From: "Chris Zwar" <AE-List@media-motion.tv>
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Subject: Organising cameras
Message-Id: <A6858CDB-01FB-4CD1-81BB-BFC771CD56BC@chriszwar.com>
Date: Mon, 24 Sep 2018 11:38:55 +1000
To: After Effects Mail List <AE-List@media-motion.tv>

Hi all,

Just wanting to pick the collective brains on how everyone is keeping =
track of multiple cameras in large projects.  I like to think my =
projects are well organised but this is one thing that I haven=E2=80=99t =
cracked yet.

Currently I=E2=80=99m working on a sequence that has over 20 shots in =
it, compositing multipass-renders from 3D.  I get a camera for each =
shot, which I=E2=80=99m then using to roll out multiple FX that are =
being generated in After Effects for the composites.  I would guess that =
each camera is used in 10 - 15 additional precomps for each shot.

The problem is that as the animation progresses, the cameras are often =
changed and updated.  Swapping out 3D renders is simple, but so far =
I=E2=80=99m importing each new camera and manually pasting it into each =
composition.  This means I can miss comps because the process is manual. =
 And as the new cameras have new names, this can also break expressions =
and parenting.

In previous projects I=E2=80=99ve had a =E2=80=9Cmaster=E2=80=9D camera =
that I=E2=80=99ve then linked to with expressions to create a version =
that I can roll out in precomps, and always use that one instead.  If I =
planned ahead a bit better I would have done that here, but it=E2=80=99s =
not something I=E2=80=99ve done with 20+ shots, each with individual =
cameras.

Does anyone have a better & cleaner method than making a master camera =
comp that is always linked to via expressions?


-Chris=