Carousel_Help.pdf

The Carousel - AE CS3 Project File

Thanks for purchasing this project. The Carousel is really two designs in one!

After downloading the project be sure to make a backup copy before

jumping in and making changes.

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The project can be opened in After Effects CS3 or higher

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The Project is in PAL format, 25fps, 1080P HD

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The Project is organised into four folders .

• Card Templates

• Main Comp

• PreComps

• Solids

Everything in each folder is straightforward so let's look at the Card

Template first. There are twelve Card Templates that make up the twelve

cards/panels/filmstrips in the ‘ MAIN Comp for Render’ Comp.

Open up Template 01 from the Card Templates Folder and you’ll see

that it is currently set to the Film Frame look. You can add your own image or

video by selecting the ‘Your Film Frame Image’ Layer in the timeline and hold

down the ALT key while dragging your image or video to replace the layer.

Do this for each Card Template .

If you prefer the image to have a shaded border instead, click the

Eyeball Switch next to ‘Film Frame’ Layer and the ‘Your Film Frame Image’

Layer to hide them and turn on the Eyeball Switch for the ‘Border’ and the

‘Your Image’ Layers. Swap the ‘Your Image’ Layer for your own image or

video.

Do the same for the two Text Layers. You can of course use any Font type

size or colour.

Now open up the ‘ MAIN Comp for Render’ from the Main Comp Folder so that

we can talk about the different layers in the Timeline .

Beginning at the bottom of the stack are two Solid Layers with the Ramp

Effect applied. I have used the ‘Ramp Light’ Layer for the Film Frame look to

create some contrast between the black frames and the background. The ‘Ramp

Dark’ Layer I used for the Border style images, again for contrast.

The next twelve layers in the timeline are the twelve Card Templates. You

will see that they are Parented to the ‘Rotator Control Layer’ . Unlock the ‘Rotator

Control Layer’ by clicking off the Padlock next to the layer’s name and with the

layer selected hit the letter ‘ U ’ on the keyboard to reveal the keyframes for the ‘ Y’

Rotation for the layer. Now do the same for the ‘Template01’ Layer below.

Unlock the layer and hit ‘U’ to reveal the Position and ‘Y’ Rotation keyframes for

this layer. It is a combination of these two layers that produce the motion of each

Card Template.

The project is designed for twelve cards but you can change the number

of cards by deleting them from the time line. You will of course have to delete the

keyframes in the ‘Rotator Control Layer’ for the deleted card layers and adjust

them over the length of the Comp. This is not as difficult as it sounds!

The next layer to look at is the ‘Camera 1’ Layer. Unlock the layer and

reveal the ‘Point of Interest’ and ‘Position’ keyframes. These keyframes give the

camera motion while the twelve cards are rotating in a circle before coming to

rest. There is a simple Wiggle Expression added to the camera’s position to give

the camera a hand-held feel. Again all of these parameters can be adjusted to

what you want.

Next, unlock the ‘Lens Flare’ layer and reveal its keyframe properties.

Both the ‘Flare Centre’ and ‘Blend With Original’ parameters are keyframed so

that as each card is about to come to rest in front of the camera, it appears that

the card is refecting light into the camera lens. You can adjust the flare settings

to suit your own project.

The two layers above are Lights . Toggle their ‘Eyeball Switches’ to see the

effect that the lights have on the scene. The ‘Spotlight01’ Layer can be adjusted

to produce deeper or lighter shadows, or you can change its position. The

‘ Ambient Light’ Layer creates a fill for the composition. Again the brightness of

this light can be adjusted to suit.

There are two Text Layers for a main title and an end title that are self-

explanatory. I just want to point out that for any text to have a reflection, the text

layer needs to be pre-composed. It also needs to rest at the bottom of the

composition so that it reflects correctly. So, in the Project Window open the

PreComps folder and open the ‘Main Title’ Comp. You will see that the ‘Main

Title’ Layer fills the Comp. This is achieved by creating a new Text Layer , typing

your text, and with the Text Layer selected go to Layer> Transform> Fit to Comp .

Go back to the ‘ MAIN Comp for Render’ and select the ‘Main Title’ Layer

in the timeline. Open the Effects Window and you will find the effects that create

the reflection. The main effect to adjust is the Linear Wipe effect. By adjusting the

Transition Complete and the Feather parameters the reflection will be longer or

shorter, sharper or more gradual. Play around until you find what you like best.

In the PreComps folder are two other Comps. The ‘ Film Frame’ Comp contains

the elements to produce the transparent film frame used in the Card Template

Comps. You can adjust the size etc. of each element to suit. They are a series of

masks that are very easily changed.

The remaining Comp is ‘Main – Time Remapping’. This composition is a

Precomposition of the MAIN Comp for Render that has Time Remapping

keyframes added to speed up during the 360 degree spin and to show each card

longer over the same time of one minute duration. Try playing with the time

remapping to get different speeds.

Finally, you can enable Motion Blur for each card and set the camera to have

Depth of Field . These both create a more dynamic appearance but are very

render intensive depending on your computer’s rendering capability.

I hope you enjoy this project and Happy After-Effecting!

Oh, and remember to rate this project if you haven’t already.

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