How to make lots of "data?"

[andrewdraws]

Hi there! ... I've seen animations where "data" is represented by little squares (or whatever) ... hundreds of objects that move independently and then all go in a certin direction.  How is this done?  I can see using CC Particle World to make the objects, but how to control their movement?  Any thoughts?

[J E L]

@andrewdraws I think I know what you mean. Have you looked into After Effects tutorials by searching for Disintegration Effect?

[andrewdraws]

Interesting! ... I'll take a look. Thanks Jain!

[Rick Gerard]

Trapcode Particular is extremely flexible but a little pricy if you are a hobbyist. Good old Shatter can use a displacement map and a texture map to create particle shapes and move them in a lot of interesting ways. Particle Playground is another option for making particles fly around and controlling their position with a gradient layer. Card Dance is another option. It's probably the simplest. There are so many different ways to create something that has a bunch of bits flying around in random paths that without a specific example of the kind of animations that you are looking for, it's nearly impossible to make any concrete suggestions. 

[andrewdraws]

Thanks Rick!  I'll look into those techniques. So far, they seem fairly hard to control.  Too random. A lot of bursting out from the center, etc.

I was trying to do something like ....  hundreds of little squares (2D) representing "data" flying out of a "server" and spelling a word.  

[Rick Gerard]

The easiest thing to do would be to take the layer with the server image and apply shatter to break it up into bits. Then introduce your word (graphic) layer. Use Shatter to break the word up, pre-compose the graphic layer that has been broken up, then apply Time Remapping to make the word form from the shattered pieces. Do a transition when the pieces are well scattered using gradient wipe and fractal noise as the gradient so that the pieces randomly change position because the position will not perfectly match. That would be the easiest by far.

Another approach is Card Dance and uses an animated gradient to fly the pieces of the server apart and then transition to the word coming together.

If you want to have the server image break up into pieces and then form into a word graphic then you need the Trapcode Suite and Mir 3 or Tao and/or Particular. The standard set of effects that come with After Effects are incapable of morphing one object into another.

I just thought of another approach. Morph one shape into another using any of a dozen morph effects then pre-compose the morph and use Card Dance to break up the layer and bring it back together again. This will also cost some money unless you want to use Illustrator and Blend to create an animated sequence that morphs one shape into another or you can live with using AE's built-in distortion tools to bend one shape into another.

If we saw the starting and ending frame idea we could give you some more directed options. The only thing I know for sure is that it is going to take more than two layers and a couple of effects to pull this off in a way that looks like any kind of modern effect.

[andrewdraws]

Thanks again Rick! I tried the Shatter and Card Dance, but (as you know) there no way to control what the "pieces"look like (other than triangles or squares).  Attached is a super rough example of what I'm going for. I know you can use CC Particle World to use your artwork for the pieces. Maybe Trapcode or Particular can do this also?

[Rick Gerard]

You can use a layer to define your shapes for shatter. I often use a noise layer or create random color patterns. You can also use a track matte for Card Dance. I've done this often using CC Ball Action to generate a bunch of circles, used that as a track matte to simulate a half-tone pattern, then used Card Dance or even shatter to break things up and/or bring them together.

Your screenshots are easier to see if you just copy and paste them to the reply field, use the toolbar, or drag the files into the reply field. The Drag & Drop here area is buggy and hard to use.

[andrewdraws]

Thanks again Rick! ... I'll start playing around.