Advice on camera moves

[Per Christian 0]

very very thanks igor!

but... can't find no manual

Ok, now i know that you can parent things with the Null object, that he has hes anchor point up-left,

but how to use it while you move your camera?

 

you create a new null object, and parent it with the camera, the if you move the null object, the camera moves?

 

 

see you all arround

Edited November 26, 2006 by Per Christian

[ynaka 0]

 

M=Moo

[Per Christian 0]

M=Moo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

can't find it, maybe i'll try to press f1 in AE for help, but you could tell

see you all

[Guest Sao_bento]

 

M=Moo

Brilliant!

[yoni bendor 0]

I think the nulls issue is not as important as the "DO IT in 2 keyframes MAX 3 with alot of focus and attention to the velocity / easing in issues, the nulls is also important, but STILL, if you can parent nulls in AE like a pro and you know shit about how important your curves / velocities are, you're still not as effective as if you've mastered the easing - in / 2 keyframes 3 max / velocities and STILL dont have a clue about "parenting" in AE...

 

just my thought though...

[mfh 0]

Another thing people don't pay attention to is velocity of moves. Alot of people will attempt to keep the camera moving at a constant rate, which is fine for some things, but definately lacks dynamic. One thing to keep in mind is that the camera is the "audience". When something flys onscreen, picture it like the audience would, take a moment to ease and let people's eye catch the object, then...BOOM Fast into it. Then ease up and let the audience catch up with you.

[lemar 0]

There is an excellent tutorial by Trish Meyer explaining all of the above mentioned tips here:

 

Camera Control, Part 1

Basic 3D camera control tricks in Adobe After Effects

 

http://dv.com/print_me.jhtml?articleId=181503684

 

Camera Control, Part 2

Using Parenting, Expressions, and the new After Effects 7.0 Graph Editor to control a 3D Camera.

 

http://dv.com/print_me.jhtml?articleId=187203329

 

re:spex

[graymachine 0]

p1nned!!

[rubbersquirrel 0]

This is really helpful, thanks.

[molo 0]

http://www.videocopilot.net/tutorials.html?id=91

 

this is a really good video tutorial on camera moves. covers how to make a 'dolly', a null object that controles xyz space separatly for the camera so you can control the cam by itself. might be a no brainer for some of you but it opened my eyes up.

[carbaldi 0]

Other members have mentioned the use of parenting the AE camera to nulls before.

 

Here's mankeroo's response:

 

When I use cameras in 3D (former Lightwave user, now Cinema4D, but the idea still applies across the board) as well as After Effects, before I create any keyframes for the camera, I create 2 nulls in the exact position of the camera. The first null is my master camera null. The second is my camera movement null. The camera movement null is the child of the camera master null, and the camera itself is a child of the camera movement null. The rules i enforce on myself is to only create ROTATION keyframes on the camera itself, and do all of my POSITIONAL keys with the Camera Movement null...I reserve any last minute adjustments or effects for the camera master (like camera shakes, or whatever). If you use this setup your animations will be much more fluid. I've only recently started doing this, and its made a huge difference. I actually end up setting a lot less keys in the long run which is always good. It may seem like a waste of time at first, but keep doing it, and eventually you'll swear by it like i do now...

 

Excellent!

[pixel_pimp 0]

The graph editor is the one thing in 7 that I just can't come to grips with. I used to rock the sh!t out of the twirl-downs in 6.5 but something changed in 7 and now nothing makes sense anymore. I do find myself re-evaluaing when and how much I screw with keyframes now and to what effect, though. So maybe it's a mixed blessing.

 

true that! i still can't wrap my head around what is happening hwen I click over to the graph editor. what ever they are doing in c4d seems to make more sense! I wish there was an Open Source way to copy and paste the best parts from different application and make one frankenstein application.

[Null Object 0]

The only two things I can add to the equation...

 

1. Use multiple views, make one view small, about 12.5 and set it to "top". This way you can quickly move around with an overview of where you are and where the camera is pointing.

 

2. I pickwhip the point of interest to the position as well, but then I add + [x,y,z] to expression control sliders on a null. It should look something like this....

 

position + [thisComp.layer("expression controls").effect("x")("Slider") , thisComp.layer("expression controls").effect("y")("Slider") , thisComp.layer("expression controls").effect("z")("Slider")]

 

This way you can keep that marriage of POI and P but also add additional expressions, jolts, hiccups, whatever you want.

[boy.finley 0]

Pretty sure I got this tip from mograph years ago, but the smooth expression ("smooth(width = .2, samples = 5, t = time)") has saved my life a million times working tight deadlines. Rough-as-guts keyfames, add the smooth, bang, done.

 

Extremely lazy, but as a I say, saved me on more than one occasion.

[ikep2008 0]

In AE definitely find it easier to see the position path in the top and isometric views. I move the time indicator to the problem spot then go into the graph editor to smooth it. I've been using roving keyframes.

 

Anybody know how to smooth out baked keyframs in C4D. Right now I have a keyframe for every frame and I wish I could remove them with only the necessary ones.

[ikep2008 0]

By

"2. I pickwhip the point of interest to the position"

 

Do you mean the position of the camera itself or the object you want the lense to look at.

Then what if you want to change where the camera is looking?

 

Sorry if this is a retard question.

 

Thanks if you can clarify.

[Jamie P. 0]

http://aeportal.blogspot.com/2009/05/pixel...ransitions.html

 

You might check out this article/video on AE Portal News. Has a video tutorial from Nick Campbell aka the Gorilla.

[bbmax48 0]

CSTools for Maxon Cinema 4D – Free Tools from Chris Smith is very usefull, especially: CS_EasyCam : Camera movement system for basic film moves with path bend and vibration options.

[beau+++ 0]

CSTools for Maxon Cinema 4D – Free Tools from Chris Smith....

 

Never heard of him.

[C.Smith 0]

Never heard of him.

 

He's a prick anyways.

[&Son 0]

I agree with everyone that the least amount of keyframes will give you the smoothest camera moves. I always used to watch Bob Ross paint his landscapes when I was a kid, and I try to remind myself of one of his philosophies of "happy accidents." Now, I don't take much that Bob Ross said seriously, but it's true, with an extra keyframe or two, you might find a better result with a happy accident. Just to keep that in mind.

[DiabloFX 0]

I use the F-Curves and it smoothes out my camera moves

http://www.maxon.net/en/products/cinema-4d/highlights/animation.html

[secretninja 0]

This tread was exactly what I was looking for. Thanks for all the info. on camera moves. I'm going to apply this to my next project for school

 

Dan

[Edgard 0]

C4D you have Scooby Cam Tools, very very useful, Check it out http://www.c4d-jack.de/html/downloads/scoobycamtools/eng/

Edgard

[ahschmidt 0]

I like to make a null a distance away from the camera and parent the camera to it. This makes matrix-like moves much easier than trying to keyframe the camera itself. Just rotate the null and boom. In fact, I cant remember the last time I actually keyframed a camera.

 

This is a really good idea.

 

Looking at camera moves in real film is huge. There are lots of subtle things going on. Its a lot like other animation, the more 'computery' or floating it looks, the less it will impact the viewer properly.