never really messed with that but you should be able to export in a format out of Blender that will import nicely.

[Smob]

I got blender. Pretty kool! I'm now working throu the Noob tutorials. I am planning to render some things in 3d animation with blender and then use the effect overlays in AE. I've done something similar with Cool3D in the past.

Thanx for the suggestion.

[Smob]

BTW, could you post a small example of something that you have done with blender?

[MediaGuy]

here's one I did - everything at the beginning up to the live action (except the car, which was done in Corel Draw) was made in blender, and then imported into Vegas, and then composited together to make the final roll-in. Notice the break as the road fades out and the logo fades in... Two different Blender projects. I'm not that good, but I bet a master could make that seemless.

VBS 20005 intro

[blazer003]

Unfortunately the site that I hosted most of my videos on was hacked/shut down/crashed or something, I never got an official word, but it's not there anymore, and I have been too busy/lazy to put it all back up. Here are some stills that I did all from scratch (people ask me that about the Yoda model a lot), which were for fun. I'll try to get my animations up and show you those. I did a recreation of the FOX spotlight intro for the church that I was particularly proud of.

[Smob]

Nice work guys! Wish me luck.

[rev_65]

The main reason someone uses a 3D application to After Effects pipeline is because they have a 3D shot with some type of camera movement that is in need of further effects or compositing done to it. They need to get that shot into AE with the camera tracking data intact. Right now a lot of folks are using Maxon's Cinema 4D as it seems to have the smoothest workflow out of 4D and into AE.

[Smob]

That is what I want to do - some 4D animation and then add some effect layers. Unfortunately, I don't want to spend the steep price for Cinema 4D, so I am using the cheap-person approach. Since I'm in control of the camera and lighting in blender, I should be able to replicate any movements in AE - at least that is what I hope.

[MediaGuy]

...You're in luck!
voodoo

free camera tracking - works with Blender!

[rev_65]

Originally Posted by MediaGuy

...You're in luck! .... free camera tracking - works with Blender!

If I have footage that I need to add 3D elements into, then yes, voodoo will create virtual camera tracking that I can use to composite my new 3D elements into the scene.

But from the way I read Smob's posts, he's wanting to take the camera track the opposite direction. I have 3D rendered footage that needs additional FX added that I want to do in After Effects. How do I get the camera data from Blender to AE?

Answer: Not easily.

Attached is a ZIP file containing a pyton script (not mine) that supposedly will convert Blender camera data to a format that AE can read and use. My best understanding is that it exports as Maya data that can then be imported into AE.

Here's the post from a Blender user board:

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=re...x65eoKLd_A6szw

Peace!