Chris & Trish Meyer
CMG Keyframes is a repository for columns, articles, and videos created by Trish & Chris Meyer of the subject of creating motion graphics using Adobe After Effects and other related programs. It also contains articles on typography, audio, and 3D, as well as links to relevant articles Chris & Trish have published elsewhere.
Trish & Chris Meyer are the founders of Crish Design (formerly known as CyberMotion), an award-winning motion graphic design studio that has recently relocated from Los Angeles to the Albuquerque area. Their design and animation work has appeared on shows and promos for CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox, HBO, PBS, and TLC; in opening titles for several movies including Cold Mountain and The Talented Mr. Ripley; at trade shows and press events for corporate clients ranging from Apple to Xerox; and in special venues encompassing IMAX, CircleVision, the NBC AstroVision sign in Times Square, and the four-block-long Fremont Street Experience in Las Vegas.
In addition to their motion graphics work, Trish and Chris were among the original users of After Effects, and have written numerous books including "Creating Motion Graphics with After Effects" and "After Effects Apprentice" (both published by Focal Press). They speak regularly at conferences around the country, and perform custom training for studios. Both have backgrounds as musicians, and a close relationship between sound and picture informs much of their work.
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Monday, September 02, 2002
3D lighting in After Effects can be powerful, subtle…and confusing.
The 3D implementation in After Effects is very flexible. You can selectively place some layers in 3D space, and leave others in normal 2D. If you don’t create a camera, the composition reverts to a default camera. If you do create a camera to fly around your 3D layers, you don’t need to create lights – by default, the layers keep their original colors, as if perfectly illuminated. Or, you can add 3D lights to your composition.
Lighting is probably the most subtle and powerful aspect of 3D in After Effects, as it can create wonderfully moody shifts in brightness and color, as well as “automatic” shadows without needing to tweak Drop Shadow effects for each layer. Lighting is also probably the least understood aspect of 3D in After Effects. Therefore, we’re going to spend the next few columns discussing lighting tips and tricks, starting this column with the basics: the differences between – and uses of – diffuse, specular, and ambient lighting effects.
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