Achieving a specific effect.

Hi, it's been awhile since I've done any flash animation and I'm trying to acheive a certain masking effect. Can anyone give me a few tips on how to create something similar to the FESSparkle effect on this page (middle one)
http://www.flasheff.com/patternsshowcase/search.html?tags=particle
I know I'm going to have to use a mask to do this, my question is really more about getting the right glow effect on the sparkles. Any ideas?
Thanks,
-Greg

For the sparkles, you'll need nested movieclips. Lowest level will be only the gradient circle. On top of that, it can slightly change opacity up and down. On top of that it can move here and there. And on top of that it canmove along some curved guide. Start as small transparent sparkle, move a bit here and there and then vanish.
In each level you can put randomizing code at first frame:
gotoAndPlay(Math.floor(1 + totalFrames * Math.random()));
and on the last frame this code to ensure your randomization runs only once:
gotoAndPlay(2);
And in the topmost sparkle level you don't want to jump in the timeline, just randomize rotation of sparkles:
rotation = 360 * Math.random();
If you experience any CPU problems, try decreasing number of sparkle levels, making movement more simple.

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Using lights correctly to achieve a specific effect

Hello, all. First time posting over here--I'm usually stomping around in the PPro forums. However, a certain effect/look I'm after is eluding me, so I thought I'd try over here. I should note that I'm not a total AE n00b--I know enough to achieve most basic things--but I'm far from advanced.
Getting on with it--I'm trying to use lights in a current project, and it shouldn't be anything difficult. However, my greatest definciency with AE involves working in 3D space, and using lights and cameras effectively, so I'm currently stumped. What I'm trying to create is the effect of a series of brief titles moving forward on the Z-axis towards the camera, with a light illuminating the text. At a certain point, the text begins to move into an area that is not illuminated by the light, so shadow begins to creep in from the outer edges of the text toward the center until it's completely dark. Then the next title would move forward in the same manner, ad infinitum. The text can fade to 0% opacity in order to reveal the following text item, but only once it's almost completely dark. I've created a simple floor (solid turned to 3D, rotated, ramp effect) just to give a little depth, but the background is black/"infinite". I've tried as many combinations of lights as I can think of, but just when I get part of the effect right, another part starts to go awry--it's sort of like pushing a piece of rope.
So far, I really haven't animated anything, beyond the text elements which are sliding on the Z-axis--the camera and lights are standing still. I was hoping to achieve this effect without animating either the camera or lights, but I'm starting to think that's not possible. I'd appreciate any advice or pointers that can be offered as I venture into this (for me) brave new world.
Many thanks!

Colin: This thread is the definition of frustration for me. Because I really want to help, and yet nothing will be quite as good as sitting next to you
But let's concentrate on this bit:
I've also tried moving the Spot close to the text, opening up the angle
of the light quite wide. This actually seems to work better, but I end
up with a bunch of flood on the floor.
You know, the fun thing about 3D lights in a 3D environment (including AE) is that you can make use of regular notions of photography/film lighting... and then start cheating in a way that's not possible in the real world
If you select your floor layer, and reveal the material options section (hit AA to do that quickly), you'll see there are a number of options. "Diffuse" for example is the senstivity to directional lighting (ie, any kind of source but ambient lights). So, you see, you can lower the Diffuse level and you would be decreasing the flood on the floor (no pun), while keeping the same intensity on the text layer. The same would also be true for the three specular-related parameters (Specular, Shininess and Metal).
You can by now imagine I am going to point you to the Material Option properties page in After Effects Help, can't you?

How to achieve this specific drop shadow effect?

Dear all,
Does anybody know how to achieve this specific drop shadow effect in InDesign: a step by step instruction, a plugin, etc?
Regards,
Kasyan

Kasyan,
I generally just use the basic feather. I draw the object with a few clicks of the pen, fill with whatever color, set the tint if desired, then use settings more or less as below.
Mike

Does anyone know how the cutout filter works and is there a way of achieving the same effect without using filters to get more control over final look?

does anyone know how the cutout filter works and is there a way of achieving the same effect without using filters to get more control over final look?

Several ways to get similar results. Image > Adjustments > Posturize with low values similar to what you'd use n Cutout. This is the most flexible way I can think of as you keep the image in RGB mode with layers intact. A more radical approach would be to reduce bit depth using Indexed Colour. You'll need to experiment with settings, try changing Forced to Primaries, and Matte to Foreground Color. There's no going back from this route, although you can change the mode back to RGB to re-enable layers, adjustment layers etc.
A nice thing about the Filter gallery filters is that you can change the layer to a Smart object with all the control that gives you.
Now if only this forum could filter out bizarre content.

How Would I Be Able To Achieve Such an Effect ?

Starting at 1:20 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHxgZ0ym4Ew He has a Pokemon And Its Blurred picture in the back scrolling down. I heard this could be achieve with after effects but how ? May you link a tutorial ? And Please Give me the Proper Name for this technique . You may watch on to get a jist of what i want to achieve thank you if all is successful i will purchase this product .

That's just layers. The blurred background is just a footage layer with blur applied....
More than basic stuff here... Please go through these getting started materials and watch this video series to get started with how AE works.

Trying to achieve a certain effect...

Hi,
I'm trying to achieve a certain effect in Motion 3, whereby the camera slowly does a full spin whilst zooming in on the video, but I can't seem to find the right method. The 'Spin' effect seems to go too fast, and what I am looking for is similar to a Pan and Zoom effect...
if anyone knows what I'm talking about, is there any way this effect can be achieved?
thanks.
Message was edited by: lmg-94

Sounds like you want the Sweep behavior, which will rotate the camera while keeping it's point of view fixed. You control the speed by trimming the duration of the behavior.

How to achieve antique/vintage effect.

HI,
I'm looking to achieve a photo effect that I've seen on what I think is a album cover.
The project I'm working on (at Uni) is a natural burial site but I want my image to have a sense of death in the atmosphere, rather than just using 'death' images.
I've looked at some Actions but I can't get anything like the attatched.
First image is what I want to achieve. Second image is what I have (it's a farmland Panorama, 1200mm long x 280mm high). I've also applied several 'grunge' effects but this just made it look blurry.
Thank You

For the ground I suppose a Black & White Layer set to Blending Mode Overlay and a Hue/Saturation Layer to desaturate somewhat may suffice.
As for the sky you might need to insert a whole other image of clouds.
Which you could edit with a Curves Layer for brightness and an Adjustment Map Layer (set to Color possibly) to emulate the color shifting between the lighter and darker regions.
Edit:
As for the additional »dirt« a multiplying layer with Clouds/Difference Clouds applied might work.

How to achieve the same effect seen in attached screenshot

I dig the artist's style in image on very right of attached image -
MINE ON LEFT W/RED ARROWS.
Question, as I have my character open in PS6.0
and still in PSD format as I am coloring him, what would be the simplest
steps to take to add that shading like black under his eye (in right side image)?
Or that stippled shaded effect along his nose?
See areas under my character's eye and nose I want to experiment on . . .
THANK YOU!
I dig the artist's style in image on very right of attached image -
MINE ON LEFT W/RED ARROWS.
Question, as I have my character open in PS6.0
and still in PSD format as I am coloring him, what would be the simplest
steps to take to add that shading like black under his eye (in right side image)?
Or that stippled shaded effect along his nose?
See areas under my character's eye and nose I want to experiment on . . .
THANK YOU!

How phenomenal it is to go to this forum and have this type of invaluable feedback from each and every one of you.
I certainly appreciate this! tfkelly42 you did some great touch-ups on my sample mate! I do like this, like having you all over my shoulder saying, "click this, then that tool...." THANKS! And, I use PS6, so my version is NEWER than his....so I think I ought to achieve the same effect! BTW, here is a screenshot of my tool bar with BRUSH highlighted....but before venturing into a test....should I highlight the area in any way....prior to trying the brush tool and the rest? I'll post a sample back here (probably on Tuesday...it's gettng late here) BUT THANKS!

FCP plug in for specific effect

I want to know if there is a specific plug-in or effect I can create in FCP that will give me an effect that looks like a flare around a person or object.
The effect is a kind of radiating effect that goes all the way around the subject, and moves with the subject. I hope this makes sense.
Suggestons?
Thanks!

Oops, first let me say that I am running 5.0.2 - not 5.1.2 - so the Volumetrix FX probably wont' run on my ssytems. I did lookat their website and that is the effect that is cloes to waht I want. Now, on to rotoscoping - this is something I've heard about but do not fully understand. I know it is used alot, but I am not really familiar with how it is done. Suggestions on where to find info?
And any ideas for FCP 5.0.2?
Thanks!
Message was edited by: ArEss
Message was edited by: ArEss

How to achieve resize image effect

Can anyone tell me how to achieve this effect with image resizing in RH, as the images do at the link below? I cannot find the method in the RH Help.
http://help.adobe.com/en_US/robohelp/robohtml/WS1b49059a33f7772644666e3b1373013a398-8000.h tml

Hi there
Sorry, but RoboHelp does not offer a method to achieve this. Unfortunately that's a huge hint that Adobe isn't using RoboHelp to develop those pages.
If that's the effect you are after, you will need to roll your own with some JavaScript that does a hide and show on text and images.
One way you might achieve it with a single image would be to insert the image *TWICE* on the page. Then scale one pretty small. Take the full sized image and tuck it inside a Dynamic HTML drop-down. The net effect would be that the user would click to see the full sized image (revealing the DHTML drop-down) and the smaller version would be "pushed" farther down the page.
Cheers... Rick

How to achieve this special effect

I want a shot where some one picks a dead rose off a rose bush, but after they pick it and while they are holding it, the rose comes to life and is in full bloom again.
How can I achieve this shot? I have tried shooting someone picking a dead rose, then shooting a 2nd shot of them picking a live rose and morphed the 2 shots together. I just did this real quick to see if it would work and did not put much time into it, but it looks promising if I actually spent some time on morphing it correctly.
However, just want to ask on here and get other ideas, if any.
Also, the rose is being picked in the winter time, and its summer here. So I was going to use photographs and build a 3D world out of 2D planes of a winter scene. Then add a photo of a rose bush. Is there any techniques that I can make the rose looks like it is part of the rose bush seamlessly?
Thanks
Andrew

Andrew,
In cinematic terms, you're not working with 2 shots here, but at least 3.
The medium or wide establishing scene 1 is Picking the dead rose. (you might want to use a cutaway close up of the rose to establish it's "deadness".
The second should probably be a close up of the rose TRANSFORMATION.
The final shot is back to a medium or wide shot of the character interacting with the live rose - perhaps inhaling it's fragerence - again, selling the "liveness" of the transformed rose.
Your SFX (special effect) scene is scene 2.
The easiest way to sell the transition is to use a pretty tight close up of the rose itself (easier) or the hand and the dead rose (more difficult)
Then have the actor holding the rose hold as steady as possible while someone substitutes the live rose in as close to the same position as possible.
The trick then, is to both position and transition from one shot to the next.
In FCP, you'd stack the two ROSE CU shots directly over each other on two tracks. Then use a series of garbage mattes on the lower track to CROP away everything but that which you want to change. Perhaps including as much of the stem as you need to sell the effect if you want to try to use the whole rose plus stem. Using rotation and frame positioning, you'd want to match the live rose and the dead rose as closely as possible in terms of position and angle.
Then you could use a cross fade, or some fancy dissolve (perhaps a dither dissolve?) to replace the dead rose with the live one.
The transition can be relatively short if you have the final scene ready to complete the idea that the rose is reborn in the hand of the character.
That's how I'd approach it. One of many ways to do this kind of thing.
Good luck.

Loupe Slow-down nailed to specific effects

Hello, all.
I recently purchased Aperture 1.1, and overall I am pretty satisfied. Having just recently begun to use RAW files due to the long-standing void of viable "workflow" tools for it, I have really been intrigued by Aperture as MY iphoto for the stuff I like to do (amateur photography, etc).
Overall satisfied, however, is not "ecstatic." I have noticed a problem whereby the loupe begins to behave very badly. I noticed that it would only surface on SOME photos, not all. Being the annal retentive type I am, I decided to try and figure out why. And I think I have (at least on my setup), and would like to see if anyone can concur.... maybe this can get fixed? I sure hope so!
Like I said, only SOME of the photos exhibited this massive slowdown with the loupe tool and zoom feature. I toyed around with the effects to see what was causing it. The X factor: Highlights and Shadows. If you DO NOT use this feature or turn it off on your problem photo, the loupe speeds up significantly, to the point of being useful. Try and see! Am I alone on this one, or can someone else duplicate it?
I don't notice a slowdown for any other effects thus far, just the highlights and shadows feature. levels, exposure, white balance, they all can be set and forgotten about, but h&s seems to make the loupe and zoom features bog WAAAYYYY down.
Here's hoping to a fix -- though I'm not on "recommended" hardware, if it weren't for this little "bug," I'd be ecstatic about aperture, and the speed of it would more than suffice.

and you're on an intel machine?!
Well, there goes the "PPC hardware" theory.... I was thinking that perhaps it would go away with a two-core processor and multiple threads.... oh well, I guess i get to stick it out with my G4 a lil' longer. I hear Core 2 Duo is around the corner! lol.
So, Highlights & Shadows, as well as Noise Reduction both cause the loupe and zoom features to BOG WAAAAAAYYY down. On any machine. Man, I was hoping it was hardware, but it's looking like software...
the bright side is that if it's software-related, it can be fixed, even on my machine.
Anyone else? if we can locate specific instances, perhaps they can use this forum to track down the 'bug' or 'faulty code' that is causing this behavior.

Looking for a specific effect

Does anyone have a quick answer to this:
I'm looking for an effect of subtle shaking text
as if you are reading the text on a subway.
I'm putting subway sounds in the background.
Thanks,
D

Yet another method:
hit the record, press play, and jiggle your text dragging it with the mouse, that should create a more random motion.

Trim An Outline To Achieve A Specific Angle End Point

The attached is a logo I'm working on.
There is red filled type ("D") overlapping a stroked thick line in the attached screen shot.
I'm trying to achieve end points that have perfect vertical and horizontal cuts as shown by the white box behind the type.
However the finished logo will be using in a layout that has a color background, and the white boxes show.
Expanding appearance does not work. Compounding does not. Masking does not.
I could take the logo to Photoshop and remove the color there, but I would prefer to do it in Illustrator.
Any thoughts out there?

Glad to be of assistance, Murrey (and Pete too).
I've been using this trick almost since masks were invented, so please forgive me for not explaining it too well. I thought it was so somehow common knowledge, but maybe I did discover it after all!
Maybe you knew it already, Murrey, but you can also make a mask out of live type. Just put it in front of your picture, select type and picture and Cmd+7.
Here's Snæfellsjökull again for Jacob's benefit. He seems to be an Iceland enthusiast!

How to achieve this specific look

Hi there
I recently made some shots, most of them in a forest.
And for my grading I want to achieve a look that's similar to this here:
https://creativemarket.com/TomAnders/10798-iPad-iPhone-Mock-ups/screenshots/#screenshot5
And here is a Screenshot of my RAW-Footage.
What would you say are the most important things to do?
Orange colors up, Contrast a little up? etc..
Would be very pleased to get some answers. Thanks a lot.
Cheers

It looks like a really dirty lens or shooting through a sumdged piece of glass.
Maybe you could create some semi-transparent mattes (like smoke filmed over a black background?) and layer them over the image. The layer is usually just white, but sometimes it gets colored.

Achieving a specific effect.

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