You created the advertising copy in After Effects, but the crabs’ expressions are in quotation bubbles, which are easier to include as images. You’ll attach the PSD files to solid layers in After Effects to lock them to specific planes.
- Go to 6:06, select the Shoreline.mov layer in the Timeline panel, and select the 3D Camera Tracker effect in the Effect Controls panel.
- With the Selection tool, move the cursor so that the target is on a vertical plane as in the image below. Right-click the target, and choose Create Solid.
After Effects creates a Track Solid 1 layer, and a colorful solid square appears in the Composition panel. The color of the solid square you see may be different from ours.
Adjusting the camera’s depth of field
You can make the computer-generated elements more closely match the source footage if you adjust the depth of field for the 3D camera. If you use the values that were used in the camera that shot the original footage, 3D objects that are further away from the camera appear to be more out of focus.
To adjust the depth of field, select the 3D Tracker Camera layer in the Timeline panel, and then choose Layer > Camera Settings.
- Right-click or Control-click the Track Solid 1 layer in the Timeline panel, and choose Pre-compose. Then, in the Pre-compose dialog box, name the layer Crab Quote 1, and click OK.
After Effects creates the Crab Quote 1 composition, which contains the Track Solid 1 layer.
- Double-click the Crab Quote 1 composition to open it. In the Timeline panel, delete the Track Solid 1 layer.
- Drag the Quote1.psd file from the Project panel into the Timeline panel.
- Choose Layer > Transform > Fit to Comp Width.
7. Select the Shoreline Timeline panel.
After Effects displays the Quote1.psd image where you created a solid layer.
- Use the Selection tool and the 3D Gizmo to position and scale the quote so that it appears to relate to a cluster of crabs.
- Go to 7:15, select the Shoreline.mov layer in the Timeline panel, and select the 3D Camera Tracker effect again. In the Effect Controls panel, reduce the Track Point Size to 25% so you can see the track points more clearly. Then, find a vertical plane against the rock, right-click the target, and choose Create Solid.
- Right-click or Control-click the Track Solid 1 layer, and choose Pre-compose. In the Pre-compose dialog box, name the composition Crab Quote 2, and then click OK.
- Double-click the Crab Quote 2 composition to open it. Delete the Track Solid 1 layer, drag the Quote2.psd file from the Project panel to the Timeline panel, and choose Layer > Transform > Fit To Comp.
- Return to the Shoreline Timeline panel, and then adjust the position, rotation, and scale of the quote to match the crabs’ position.
- Go to 9:01, select the Shoreline.mov layer, and select the 3D Camera Tracker effect again. In the Effect Controls panel, reduce the Target Size to 50%. Right-click a target on a vertical plane, and choose Create Solid.
- Right-click or Control-click the Track Solid 1 layer, choose Pre-compose, name the composition Crab Quote 3, and click OK. Then, double-click the Crab Quote 3 composition to open it, delete the Track Solid 1 layer, drag the Quote3.psd file into the Timeline panel, and choose Layer > Transform > Fit To Comp.
- Select the Shoreline Timeline panel, and then adjust the position, rotation, and scale of the quote to match the position of the crabs.
16.Choose File > Save to save your work so far.