How was this done? Flower petals opening

[andrewdraws]

Hi there!

Hi there!

Does anyone know how this was done in After Effects? These flower petals seem to "curl" outwards. Is that possible without special plug ins?

Lotus blooming animation #Test #after effects - YouTube

[P.M.B · Accepted solution]

CC Bend it or CC Cylinder or one from that group.  A single png of a petal with a pivot at the bottom rotating out and the CC Bend It key framed from slightly curled in to curled out.  Parent it to a null so you can move & scale it without worries.  Duplicate for each petal.  Arrange them all in 3D space using the nulls.  Add a camera so you can rotate around and find a nice viewing angle.

That's one method that might work.

[andrewdraws]

that helps! ... I'll give it a try. Thanks.

[andrewdraws]

Hmm... CC Bend it doesn't seem to really curve in 3D. it seems to bend over to the side, but it's not really curling over on itself.

[Kyle Hamrick]

You could ask the creator how he did it.

It very well could be actual path animation as well - essentially hand-animating the petals.

[kirkeric]

Another fantastic way to do this would be using FreeForm Pro for AE.  It is made by Mettle and it is a purchase item but it is very powerful and would do great for this.

Eric

[andrewdraws]

Thanks Kyle and kirkeric!

I asked the creator, a nice guy in India. He said he'd show me, but I haven't heard back from him. 

I was hoping for a simple solution. All I need is some tiny 3-D flowers blooming on different locations on a  map.  So they'll be quite small.

Thanks again

[kirkeric]

Ok, best of luck!

[Kyle Hamrick]

If they're small (and not the focus), you might be able to get away with cheating quite a bit. If they need to be fully 3d-aware (i.e. they need to be responsive to different perspectives around the map, etc.) having it actually created in 3d may be the only viable route.

It all depends on what it needs to look like (or what is manageable within the time/budget you have).

[andrewdraws]

Yes ... you're right!  If I don't hear back from my new Indian friend in the next day. I'll do a quickie frame-frame version.

Thanks!