So far, in After Effects 3D space, I have only created cubes, drawers, angular stages and square columns, which I used in both the PTTR and the Alys Stephens Architectural Mapping Shows.
I have create textured spheres(like planets) in Photoshop CS5 and used them in After Effects CS5, and that kinda works. But but they lose their 3D quality in AE 3D space and become flat objects as far as stereoscopic 3D viewing with 2 cameras is concerned.
CS6 and CC got rid of that function, but CC introduced a 3D plugin that included a lite version of Maxxon Cinema 4D. I was excited at first and thought my problems were solved... I have been struggling in the last few weeks to create cylinders, spheres and other non rectangular objects in Cinema 4D, and hate the software. It is the most counter intuitive interface I have ever worked with, and when I finally figured out how to make simple 3D shapes, I realized that these actually didn't appear as a full 3D layer in After Effects 3D space either, so my efforts were pretty much a waste. That was a huge disappointment. All Cinema 4D is good for really is extruded titles and 3D shapes working on their own. Back to square one!
So I decided to forget Cinema 4D, and just try to use After Effects to create cylinders and spheres.
I chose a weathered brick texture:
I cut it up in 36 narrow strips, and assembled them in a circle in After Effects 3D space(x,y,z) rotating them in 10 degrees increments. It worked, and looked like a real brick column:
So I created a very long underground room with a very large brick floor, walls, an arched ceiling made the same way of 30 long slices, and a sewer trough. I duplicated the columns in two rows. Finally, I made a brick sphere by stacking disks(basically one brick high columns) made of 36, 30 and 20 slices and top and bottom disks cut from the pattern. The disks were rotated so there would be no noticeable repeat pattern :
I added lights and cameras, and a street sign. I am a little puzzled by the fact that the scene takes for ever to render at full resolution, when the Activity Monitor doesn't show the processors doing much... But then again, it's an awful lots of slices and planes in a brick textured space over 15 000 pixels deep...
Anyhow, I was well pleased with the result for a first try, though it looks a little too much like a "virtual" video game space:
Keep in mind that, even though the camera window is only 1920 x 1080 pixels, this is in fact a huge fully three dimensional space built within After Effect, about 2000 pixels high, 4000 pixels wide, and 17,000 pixels deep, with two receding rows of 24 columns casting shadows, an arched ceiling, and a complex brick ball.
Stuff can be placed and moved, and the camera moved and rotated within this space. Here is another camera angle:
OK, now how does that big 3D sewer space look in stereoscopic 3D Anaglyph with the Red/Cyan glasses? I created a 3D rig in After Effect, but for some stupid reason only Adobe knows, the only Anaglyph options available are Red/Blue, and Red/Green, which don't exist in the real world, the choice of glasses being Red/Cyan, Magenta/Green, or Blue/Amber...
No problem, mister dummy Adobe, I will create my very own 3D rig. Anyhow, all said and done, the result looks pretty good:
But the color is toned down because the bricks are of a reddish orange color, which is not a very good choice for Red/Cyan Anaglyph. Neutrals, yellows, purples and bright greens work best.
I have create textured spheres(like planets) in Photoshop CS5 and used them in After Effects CS5, and that kinda works. But but they lose their 3D quality in AE 3D space and become flat objects as far as stereoscopic 3D viewing with 2 cameras is concerned.
CS6 and CC got rid of that function, but CC introduced a 3D plugin that included a lite version of Maxxon Cinema 4D. I was excited at first and thought my problems were solved... I have been struggling in the last few weeks to create cylinders, spheres and other non rectangular objects in Cinema 4D, and hate the software. It is the most counter intuitive interface I have ever worked with, and when I finally figured out how to make simple 3D shapes, I realized that these actually didn't appear as a full 3D layer in After Effects 3D space either, so my efforts were pretty much a waste. That was a huge disappointment. All Cinema 4D is good for really is extruded titles and 3D shapes working on their own. Back to square one!
So I decided to forget Cinema 4D, and just try to use After Effects to create cylinders and spheres.
I chose a weathered brick texture:
I cut it up in 36 narrow strips, and assembled them in a circle in After Effects 3D space(x,y,z) rotating them in 10 degrees increments. It worked, and looked like a real brick column:
So I created a very long underground room with a very large brick floor, walls, an arched ceiling made the same way of 30 long slices, and a sewer trough. I duplicated the columns in two rows. Finally, I made a brick sphere by stacking disks(basically one brick high columns) made of 36, 30 and 20 slices and top and bottom disks cut from the pattern. The disks were rotated so there would be no noticeable repeat pattern :
I added lights and cameras, and a street sign. I am a little puzzled by the fact that the scene takes for ever to render at full resolution, when the Activity Monitor doesn't show the processors doing much... But then again, it's an awful lots of slices and planes in a brick textured space over 15 000 pixels deep...
Anyhow, I was well pleased with the result for a first try, though it looks a little too much like a "virtual" video game space:
Keep in mind that, even though the camera window is only 1920 x 1080 pixels, this is in fact a huge fully three dimensional space built within After Effect, about 2000 pixels high, 4000 pixels wide, and 17,000 pixels deep, with two receding rows of 24 columns casting shadows, an arched ceiling, and a complex brick ball.
Stuff can be placed and moved, and the camera moved and rotated within this space. Here is another camera angle:
OK, now how does that big 3D sewer space look in stereoscopic 3D Anaglyph with the Red/Cyan glasses? I created a 3D rig in After Effect, but for some stupid reason only Adobe knows, the only Anaglyph options available are Red/Blue, and Red/Green, which don't exist in the real world, the choice of glasses being Red/Cyan, Magenta/Green, or Blue/Amber...
No problem, mister dummy Adobe, I will create my very own 3D rig. Anyhow, all said and done, the result looks pretty good:
But the color is toned down because the bricks are of a reddish orange color, which is not a very good choice for Red/Cyan Anaglyph. Neutrals, yellows, purples and bright greens work best.
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