How can I animate a film reel to rotate smoothly with a swinging film strip in After Effects?

[triple_one_1931]

Hi everyone,

I’m working on a project in After Effects and I want to animate a film reel.

Here’s what I need:

The reel should rotate smoothly, like this reference video: Pixabay Example

The film strip hanging out of the reel should swing naturally, as if it’s affected by inertia or a gentle wiggle.

I already have a PNG image of a reel with film (attachehttps://pixabay.com/videos/tape-registration-sound-pulley-107140/ d below).

[Myra Ferguson]

Based on a slightly different example that shows what I think you're describing (https://stock.adobe.com/video/wide-shot-of-a-finished-film-reel-with-the-film-flapping-after-finishi...), you might want to modify the image that you attached. 

I'd recommend modifying the image or choosing a different one that is a complete side view (so not slightly rotated) and make the excess film somewhat rounded off where it's curving in the direction in which it would be traveling (different from the attached image). 

Then you could add rotation to the film reel to make it spin,  add some motion blur to it, and rotate it the entire reel to the perspective you want.

In the sample clip, there is a bit of flapping when it hits the projector. If there's enough motion blur, you may not notice the lack of that flapping--especially if the shot is a close-up as in your example.

[Golden_Jerry7601]

You can definitely pull this off in After Effects with a mix of simple rotation and expressions.

• Reel rotation: Put the reel on its own layer, set the anchor point to the center, and then just keyframe a rotation. If you want it to keep spinning smoothly, you can also apply an expression like:

  time*50

  (adjust the number for speed).

• Film strip swing: Pre-cut the strip so it’s on a separate layer. Parent it to the reel, but animate the swing with a rotation around the point where it connects to the reel. You can make it feel natural with a simple wiggle or inertia expression, for example:

  wiggle(0.5,10)

  Or use the Pendulum preset (in the Animation Presets > Behaviors) for more realistic swinging.

If you want it to react dynamically to the reel’s spin, you could look into adding the CC Bend It or Puppet Tool on the strip so it has some flexibility instead of just rigid swinging.

That combo should give you the smooth reel spin and the natural hanging-strip movement.

[Warren Heaton]

@triple_one_1931:

Are you thinking something like this?

Pictured: Animated GIF created from image using Photoshop, Firefly, and After Effects

- Warren