After Effects 3D Camera Tutorial
When creating animations in Adobe After Effects, the images may appear flat on the screen when played. To make your project come to life in After Effects, you should use the 3D camera. The camera can be set to duplicate real film cameras and provide you with multiple angles and movements throughout different shots. Using the 3D camera in After Effects will help you navigate and turn the flat animation world into three dimensions.
Instructions
1. Open an existing After Effects project that you want to apply the 3D camera to. You can start a blank project with a 3D camera, but you cannot really see the effect of it without any content in the project.
2. Make all of the objects 3D by clicking on the 3D box next to each element in the "Comp Window." The 3D box is a picture of a small cube and objects cannot interact with the camera if the box is not checked.
3. Right-Click in the "Comp Window," select "New" and choose "Camera…." Click on the "Preset" drop down menu to select the camera size. The standard camera size is "35 MM" and usually works fine with most projects. You can also manually change the settings like the depth of field, angle and focal length. Press "OK" to confirm the camera and add it to your project.
4. Click on the "Orbit Camera Tool" or press "C" on your keyboard to activate it. This tool only moves the camera in the project, so none of the elements will be moved or adjusted. Click on the "Comp Preview" window and drag the orbit tool around to get different camera angles and views.
5. Right-click in the "Comp Window" select "New" and choose "Null Object." Expand the "Null Object" menu to load the "Transform" menu. Use keyframes to create the different position, rotation, and scales that you would want to camera to follow. Using the null object allows for easier manipulation because the camera itself is harder to move around.
6. Drag the "File Connection" icon of the squiggly line from the camera to the null object. Now the camera will follow all of the null object's movements. Press "Enter" to render a preview and see the camera's movements.
7. Adjust any of the null object's settings if they are not correct and then render the project again to see a preview.
8. Create a new camera and null object to create multiple angles of the same project. Click on the second camera and null object within the "Comp Window." Drag their timelines to the area that you want to cut to that camera angle.
Tags: After Effects, Comp Window, null object, camera null, camera null object, After Effects Camera
