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| Hi, I've done a few of these, and I've done them both ways. Just a few thoughts- If you record a 'real' artist then there will probably be a lot more clean up work than you initially realise (or budget for). When filming, you need to ensure that the paper is really flat and secured to a surface so it doesn't move around AT ALL. Even tiny movements of the paper, or ripples in the surface of paper that isn't flat, will be really distracting when sped up. There will be all sorts of shadows (from the artist, their arm, and their pen/pencil) and random flickers that you will end up having to clean up or remove. Many years ago I did a simple corporate job which was just a calligraphy artist writing various management phrases, but it turned into a complex compositing task just to make it look like a simple video of a guy writing words because so much clean up was required. The realism you get with this approach though is noticeable - if you film someone live then the way in which the image is built-up / revealled (ie. the way they draw) is definitely more organic and natural. If you begin with existing finished artwork and use strokes to reveal it, then it becomes a simple task to add a 'hand' that follows the strokes as they're revealed. This is how I've done it on a few projects: -Firstly photograph a hand holding a pen/pencil in all sorts of poses. You might end up with 20 - 30 photos. Bring them into After Effects and mask out the background, then sequence all of the photos in a precomp. -Set the anchor point of each photograph in the sequence to be the tip of the pen/pencil, and then give all the photos the same position. This effectively aligns all of the photos (ie. all of the different hands) around the point where the pen/pencil touches the paper. -In you main composition, copy any masks/strokes used to reveal the image to the position of the hand layer and stretch the keyframes out to match the timing of the stroke effect. The position of the hand should exactly match the position of the stroke as it reveal the image. Then use time-remapping to switch between the different photos - you can even use random values. There's actually a few seconds of a project that uses this technique on my current but aging showreel - starting at 2:06: www.chriszwar.com The best reference I have seen for this type of video is the ad for V Water: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APEIUMKCWzc ...but the whole hand-drawing gag goes back to the "La Linea" series that can be watched on You Tube, although it's they're not really relevant if you don't have a character in the drawings. Cheers, -Chris On 12/05/2012, at 10:34 AM, Steve Oakley wrote: > on another list there was a very extensive conversation about doing this. seems the rage is to do the narration while some one draws things that match. animating the hand will probably get insane, and never look that good. these videos are usually done the way you didn't think of, actually live. really that simple. have the artist come in, setup a nice even light, and using just about any camera with manual exposure control, draw away. you'll get perfect results.... you can patch bits together if you need to if you run of the end of the world so you'll get some real AE work in. ok, if you really want to do it the harder way, predraw everything, then have the hand model fake draw everything, and wipe it back in with lost of masks. painful but another approach. > > S > > On May 11, 2012, at 7:18 PM, Jim Curtis wrote: > >> A client wants a real live illustrator to draw some drawings, and for me to animate a hand with a pen drawing them in Ae. >> >> I seem to recall there was a product that would export a QT movie of things you drew into it. Seems like that might be easier and better than me covering all the strokes with paths and using Stroke reveal, or Write-on. >> >> Does Painter or Ps do this? Some other app? >> >> Thx, >> Jim C. >> >> >> >> +---End of message---+ >> To unsubscribe send any message to <ae-list-off@media-motion.tv> > > > +---End of message---+ > To unsubscribe send any message to <ae-list-off@media-motion.tv> > |
