Need guidance on how I would go about creating this effect. Extreme Newbie to the program.

[#1]

Hello everyone,

Fist off, I have never used After Effects.  I have watched some tutorials on it throughout the years, but never thought I would need it.  I am at a point now, where I am going to need to learn it.  I created the following animation in my 3d program.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPID47AXwMg

It was a fair amount of work, and I need to replicate this across about 6 characters.  What I am wanting to do is the following.

1. Render the walk/pose animations to video with the street clothes and armor.  They will use the same animation, starting location, etc.  Meaning that the videos will perfectly line up.

2. Place the street clothes video over the armor video.

3. Animate a mask that masks out the silouhette of the street clothes character that makes the street clothes character disappear, with same type of effect in the video playing along the bottom edge of the mask.

Is this something that I can do in after effects, or do I need to look at premier or is it just easier if I recreate the animation in my 3d program.  Does anyone have a link to tutorials to do what I am describing? 

Thanks in advance,

Walter

[#2]

Hello everyone,

Fist off, I have never used After Effects.  I have watched some tutorials on it throughout the years, but never thought I would need it.  I am at a point now, where I am going to need to learn it.  I created the following animation in my 3d program.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPID47AXwMg

It was a fair amount of work, and I need to replicate this across about 6 characters.  What I am wanting to do is the following.

1. Render the walk/pose animations to video with the street clothes and armor.  They will use the same animation, starting location, etc.  Meaning that the videos will perfectly line up.

2. Place the street clothes video over the armor video.

3. Animate a mask that masks out the silouhette of the street clothes character that makes the street clothes character disappear, with same type of effect in the video playing along the bottom edge of the mask.

Is this something that I can do in after effects, or do I need to look at premier or is it just easier if I recreate the animation in my 3d program.  Does anyone have a link to tutorials to do what I am describing? 

Thanks in advance,

Walter

[#3]

I think what you already do is the best way, PP didn't help on this at all and in after effects you may be creat the mask effects and the transformation between the 2 footage you already created on your 3D software, so if you think the transformation takes to much time to do it on the 3D software it can be done on AE using some third-party plugin like red giant particular

[#4]

Would be easy enough in AE and you can find plenty of tutorials on basic techniques. You may just not find one that covers your exact use case specifically. The basic drill in your example would be:

• create a simple linea gradient wipe in a pre-composition
• add the scattering/ rough edges on top e.g. by ways of the Roughen Edges effect or using the gradient as an input map in effects like Card Dance
• Use the frizzled result as a matte for the transition
• Use duplicates of the wipe with additional effects for the glow after colorizing it e.g. with a Tint effect or similar.

This would result in an easily re-usable setup where you just duplicate the comps and replace the footage in each to create the different variants for each character.

Mylenium

[#5]

Thank you both for your replies.

Mylenium,

From what I was watching on tutorials, I figured that was the approach.  I just have to dig a little deeper with the searches regarding the linear wipe and other effects, but for this, I may just have to stick with doing it in 3d, it will be easier in the long run.

Thanks,

Walter