Video Copilot releases Element 3D v2

Video Copilot released Element 3D v2 today. E3D v2 is $199 or a $99 upgrade, with more bundle upgrade discounts. The plug-in is compatible with After Effects CS5 + above.

There's more on PVC, but here's the 2nd intro movie:

Video Copilot Element 3D v2 unveiled

Andrew Kramer unveiled new features coming in the long-awaited Video Copilot Element 3D V2 (link to PVC article), which is compatible with AE CS5+ and promised for November release.

Comparing 3D type options for After Effects

Not exactly news, but Ray-traced 3D is "dead"

While some may claim that the After Effects CS6-era Ray-traced 3D renderer is a minor feature that you can ignore, it's still a strong option for basic motion graphics with realistic reflections and refractions, and very fast if you have an Nvidia CUDA GPU. If you're not committed one way or another, you may want to check out an integrated in-depth resource from Eran Stern that compares major alternatives for creating 3D type.

Read Comparing 3D type options for After Effects at PVC...

Element 3D: new AE plug-in [updated]

Video Copilot has released Element 3D, an After Effects plug-in (originally 'Atom') that lets you import and animate 3D models, even as a particle array, and extrude text and mask shapes in real time. It’s for all of us, for hi & low end, for straight 3D and more abstract experimentation alike, at least if you have a more recent OpenGL graphics card.

There are some additional details and reviews in Element 3D: new After Effects plug-in at PVC, which has been updated with new resources.

Updates: 'Creating 3D Text in After Effects'

The survey of methods roundup was updated to CS6 for PVC.

Here's tutorials on exporting 3D renders from the Photoshop CS6 timeline from Tip Squirrel and Genius DV:

3D Text in After Effects (updated)

Read the rest of the updated roundup at PVC... Creating 3D Text in After Effects.

Creating 3D text in After Effects has long been a cottage industry, generating many workarounds and 3rd party plug-ins.

Adding to the parade is one of the big new features in After Effects CS6, the extrusion and material options in the Ray-tracing renderer, which almost requires an Nvidia GPU. Many will benefit from beautiful renders with the new features, though many will get bogged down by requirements, render times, or inadequate features, and turn to older methods surveyed here.


Update: Despite some optimism, in the summer of 2014 Adobe appeared to be leaning heavily on a single 3rd-party app for future 3D. For more and major current tool options, see the above roundup and AEP's Comparing 3D type options for After Effects, where you'll find that Ray-traced 3D was declared (walking) dead by Adobe. Ray-traced 3D still works, but it will be retired in some future release.

A few TRON titles in After Effects

Andrew Kramer released his "Tron-Pilot" After Effects CS4 project file and a short video walk-through which describes creating the faux 3D text in AE (adding the Vegas filter for a volumetric effect) and building a few expressions. The project was previewed in December.

There's some other tutorials to mimic the TRON look, and some background on the VFX of TRON: Legacy from Fxguide (on face replacement effects), [update: Talking Tron with Digital Domain at Motionographer,] and in numerous "Making of" videos like those posted by Digital Domain. Here's a few more tutorials for After Effects, veering off with a few on neon:

• Tron Titles Part 1 ( Cinema 4D) and Part 2 (AE) by Antonio Cerri, part of Aetuts+ Hollywood Movie Titles Series

• Nick Khoo posted Tron Legacy style titles in After Effects in 2 parts (1, 2) and a Tron font.

• Letrindle posted TRON Grid Tutorial in 3 parts on Youtube

• In a TRON trailer the title text flickered. Motion Graphics Exchange has an expression from AEnhancers that creates a flickering effect similar to a flickering neon light.

• Neal Barenblat posted Neon Text Graphic - After Effects at Vimeo

• Simulate A Glowing Neon Light Sign Of Your Logo by Juan Carlos Navarro on AEtuts+

But what if Saul Bass had done the titles for TRON?

Tron vs. Saul Bass from Hexagonall on Vimeo.

AE scripts to distribute layers in 3D space

Lost in the excitement over version 2 of BDRenderer was an update to DistributeLayers by nab Scripts (Charles Bordenave):

This script allows you to distribute the selected layers in 3D space. In addition to offset position, you can offset rotation/scale/opacity and adds some randomness. The “Factor” parameter allows non-linear offset between layers.

Some similar and not so similar 3D scripts from AE Scripts have been noted (eg, Trajectory, Multiplane, Matrix, 3D Layer Distributor, Create3DShapes), but DistributeLayers has not been mentioned here previously. Here's the demo:

'Movie Magic' template tutorial

Aharon Rabinowitz posted a Movie Magic Template Tutorial that breaks down his free Red Giant People template "Movie Magic" so you can alter the template for your own projects.

Movie Magic Template Tutorial from Aharon Rabinowitz on Vimeo.

Repoussé in After Effects CS5

Chris Meyer has intro videos on the Repousse 3D feature from Photoshop CS5 Extended. He covers this relatively immature feature in both Photoshop and After Effects in his video tutorial series New Creative Techniques at Lynda.com (shown below). Chris also provides a few comments on lights & shadows, nVidia acceleration, and so forth at Todd Kopriva's blog and in Creating Motion Graphics.

Update: see a Shortformvideo tutorial on how to get Fringe-style floating 3D text using Repousse in with AE and PFHoe.

3D Outlined Text Using Particles

AEtuts posted Make Your Own Smooth 3D Outlined Text Using Particles, a tutorial by Roman Komurka. There's only 99 steps in text and pictures in this unique tutorial!

See also Must.have.3D.text and click the tag 3D text to see what other lengths AE users will go to get 3D text effects [update: Adobe take notice, please]. Here's Roman's preview render:

Tracking titles in perspective with mocha V2

Imagineer System has a new tutorial, Tracking titles in perspective with mocha V2 that shows "how to use mocha's planar tracker to match titles to camera movement. This is a good video to check out if you are a new user and includes a section on finishing in After Effects."

Advanced Time Freeze with 2D to 3D tracking

Andrew Kramer has a new tutorial at Video Copilot, 109. Advanced Time Freeze which builds on previous information from his 3D Ledge tutorial and a VC short. It shows 2D tracking data applied to 3D camera through a Null Anchor point, compositing suspended 3D glass into a live action shot, use of 3D Max to create a particle system and refractions with assist of AE data via AE3D EXPORT script, and more.

Shapeshifter AE: new 3D text extrusion plug-in

Shapeshifter AE is a new 3D text extrusion plug-in for After Effects, soon in beta testing. It's part of a new series of plug-ins from Chris Bobotis of mettle.com, developers of the 3D mesh warp filter Freeform AE.

There's more on options for 3D text in After Effects in 3D Text in After Effects (updated), Must.have.3D.text, and, and other posts tagged . Here's a render of Shapeshifter AE:

Photoshop text as 3D volume in AE

Corey Barker has an interesting Photoshop Extended example of 3D text as a volumetric solid ala Superman titles at Planet Photoshop. In a square file, he duplicates a text layer and turns them into a 3D volume using 3D > New Volume from Layers. The chunk of light imports into After Effects fine but you have to make the layer 3D (not just the Controller) for it to accept Lights. You also might animate the Camera and the Z-scale of the Controller layer.

Chad Perkins showed various CS4 methods of Converting from 2D to 3D and did something similar with DICOM images.



PS 3D in AE can be a bit wonky, and options include mass Z-space manipulations or the use of Trapcode 3D Stroke (see lightcycle.mov), or the 2D Echo filter built into AE as sketched by Chad Castleberry in his After Effects tutorial on YouTube (or more drawn out in a Vimeo revision):

Generate AE text layers and distribute in 3D

Sometimes if the answer doesn't come to mind quickly, you have to make a note of it. That's the case with 3D Text Creator, an After Effects script by Lloyd Alvarez which:

"Generates text layers and distributes them in 3D space. You can define the words, 3D ranges and color variations by editing the script. The script then asks how many words you like and will loop through your list to create them.

You get two versions of the script: In 3D_text_creator.jsx you type the words in the script file and 3D_text_creator_from_file.jsx reads the words from an external file."

Update: There's a new version of the After Effects script DecomposeText, by Charles Bordenave, which added options to separate into words and lines, and the script pt_TextEdit by Paul Tuersley that lets you search for and edit text layers in an AE project and create text style presets and apply them to multiple layers with the click of a button.

Must.have.3D.text

GreyScaleGorilla reminds us why AE still needs a basic built-in 3D extrusion filter with another demo of how to make 3D text inside After Effects. With this tutorial Nick is also joining Maltaannon in going live commando; see How to make 3D Text and use 3D Stroke in After Effects – Live Tutorial. Don't miss the Gray Machine 3D preset mentioned in this tutorial and covered in Gray Machine's Retro Style Graphics and by itself by XVSProductions.

See also previous AEP posts Invigorator and other AE 3D extrusion options and Extrude AE text into 3D redux for other attempts and techniques.

LiveTut3DText3dStroke from Nick Campbell on Vimeo.

Update: here's a similar live session from Maltaannon, Cool 3D stuff,

Update 2: check out this demo of Smoke running on an "unsupported" MacBookPro, More SmackBookPro - 3D Type,

More SmackBookPro - 3D Type from Matt Silverman on Vimeo.

Photoshop Extended: tiled painting & text on 3D

In Photoshop CS4 Extended, the menu command 3D > New Tiled Painting lets you create a tiled pattern. In his Painting Patterns tutorial, Russell Brown shows you how and then apply the pattern to an image so that you paint with patterns, even on 3D objects.

The Russell Brown Show has other interesting tutorial, including Text on 3D, in which you "earn how to place live editable text on the surface of a 3D object and have that text distort to the contours of said object..."

Stylized 3D text with Trapcode Form

In Episode 29 of Red Giant TV, "Tim Clapham shows you how to use Trapcode Form to create some particle-based 3D text along with a cool transition on and off."


Also, Motionworks posted footage of a transitions built with Trapcode Form that used a Form tutorial by Aharon Rabinowitz as a guide.

Invigorator and other AE 3D extrusion options

John Dickinson just posted a collection of some of his Zaxwerks 3D Invigorator/ProAnimator Tutorials. But if you don't have a currently functioning version of Invigorator, which shipped with After Effects for a few versions, there are other options if you're looking for what Invigorator did best -- basic extrusion.

Some of these options, like the Shatter filter and techniques involving duped layers on Z-axis, were discussed in previous AEP posts Extrude AE text into 3D redux, Maltaannon extrudes AE Shapes, and Rick Gerard's Advanced Extrusion with Shatter. Aharon Rabinowitz covered much of the same ground in his podcast, Creating 3D Extruded Text.

[Update] MaxAfter has good example of duped layers on Z-axis in his Text Formation. [end update]

Yet other options include extrude & deform with 3D object filters in Boris Continuum 6, and using Photoshop 3D text, which itself can be extended (like Zax beyond Illustrator) with Swift 3D PS. While both Gerard and Maltaannon consider strokes to make up for the lack of bevels found in Invigorator, these last 2 options have built-in bevel options.

As VideoCopilot noted last year, observing the many tutorials on the Net, "don’t forget to make it look cool." Graphic Mafia today added similar advice in the context of sport graphics and links to Chad Perkins' explanation of the the Shatter filter technique, show below.