HOW DO I SEPARATE EACH BRICK AND LAY THEM ONE BY ONE LIKE REAL LIFE?

[One&Done]

HELLO,

THIS IS THE FINAL PIECE OF THE PUZZLE TO MY PROJECT I HAVE BEEN WORKING ON FOR 4 MONTHS.

ALL I NEED IS TO STACK BRICKS ONE ON TOP OF ANOTHER ROW BY ROW (BOTTOM TO TOP AND RIGHT TO LEFT) 

I HAVE GOTTEN SUGGESTIONS THAT MOSAIC MAY WORK, BUT ALSO THAT CARD DANCE SHOULD BE ABLE TO HANDLE THIS JUST FINE.

I CANNOT SEE THE COLUMNS AND ROWS VISUALLY WITH CARD DANCE! HOW DO I SEE THEM?

BOTH SUGGESTIONS ALSO DEAL WITH GRADIENT ANIMATING.

HERE IS THE THING, I HAVE BEEN SPENDING DAYS AND DAYS TRYING TO FIGURE THIS OUT.

THEREFORE, I FEEL IT WILL TAKE LESS TIME TO JUST CUT OUT EACH BRICK AND AN REVEAL ONE AT A TIME. <---HOW WOULD I GO ABOUT THIS? 

IF MY OCCUPATION WAS MOTION GRAPHICS DESIGNER, I WOULD WANT TO KNOW HOW TO DO IT ALL WAYS, BUT I AM A MUSICIAN WHO HAS PUT OFF 4 MONTHS OF WORK,  TRYING TO GET THIS PROJECT CREATED FOR MY MUSIC. I JUST NEED TO GET THIS DONE!

WILL THIS HAVE SOMETHING TO DO WITH MASKING?

CAN'T I JUST PUT A BUNCHA BOXES AROUND EVERY BRICK AND JUST CONTROL OPACITY INSTANTLY BY KEYFRAMING 0% TO 100% RIGHT TO LEFT THEN LEFT TO RIGHT EACH ROW, UNTIL EACH ROW IS FILLED FROM BOTTOM TO TOP? 

ANY ASSISTANCE WOULD BE A HUGE HELP!

THANK YOU MUCH,

ONE&DONE

[nishu_kush]

Hi ONE&DONE,

Thanks for writing in.

There are multiple ways to do this in After Effects. If I were you:

1. I'd open the image in Photoshop and separate the bricks in the bottom row to their own layers.
2. Bring the file in After Effects as composition (not footage) and use layer sequencing to make them appear in order. Here's and YouTube video to help you with that: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9WY3dXEsRo&ab_channel=TipTut
3. Once the bottom row has been animated, Precomp all the layers.
4. You can then copy the composition multiple time and position them accordingly.

Let us know if there are any other questions.

Thanks,

Nishu