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jneeley13
jneeley13
Participating Frequently
June 4, 2019
Answered

Imaginary Ball Flight

  • June 4, 2019
  • 1 reply
  • 1504 views

Alright- I'm stumped.  I'm trying to create an imaginary ball path exactly like this video:  Shell Landing | Hole 14 - YouTube   (The effect starts at the 16 second mark).  I have seen similar threads, but none that provide a clear answer on how to do this. 

I am relatively new to after effects- and don't get all the ins and outs- so i was hoping someone could walk me through this step by step.  I'd like to motion track my video, create 2 null points (one where the ball is hit, and one where it lands) and then somehow parent a shape layer to both the beginning and end null points.  I haven't figured out a way to do that- and I'm not even sure if that's the best way to begin with.  Does anyone have any experience with this?

Thanks so much for the help!!!

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer Rick Gerard

Rick-

Thanks so much for the feedback! 

Most of my starts and ending points will not stay in the screen.  You wrote:

"If the start and end point of the path do not stay in frame, like in your example, the best option is probably Camera Tracking. You establish an origin and ground plane, then position a big enough solid to cover the entire path in the 3D scene. When that is correct you can take the pen tool and draw a path on the solid and use that path for a shape layer or the stroke effect. I would probably use a shape layer."

That's exactly what i did with this video:  Hole Intro on Vimeo

The problem with this (and hopefully this is something that you can help me with), is when I am filming lower to the ground- I can't figure out a way to make a big enough solid to cover the entire screen (my path would fill the whole screen on a close to the ground shot).  Right now, I'm limited to making a "low" arc to stay within the solid.  Even if i make the solid size massive (10000 pixels for example), the plane only only expands horizontally- but not vertically.  If i change the x axis of the solid so that it covers the entire screen- my flight path gets whacky.  Any solution to this problem?  Again- i really appreciate your help!  Im willing to send a link to a screen capture if it would help explain what im struggling with..

-Jonny


Try this:

  1. Camera track the shot
  2. Establish an origin and ground plane then add a solid and a camera using the same target
  3. Add the Grid Effect to the solid and stretch it out to cover the entire shot so you can decide if the track is accurate.
  4. Add a solid to the t-box using tracking markers that are attached to that surface
  5. Add a solid somewhere in the middle of the fairway halfway to the green using tracking points attached to that surface
  6. Add a solid to the green again using tracking points attached to that surface
  7. Run a preview and make sure that all of the solids stay attached to the ground
  8. Adjust the anchor point of the solid midway down the fairway so that it is at the bottom center of the Y axis, rotate 90º in X so that the reference solid stands up with the fairway and is directly under where you want the path of the ball to be
  9. Check the track again - if everything is good you have built the framework that will let you add a shape layer path to the comp
  10. Add a new shape layer, make it 3D
  11. Hold down the shift key and parent the shape layer (ball path) to the center fairway solid
  12. The anchor point of the shape layer will now be in the same position and orientation as the shape layer placeholder
  13. Move back in the timeline to where you want the ball path to start
  14. Select the pen tool and set the Shape Layer to only draw a stroked path then put it right over the Tee Box solid where you want to start the path
  15. Move to the spot where the ball will be halfway there and create another point and drag out the bezier handle about half way to the green
  16. Move down the timeline and set the last point exactly where you want the shot to end
  17. Return to the spot where the ball is going to be halfway to the green, hold down the Ctrl/Cmnd Key and draw a selection around the middle path point to select it
  18. Make any adjustments to the path, you can even make adjustments outside the composition frame

That's it. When you are done you can either delete, turn off or make the reference solids guide layers and you're done. If I get time later today I'll throw together a screenshot that shows a typical setup for this kind of thing.

1 reply

B
Community Expert
Byron CortezCommunity Expert
Community Expert
June 4, 2019

Use the pen tool.

- Create a curve with the approximate shape of the exit and the arrival of the ball.

- In the properties of the layer invisibilizes the Fill and leaves the Stroke visible, to the stroke put a thickness of about 3 points.

- Activate the 3D to the shape layer and rotate it in Y as necessary.

- Add a Trim Paths operator with the Add option.

- Play a little with your End from 0 to 100.

- You can add an opacity too.

I hope it will be useful, if you do not understand something, let me know.

Byron.
jneeley13
jneeley13Author
Participating Frequently
June 4, 2019

Byron-

Thanks so much for the response!!!  So- i was able to do what you said- but the 3d arc is floating around the screen.  How can i get the arc that i created using the pen tool to anchor to a fixed point on the ground?

R
Community Expert
Rick GerardCommunity Expert
Community Expert
June 5, 2019

Rick-

I made it to step 14 of your instructions and then seemed to have issues. I recorded in my video what was going on. Any thoughts?

Sent from my iPhone


I don't see a video but I suspect that the center point null is not perfectly aligned with the start and end reference solids.

If the center reference solid properly and the 3D shape layer is in the same position (Shift + Parent) then you should be able to just draw right in the frame. Something like this:

The top view shows both the start and end reference solids. Guides in the Top view help find the centers. As long as the path lines up your track should work. If the center point was rotated back to flat on the ground then you would see that it is perfectly lined up with the start and end solids. In the top view, you can see the path. You could also temporarily change the X scale of the center point solid to help you line it up with the start and end points.

Notice also that I split the shot into three sections so that I only ran camera tracking on the part of the shot where I needed the motion path. You don't want to spend any time tracking frames that don't need to be tracked.

The nice thing about the pen tool is that there is almost no limit to how far from layer center you put a point. Once the shape layer was properly lined up with the start and end reference points all I had to do was draw a path with three points, then move back and forth in the timeline to adjust their position and the curve.

You could even use the shape layer path as a motion path for a 3D layer. Just copy it, paste it to a 2D layer ball graphic, then add a 2D null at the center of the comp, parent that null (call it ball master null), then shift parent Ball Master Null to the Shape layer and presto, you have a ball following the path.

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