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PCR
Participant
May 19, 2020
Question

How to animate a satellite deploying solar panels?

  • May 19, 2020
  • 2 replies
  • 817 views

Hi everyone. I have been playing around with AE for a while and I have a quick question. I am basically trying to animate something like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_8ZEAPrrHQ

 

I am only interested in animating the satellite scene at from 0:19 to 0:25. I know that I have to design everything in illustrator using layers etc, but how can I animate my satellite so that I can have it deploy solar panels etc? 

 

You'll be my hero if you could help me out here! 

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2 replies

Community Expert
May 20, 2020

The User Guide has a good tutorial that will give you the basics of moving layers in 3D space in the Beginner Section. It is titled Position 2D layers in 3D space,  There are also basic tutorials in the Learn Workspace inside After Effects and on the Home Screen. The tutorials on the Adobe Site and the Learning Resources on the Product pages will efficiently and correctly show you how the UI works and how to manipulate layers. These resources are more likely to point you in the right direction than tutorials you will find with an internet search because most of the new free ones are prepared by enthusiasts that don't explain things very well or have come up with inefficient workflows. 

Mylenium
Legend
May 19, 2020

Anything to do with folding is merely a matter of strategically placing anchor points and parenting elements in a sensible hierarchy. The setup takes longer than the simple rotation animations of the 3D layers than... The only thing to fear is potential confusion and gimbal lock issues on complex structures, but simple stuff as in the video is realyl not that complicated.

 

Mylenium

PCR
PCRAuthor
Participant
May 19, 2020

Ok I see! Do you have any tutorials that would point me to the right direction when it comes to this? Also, would an "unrolling" motion (think of a mat unrolling itself) be possible?

 

Thank you very much 🙂 

Mylenium
Legend
May 20, 2020

Here's something that explains everything:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OjedL_51zU

 

The actual folding stuff is around the 30 minute mark.

 

Mylenium