Since you have now so many different formats you can export from MochaAE v2, I prepared the following sketch that shows what export format you need for which function of MochaImport:
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Mocha AEv2 update: support of RG warp functions
Imagineer Systems has published a new point release of Mocha and MochaAE v2. As the main new feature it now supports the Red Giant warp plugin and in particular the Red Giant warp functions of my script MochaImport.
Since you have now so many different formats you can export from MochaAE v2, I prepared the following sketch that shows what export format you need for which function of MochaImport:
Since you have now so many different formats you can export from MochaAE v2, I prepared the following sketch that shows what export format you need for which function of MochaImport:
Monday, October 5, 2009
Chameleon - The Adobe Kuler Color Theme Browser
download the script (version 1.0) at aescripts.com/chameleon
(pay what you want - I suggest 10$ but you can even download it for free by changing the price to 0$. Here is more info about the pay what you want system)
You find a tutorial about Chameleon on aetuts+.
There is also a Spanish tutorial kindly provided by Jose M. Arrebola on his website aftereffects.260mb.com
With my brand-new script Chameleon you can use color themes from Adobe kuler conveniently in After Effects.
The workflow is as follows.
Once your color properties are connected to the theme, they automatically update as soon as you apply another color theme to the composition. This allows you to quickly try out different color variations of your project. Design your motion graphics, for example, with some dark, cold, blue colors and once you are finished, check with just one click, how your project would look in warm orange and yellow tones. What has been a tedious process before, namely to change the color of each text, solid, ramp, light, whatever manually, can now be done in just one click by simply applying another color theme.
Adobe kuler is a website where you can browse, create and download color themes (i.e. sets of colors that fit nicely together) for free. There is a huge amount of ready to use color themes and you can, for example, upload images to let kuler generate a color theme that fits to the colors of your image.
For more information see here.
You can link any color property of any effect, animator or shape to a theme color.
In the tutorial I show how you can even color correct footage according to the theme.
The color of solids and texts is technically no color property, therefor you need the following tricks to link them to the theme:
If you work with kuler, the following tools might also be useful for you. The script Swatch you want from Jeff Almasol allows to load a single ase file in After Effects and Maltaannon has published an AE project file that allows to import color themes from Kuler desktop to After Effects. Both approaches are more lightweight and basic than Chameleon since they just allows you to pick the colors from the loaded theme manually.
(pay what you want - I suggest 10$ but you can even download it for free by changing the price to 0$. Here is more info about the pay what you want system)
Tutorials
You find a tutorial about Chameleon on aetuts+.
There is also a Spanish tutorial kindly provided by Jose M. Arrebola on his website aftereffects.260mb.com
Description
With my brand-new script Chameleon you can use color themes from Adobe kuler conveniently in After Effects.
The workflow is as follows.
- Load a bunch of kuler color themes
- Apply one of them to your composition
- Dynamically link color properties of your composition to theme colors
- If you now apply another color theme, all dynamically linked color properties update automatically.
Once your color properties are connected to the theme, they automatically update as soon as you apply another color theme to the composition. This allows you to quickly try out different color variations of your project. Design your motion graphics, for example, with some dark, cold, blue colors and once you are finished, check with just one click, how your project would look in warm orange and yellow tones. What has been a tedious process before, namely to change the color of each text, solid, ramp, light, whatever manually, can now be done in just one click by simply applying another color theme.
What is Adobe kuler?
Adobe kuler is a website where you can browse, create and download color themes (i.e. sets of colors that fit nicely together) for free. There is a huge amount of ready to use color themes and you can, for example, upload images to let kuler generate a color theme that fits to the colors of your image.
For more information see here.
What color properties can I link to a color theme in Chameleon?
You can link any color property of any effect, animator or shape to a theme color.
In the tutorial I show how you can even color correct footage according to the theme.
The color of solids and texts is technically no color property, therefor you need the following tricks to link them to the theme:
- To link the color of a solid to the theme, apply the fill effect in the solid layer and link the fill-color to the theme
- To link the color of a text to the theme, either also use the fill effect or add an animator that sets the fill or stroke color (depending on what you want to connect).
Related Work
If you work with kuler, the following tools might also be useful for you. The script Swatch you want from Jeff Almasol allows to load a single ase file in After Effects and Maltaannon has published an AE project file that allows to import color themes from Kuler desktop to After Effects. Both approaches are more lightweight and basic than Chameleon since they just allows you to pick the colors from the loaded theme manually.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Mocha and Perspective Distortion
Both my Mocha Import explained in 3 Minutes video and my tutorial on Red Giant TV have caused some confusion concerning the question whether Mocha can track perspective distortion and in what cases Red Giant Warp is needed in addition. So here are the facts:
- (1) Mocha AE can track perspective distortion, even without Red Giant Warp. This happens if you enable the shear and perspective options.
- (2) If you tracked perspective distortion with Mocha, it only ends up in After Effects if you use the corner pin data from MochaAE and not the transform data.
- (3) If you want to create a stabilized precomp with MochaImport, you only get the perspective distortion with Red Giant Warp .
- (4) If you just want to do a corner pin or want to use the Mocha Shape plugin, you get perspective distortion and don't need Red Giant Warp.
Take home message:
If you track with shear/perspective enabled, don't use the transform data to get the track into After Effects.
One question is left, I guess:
What if you have to use transform data for your task and have a clip with perspective distortion (e.g. if you want a stabilized precomp but don't have RG warp)?
Then do the track whithout shear and perspective enabled. The resulting track will not be as good as with shear and perspective enabled, but at least no shear/perspective information is thrown away during the export to transform data. Hence you will get in total a better result (but don't expect miracles - with shear/perspective enabled and corner pin data or the shape plugin the results will be much better).
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
New Tutorials
Two new tutorials of mine are now online.
The first is available on AE tuts and explains how to use MochaImport to compose a wound onto a head. I guess the most interesting aspect is how easy it is to cope with the perspective distortion that is going on when the head moves and rotates.
Watch the tutorial on AE Tuts
The other tutorial is available on Creative Cow and Red Giant TV. So far only the first of two parts is online. In the second part I will show in detail how to rotoscope a car with MochaImport. The scene might look familiar to those of you who have seen my Mocha Import explained in 3 Minutes video.
Watch tutorial on Creative Cow
Watch tutorial on Red Giant TV
So now there exist probably enough tutorials about MochaImport. I guess it is time for a new script...
The first is available on AE tuts and explains how to use MochaImport to compose a wound onto a head. I guess the most interesting aspect is how easy it is to cope with the perspective distortion that is going on when the head moves and rotates.
Watch the tutorial on AE Tuts
The other tutorial is available on Creative Cow and Red Giant TV. So far only the first of two parts is online. In the second part I will show in detail how to rotoscope a car with MochaImport. The scene might look familiar to those of you who have seen my Mocha Import explained in 3 Minutes video.
Watch tutorial on Creative Cow
Watch tutorial on Red Giant TV
So now there exist probably enough tutorials about MochaImport. I guess it is time for a new script...
Update: second part is now also online on Creative Cow and Red Giant TV.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Pay What You Want ?!?
My scripts are now available for download via the online shop system on aescripts.com.
Yes, you heard right, online shop. But don't panic: All my scripts are still available for free.
What?
The shop system is on a 'name your own price' basis and you can always change the suggested price to 0$ to get the scripts for free. I suggest a price of between 5$ and 10$ depending on the script. But this is my opinion about an appropriate price and if your opinion is different or you just want to try it out or have a really limited budget, feel free to change it.
Why?
With aescripts.com Lloyd Alvarez has created now one great central place in the web where you can get the most useful After Effects scripts from various authors around the globe. I really liked this idea and wanted to support it. And of course I hope that people are encouraged to donate via the new system. This is also an advantage for you, since it motivates me to put more effort into the script development :-)
Let me know your opinion about aescripts.com and the 'name your own price' system.
Yes, you heard right, online shop. But don't panic: All my scripts are still available for free.
What?
The shop system is on a 'name your own price' basis and you can always change the suggested price to 0$ to get the scripts for free. I suggest a price of between 5$ and 10$ depending on the script. But this is my opinion about an appropriate price and if your opinion is different or you just want to try it out or have a really limited budget, feel free to change it.
Why?
With aescripts.com Lloyd Alvarez has created now one great central place in the web where you can get the most useful After Effects scripts from various authors around the globe. I really liked this idea and wanted to support it. And of course I hope that people are encouraged to donate via the new system. This is also an advantage for you, since it motivates me to put more effort into the script development :-)
Let me know your opinion about aescripts.com and the 'name your own price' system.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
MochaImport 2.0
A new version of my MochaImport script is now online. It contains many bug fixes (yes there where some - if it didn't work for you this is a good time for a second try) and some great new features that make use of the Red Giant Warp plugin. What I didn't like about corner pin so far was that it is so tedious to take care that the thing you want to corner pin has to match exactly the corner pinned area. This is no more necessary now...
Two tutorials explain the new features:
The second tutorial is available soon on AEtuts.
With the new features you can for example
If you don't have the warp Plugin, download the trial version here. If you plan to spend some money on this plugin, note that I won't get any of this money. If you want to support me, take a look at the Paypal donate button on the right side or donate for my free scripts by purchasing some of them via the pay what you want system on aescripts.
Two tutorials explain the new features:
MochaImport 2.0 - New Features from Mathias Möhl on Vimeo.
The second tutorial is available soon on AEtuts.
With the new features you can for example
- corner pin something that has a different size that your corner pinned area. Just place the AE layer you want to corner pin where it should be, hit apply and it is pinned without changing the current frame.
- create a precomp in which you can perform any modifications of the corner pinned area in an undistorted and stabilized setting. This function is similar to the "stabilize precomp" function of the script but does not only stabilize the footage but also undistorts it.
If you don't have the warp Plugin, download the trial version here. If you plan to spend some money on this plugin, note that I won't get any of this money. If you want to support me, take a look at the Paypal donate button on the right side or donate for my free scripts by purchasing some of them via the pay what you want system on aescripts.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
MochaImport
download the script (version 2.03) at aescripts.com/mochaimport
(pay what you want - I suggest 10$ but you can even download it for free by changing the price to 0$. Here is more info about the pay what you want system)
I have created a new After Effects script called MochaImport. As you might guess, it simplifies the work with Mocha for After Effects. More precisely, it helps you to apply the Mocha tracking data in After Effects in what ever way you want.
With the script the following tasks can be done as one click operations:
- create corner pin
- create CC power pin
- create AE trackpoints from Mocha track
- stabilize footage
- move layers according to track
- create a precomp in which the footage is stabilized while maintaining the movement in the original composition.
MochaImport Tutorial for After Effects from Mathias Möhl on Vimeo.
MochaImport works with After Effects CS3 and CS4 and with Mocha for After Effects versions 1 and 2. See this tutorial of how to install scripts if you don't know how to do this.
* if you have problems *
If you have problems, make sure you have installed the newest version of the script (currently version 2.02).
There where several problems to paste the tracking data into the textbox. Since this is a bug in After Effects and not in my script, I unfortunately cannot fix it. Therefore I deactivated the cut and paste now. You have to load the data from a text file now instead of pasting it from the clipboard.
*report a bug*
if you encounter any problems, best send me a mail to mmohlREMOVE_THIS_TO_AVOID_SPAM@gmx.de containing the following information
- a short description of what does not work
- the Mocha data you used (e.g. attached as text file; check whether there are differences in the text file you save in mocha and what finally ends up in the textbox of the script)
- the script version you used
- the operating System you use (Mac/Win)
- the AE version you use (CS3/CS4)
- a screen-shot of the AE window while the error occurs (this is not absolutely necessary, but in the bug reports I obtained so far, it helped to find the problem much faster)
Reporting bugs does NOT mean you should feel obliged to donate. By helping to improve the script you also make an important contribution.
*fixed bugs*
Problems with the script on CS3 (unknown UI element type "Group") where fixed in Version 1.1.
The "pasted keyframe data has 29.97 fps but your comp has 29.97fps" error message is fixed since Version 1.2
Some issues with tracked fields/interleaced footage where fixed in 2.0
Some problems with corner pin data (Error Message "Invalid corner pin or transform data") where fixed in 2.02
(pay what you want - I suggest 10$ but you can even download it for free by changing the price to 0$. Here is more info about the pay what you want system)
I have created a new After Effects script called MochaImport. As you might guess, it simplifies the work with Mocha for After Effects. More precisely, it helps you to apply the Mocha tracking data in After Effects in what ever way you want.
With the script the following tasks can be done as one click operations:
- create corner pin
- create CC power pin
- create AE trackpoints from Mocha track
- stabilize footage
- move layers according to track
- create a precomp in which the footage is stabilized while maintaining the movement in the original composition.
MochaImport Tutorial for After Effects from Mathias Möhl on Vimeo.
MochaImport works with After Effects CS3 and CS4 and with Mocha for After Effects versions 1 and 2. See this tutorial of how to install scripts if you don't know how to do this.
* if you have problems *
If you have problems, make sure you have installed the newest version of the script (currently version 2.02).
There where several problems to paste the tracking data into the textbox. Since this is a bug in After Effects and not in my script, I unfortunately cannot fix it. Therefore I deactivated the cut and paste now. You have to load the data from a text file now instead of pasting it from the clipboard.
*report a bug*
if you encounter any problems, best send me a mail to mmohlREMOVE_THIS_TO_AVOID_SPAM@gmx.de containing the following information
- a short description of what does not work
- the Mocha data you used (e.g. attached as text file; check whether there are differences in the text file you save in mocha and what finally ends up in the textbox of the script)
- the script version you used
- the operating System you use (Mac/Win)
- the AE version you use (CS3/CS4)
- a screen-shot of the AE window while the error occurs (this is not absolutely necessary, but in the bug reports I obtained so far, it helped to find the problem much faster)
Reporting bugs does NOT mean you should feel obliged to donate. By helping to improve the script you also make an important contribution.
*fixed bugs*
Problems with the script on CS3 (unknown UI element type "Group") where fixed in Version 1.1.
The "pasted keyframe data has 29.97 fps but your comp has 29.97fps" error message is fixed since Version 1.2
Some issues with tracked fields/interleaced footage where fixed in 2.0
Some problems with corner pin data (Error Message "Invalid corner pin or transform data") where fixed in 2.02
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