Please help identify reusable video effects/libraries

[success17]

Hi guys,

I found a great video which has a number of video effects I would like to start using myself.

Can you please have a quick look and tell me if I can find reusable libraries / effects so I don't need to do it from scratch?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eeqjRWG_RU

Did these guys use any libraries? Or did they have to create every single effect from scratch? If they had to create from scratch how difficult it is to learn to master the same effects?

Ideally I need to find ready-to-use libraries to start doing something similar or at least I need to find out what the best and most efficient way (software / tutorials) I could use to start doing something like that myself.

P.S. I have a bit of experience with Sony Vegas Movie Studio and Adobe After Effects, but never did such amazing effects as in this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eeqjRWG_RU

Thanks so much for your fantastic help!

[poisondeathray]

Which ones are you talking about specifically? It's actually a fairly simple video to create. There is nothing there to indicate anything 3rd party or outside of after effects was used . It could even mostly be done in a video editor. Everything is just text and layer animation (and keying and compositing for the actor. )

There are pre-made projects you can buy from sites like videohive, you might find something you like. I doubt they used anything for this - for someone comfortable with AE, it's actually easier to make it from scratch than trying to modify an existing project

[budwzr]

All basic simple moves done on layers. Just like an old Disney animation.

[success17]

Are there any online tutorials helping to understand how to do LAYERS? How would you achieve the effect of stacking papers, do you need some graphics? How did they do it? Did they create single images and then made them move?

Ideally, I need a website URL with tutorials which explain how similar or exactly the same effects can be made...

Thanks so much for your help and time guys!

[budwzr]

Download the video, convert it to PNG stills, then use some of the stills and practice the moves. Movie Studio can probably do it. And you need a graphic editor to customize it.

Or slow the playback to 5 fps and see for yourself how they did it.

Search YT for "Still Animation". Or "How To Animate Stills".

Ultimately, you just have to boot yourself up to speed by reading and trying. This stuff is an old craft, like magicians, and not too many people giving out the secrets.

That sequence is referred to as a "Card Animation". A Card is a layer. You "deal" the cards.

[success17]

Thanks for your help. My goal is to learn this fast. Can I hire someone or buy tutorials. I am new to that, apologies if some questions are basic.

I really need to learn it fast, have no time for trial and error. Hope it makes sense.

and thanks for your help!

[budwzr]

You can't learn it fast. Too many concepts involved. And none of the good editors has patience to mentor anyone. They're all crabby. Bunch of tight in the ass perfectionists.

Try Magisto for instant results.

I'm not for hire, but there might be others here.

[poisondeathray]

The problem is there might be a lot of things that we assume you already knew, or things that are too basic that you already know. "Learning it fast" sometimes translates into "gaps in knowledge"

If you're starting with very limited knowledge on the subject, I would start with some basic tutorials such as at lynda.com . Youtube has many free tutorials , in fact too many and it can be difficult to find "good" focused tutorials. Another good free resource site is videocopliot.net . The central concepts you need to learn about that enable you to do everything in that video is layers, keyframes, keyframe interpolation and the curve editor for fine control of motion. Those are the keywords you want to look for if searching for tutorials

If you want a breakdown for the stack of papers - the assets (each small "stack", a "ream"?) is on an individual layer with an alpha channel (transparency). You literally move the layers where you want them stacks to go, setting keyframes as you go . There are "smart" ways to reuse it and offset the animation, maybe change up a few of the assets so it looks slightly different, rotate a few layers. It might sound difficult by that part might only take a few minutes for the animation part. But there are other "finishing touches" for the final look such as bounce and easing keyframes, motion blur, vingnetting and floor reflections, fake shadows

[success17]

Is there any ready-to-use templates I can get with similar effects so I don't have to really understand it all and can just reuse sutiable template projects?

If so, what's the best resource online to buy them?


Thanks so much guys, you rock!

[budwzr]

Is there any ready-to-use templates I can get with similar effects .....

Nah, not really. Unless you consider Microsoft Photostory a credible option.

[poisondeathray]

Is there any ready-to-use templates I can get with similar effects so I don't have to really understand it all and can just reuse sutiable template projects?

If so, what's the best resource online to buy them?

The most popular site that sells projects for AE is videohive.net. Thousands of projects. But it might take you a while to find something you like, or you might need to "cannibalize" a few of them to get what you want

But you still need to know basics about layers etc.. in order to customize projects.


If you're on a deadline and this is more about the finished project, than learning how to do it - then consider paying someone. For example someone at fiverr.com will do it for cheap. This type of animation is fairly basic and simple to do - it won't cost you an arm or leg

[success17]

Once again guys, I really appreciate all the help. You absolutely rock! Keep it coming.

How do I create the typing effect in the video? This one here:



How would YOU go about it, step by step?

[poisondeathray]

How do I create the typing effect in the video? This one here:

<snip>

How would YOU go about it, step by step?

Several ways you can do it, such as with the text animator, using masks, or a wipe effect. There are tutorials and presets you can download that do similar things, but you might have to search to get exactly what you want.

The most flexible method that allow the most control is a mask reveal. Notice in that video it's not strict per letter snapping such as a real computer or typewriter (ie. you can see "half" characters). That suggests wipe or mask method was used in that version also, not a per letter animator. (But you have full control using the internal text animator also.) You can think of it as the text already there on a layer, just not visible yet. It gets "revealed" by either animating a mask or even a wipe reveal effect. The keywords if you're looking for tutorials are "wipe reveal" or "mask reveal".

The "command prompt" exists on a separate layer. The "flashing" of the command promp is just opacity keyframed from 0 to 100% to 0 and so forth. You can copy & paste keyframes to do this quickly, or there are expressions you can use to automate. I would stay away from expressions until you get the basics down (it's a scripting language for AE). There are actually 2 parts to the command prompt, a darker thin bar, and a lighter wider bar. Feel free to use your own styles, there is no reason you have to make it look the same as that video. The reason I say 2 parts (instead of a single graphic), is at the end of the animation on a particular "slide", only the dark bar is visible

Another reason I would do it with a mask , is you can control the animation by parenting to a null object. This is a central , core concept used in animation. Think of it as "follow the leader". So you animate that 1 null object, everything else, all the layers linked to that null get "pulled" along with it. So if your command prompt was some complex creation on multiple layers, they would keep the same relationships as you animated the null (you wouldn't have to manually animate all those layers). This greatly simplifies and speeds up the amount of time spend animating. If you did it with the text animator method instead, you'd have to animate the "command prompt" separately, beacuse the text animators don't actually move layers in terms of x,y,z space (or you'd have to use some heavy duty expressions to get it to work) . The keyword here if you want more info is "parenting"

EDIT: I called it a "mask" - as in mask layer - but I should use the proper term that adobe uses which is "track matte". Adobe uses "mask" to refer to splines on the same layer (ie. you click with the pen tool) . A track matte is a separate layer which controls layer visibility of another layer. A "luma matte" is a specific type of track matte where the white/black information controls the visibility of the other layer. 100% white means 100% visible, 100% black means not visible (and shades of grey are intermediate). So to clarify why I brought up the null object, I would parent the "command prompt" layer(s), and track matte layer to the null object, so all of them move together at once in the same spatial relationship . If it doesn't make sense or you can't find tutorials for it, I'll try to post a screenshot

[success17]

How do I create the typing effect in the video? This one here:

<snip>

How would YOU go about it, step by step?

Several ways you can do it...

You rock! Thanks so much from the bottom of my heart!

[success17]

How do I create the typing effect in the video? This one here:

<snip>

How would YOU go about it, step by step?

Several ways you can do it...

You rock! Thanks so much from the bottom of my heart!

Would it be possible to achieve the same effect of typing in Sony Vegas, do they have similar concepts?

[poisondeathray]

Would it be possible to achieve the same effect of typing in Sony Vegas, do they have similar concepts?

Yes, same general concept with layers , parenting , and mask reveals

In vegas, you 'd use "parent track motion" to do the trick with the null object, instead of manually animating individual layers. As you animate the "parent" layer, all the "children" layers of that parent move with it