After Effects 4

Repetition with key frames

Using the position key frame 'P', we can select the moving key frames that we have created and paste them along the timeline.

Because we copied and pasted the key frames, the rain drop has an upwards movement (that we don't want to see!) We could amend this in two ways:

• Amend the opacity
• Use a new type of key frame

Right click on the bottom key frame > Toggle Hold Keyframe

The key frame now looks like half a diamond. A Hold Keyframe is that this property stays fixed at the specific point until there is another keyframe.

To make this work, copy and past the Hold Keyframes onto the timeline, then the raindrop will not move upwards on the composition.



We now want to make it look like it is actually raining, so we can duplicate the raindrop layer by pressing CMD D.

Click 'Position', click the backwards arrow key and this allows us to double the moving asset.

To make the raindrop move at a different time, simply select the layer and move it along a little.

Changing the rate of movement

Select all of the raindrops and press U. Select and drag all key frames, press alt and select very first/very last key frame. This allows us to change the rate of the raindrops.



WORKING WITH SOUND

We need to make sure that the music is royalty free. Websites include:

• Free music archive
• British library   

Files we can work with:

• MP3
• WAV
• AIFF

Using quicktime player go to file > export and then choose the file type you would like.

Importing into AE

File > import file > choose files

Simply drag the mp3 file onto the timeline.

If you want to edit something e.g. the timing of the file, double click on the layer.

To trim the time down, click on the green bar and adjust accordingly.

We can use the function on the layer format to edit the sound e.g. how loud it is.

We can also see the waveform which will help us to determine where we can apply extra sounds and the whereabouts of them within the animation.

More advanced movement with images

Parent layers mean that we can group layers together.

So in this case we can get the raindrops to move along with the cloud.

 Any property of your parent layer that you change will affect everything in total. E.g. if you changed the proportion of the cloud, the raindrops would be included too.

My final composition of the day:

  

I found today extremely useful in the fact that I feel like I have gained all of the knowledge that I need to produce my animation. It is definitely clear that I will need a LOT of practice with my skills on AE, and as well I need to work really hard with my work in the storyboard and visual journal parts of this module to produce work to the best of my potential.

Also, when exporting, to save the file size being HUGE, when saving do the following :

add to render queue > best setting > length of comp
lossless > format options > H264