1 CREATE ILLUSTRATOR TEXT
Create a new Adobe Illustrator document (File>New), name it "Game
Night," select Video and Film in the New Document Profile drop-down
menu, and set the size to 720x540 pixels. Under the Advanced option,
choose the Dark preset for the Transparency Grid this will ensure our
white text will be visible as we work on it. Click OK. Select the Type
tool (T), click on the page, and add your type, choosing the font and
size to suit your design. Here, we've used a font from www.veer.com called Newspeak-Heavy,
which will look great when extruded. Set the Fill color to white and the
Stroke to none.
2 CONVERT TO SHAPES; RELEASE TO LAYERS
Select the type with the Selection tool (V), then go to Type>Create
Outlines. Now we need to divide the type so that each letter is on a
separate layer, so go to Object>Ungroup, then from the Layers panel
flyout menu, choose Release to Layers (Sequence). Shift-click all the
resulting sub-layers to select them and drag them up above Layer 1 in
the Layers panel. Drag Layer 1 to the Trash icon to delete it, as we
don't need it. Now we're ready to apply the 3D effect to each one of the
shapes and tweak it as necessary.
3 ADD 3D EFFECTS
Select the first letter shape, choose Effect>3D>Extrude &
Bevel, and then simply press OK to exit the dialog we'll return shortly
to adjust it. Shift-click all the other letters on the artboard to
select them and choose Effect>Apply Extrude & Bevel. This applies
the effect to each letter individually. At this stage you might want to
choose View>Hide Transparency Grid to make the 3D shapes easier to
see. Now that every layer has its own 3D effect, we're free to adjust
the Extrude & Bevel properties on each letter to make the design
much cooler.
4 EDIT 3D STYLES
Select a letter, and in the Appearance panel (Window>Appearance)
click 3D Extrude & Bevel. Adjust the rotation and camera perspective
values to angle the letter slightly and give the extrusion some
perspective. Adjust the Extrude Depth value and add some extra lights if
desired this is a creative process you're in control of the final look.
When done, click OK, then repeat this process for each letter.
Rearrange the layers and use the Selection tool to move individual
letters so the word "Game" appears to be sitting on top of the word
"Night." When finished, be sure to Save the document.
5 IMPORT TO AFTER EFFECTS; PRE-COMPOSE
In After Effects, go to File>Import>File and select the
Illustrator document. Choose Composition in the Import As drop-down menu
and click Open. Double-click the new Game Night comp to open it, press
Command-K (PC: Ctrl-K), set the size to 720x540 px, the Duration to 5
seconds, and click OK. In the Timeline, Command-click (PC: Ctrl-click)
the layers that make up the word "Game" to select them, choose
Layer>Pre-Compose, and name it accordingly. Repeat this process for
the other word now we have only two layers, which are much easier to
control. Import a texture image to use as a floor. The one used here is
free, found in the concrete section of www.textureking.com.
6 DESIGN 3D SCENE
Drag the texture image into the Timeline, rename it "Floor," then
double-click it to open it in a Footage viewer. Use the Rectangle tool
(Q) to draw a mask around the entire layer. Grab the Selection tool (V)
and drag the mask down about a fifth of the way from the top edge. Hit F
for Mask Feather, unlink the Chain, and set the Vertical axis to 300
pixels. Close the Footage Viewer, then click the 3D Layer switch for all
the layers. Select the Floor layer, press R, and change its Orientation
to 270 on the x-axis. Drag it down to the bottom edge of the comp.
Move the word layers to rest on the floor and each other.
7 APPLY BASIC ANIMATION
Select the GAME layer, go to frame 18 in the Timeline, and hit Option-P
(PC: Alt-P) to set a Position keyframe. Return to the beginning of the
Timeline (Home), and drag the layer upward on the y-axis until it's
offscreen. Shift-click both keyframes to select them and go to
Animation>Keyframe Assistant and apply the Easy Ease velocity to
them. Now, go to Animation>Keyframe Velocity, and set the Outgoing
Velocity Influence to 100%. To enhance the effect, feel free to add
Position keyframes to the NIGHT layer for a slight position shift at the
moment of impact.
8 LIGHTS & SHADOWS
Go to Layer>New>Light, change Light Type to Point, set the
Intensity to125%, turn Casts Shadows off, and click OK. Press P and
adjust the Position attributes to 360, 75, and -200. Since the elements
we've created are without true 3D extrusion, we need to add their
shadows manually. Select the NIGHT layer, press Command-D (PC: Ctrl-D)
to duplicate it, and rename it "NIGHT Shadow." Delete any position
keyframes, and hit S to show the Scale property. Unlink the Chain icon,
scale the Y value to 20%, then press R and set the X Orientation to
270, and move it to just on top of the Floor layer.
9 MORE SHADOWS!
With the "NIGHT Shadow" layer still selected, go to
Effect>Generate>Fill, and then choose Effect>Blur &
Sharpen>Fast Blur. In the Effect Controls panel (ECP), set the Color
to black, and set the Blurriness value to 20. Now repeat Steps 8 and 9
to create a shadow for the GAME layer: duplicate it, rename it, remove
any keyframes, scale its height, rotate it (you may have to experiment
with the angle of rotation), move it up to appear on top of the NIGHT
layer shapes, fill it with black, and blur it. Hit T for the Opacity
value, and drop it to 80%.
10 ANIMATE SHADOW SCALE
Now we need to animate the GAME Shadow to follow the animation of the
word falling. Select the GAME Shadow layer, go to frame 18 in the
Timeline, and hit Option-S (PC: Alt-S) to set a Scale keyframe. Now move
back around 10 frames, and set the X and Y scale to 0. This nicely
enlarges the shadow as the word falls from the top of the screen. For
more reality, you could also keyframe the layer Opacity, getting darker
as the word gets closer.
11 ADD PARTICLES
Go to Layer>New>Solid, name the solid "Particles," click the Color
swatch, choose a white color, click OK, click Make Comp Size, and click
OK again. Drag the layer to start at 18 frames in the Timeline, then go
to Effect>Simulation>CC Particle World. In the ECP, set the Grid
to Off, then change the Birth Rate to 300, and click the Stopwatch to
apply a keyframe. Move one frame forward (Page Down) and set it to 0 so
there are no new particles after this point. Adjust the Longevity to 6
seconds, which should be enough for our 5-second comp.
12 BASIC PARTICLE SETTINGS
Twirl down the Producer in the ECP, change the Position Y value until it
sits between the word layers (around 0.05 should do the trick) then set
the Radius X to 0.4 this will spread particles across the width of the
whole NIGHT layer. Under Physics, change Animation to Viscouse, Velocity
to 0.60, Gravity to 0.010, and Resistance to 3.0. Under Particle,
change Particle Type to QuadPolygon, Birth Size to 0.020, Death Size to
0.050, and Size Variation to 100%. Sample from the floor's bright color
for the Birth Color and its dark color for the Death Color, and set the
Transfer Mode to Screen.
13 ADVANCED PARTICLE SETTING
In the ECP, click the word "Options" near the name of the effect, then
click Opacity Map in the resulting dialog. Choose Constant from the
Presets drop-down menu. Click OK twice, then duplicate the Particles
layer for a shadow version. Select the duplicate, return to the effect's
Options again, click Rendering, and set Render Animation to Projected
on Floor. Click OK twice, then position this layer between the Floor and
NIGHT Shadow layers in the Timeline. In the ECP, change the Particle
Birth Color to be the same as the Death Color. Click the Toggle
Switches/Modes button, change the layer blend mode to Multiply in the
Timeline, then add a Fast Blur effect with a Blurriness of 2. Perfect!
14 FINAL EMBELLISHMENTS
Go to Layer>New>Camera, choose the 15mm Preset and turn on Enable
Depth of Field. Set the F-Stop to 2.0, the Blur Level to 300%, and click
OK. On frame 16, twirl down the Camera layer and then twirl down
Transform. Move the Camera slightly back on the z-axis, and set a
keyframe for both Position and Point of Interest. At frame 18, move the
camera on the z-axis towards the type, and then on the last frame in the
Timeline, move it a few more pixels. Select all the new keyframes and
apply an Easy Ease. Enable Motion Blur for All Layers, and render. True
3D? You tell me.... Enjoy!
