photo editing, tutorials
AFTER EFFECTS BASICS 2
Welcome back to our series on After Effects Basics! In our previous blog post, we covered the essential tools and features in After Effects for beginners. Now, we will be diving deeper into this powerful software and exploring more advanced techniques and functionalities. Whether you are a graphic designer, video editor, or motion graphics artist, After Effects is a must-have tool for creating stunning visual effects and animations. In this blog post, we will cover topics such as keyframe animation, layer manipulation, and working with plugins and expressions. So, grab your creative hats and let’s explore the next level of After Effects!
After Effects Basics Part 2: Hand Tracking
When I was learning stuff like this, at this point in a tutorial I found it very easy to just close and give up. What’s up, everybody? Peter McKinny here and welcome back to yet another tutorial. It’s so great to be back in this seat teaching things. I’ve been having fun with the blogs lately but we are back in the saddle talking today about After Effects.
Finding a Tracking Point
Today we’re talking about hand tracking. How to track things to your hand or your hands or whatever you feel like tracking to. You’ve seen me do it in many tutorials and we’re going to teach you how to do it.
Lucky for me, I wear rings which provide a clean surface to track from. When you’re wearing rings, that’s a nice clean surface to track from. A lot of the times you might struggle finding something clean to track from because all the fingers look the same or they’re moving too fast. There’s really no good anchor spot for tracking so these rings make that really, really easy.
Starting the Tracking Process
You’re going to right click, choose new and null object and boop! There it is. That’s the little red box right here. Come on over to the right side. Hit tracker and then go to track motion. That’s going to bring up all our settings. Little track point one. You can see we can bring out that outer box and the middle box. Those are the target areas. That inner box is what After Effects is actually tracking so that’s what you wanna have on the ring and then the outer box, that’s After Effects looking for where that object is gonna be in the following frames.
Click and drag that box over to the ring. You can see that we found a nice bright area of the ring. Bright pixels for it to attach to. You’re going to hit play which is basically select forward and then hold your breath because this is where After Effects tracks that motion, tracks that object and you’re hoping that it’s going to track through the entire timeline.
Manual Adjustments
If it loses track, you’ll need to go back, find the spot and help it out frame by frame until it’s back on track. Sometimes, you may need to start in the middle of the clip and track backwards to ensure the entire scene is properly tracked.
And that’s how you do hand tracking in After Effects! With a little bit of practice and patience, you’ll be able to track objects to your hand or any other moving part of your video seamlessly.
What are the basic features of After Effects?
After Effects is a powerful tool for creating visual effects and motion graphics. Some of its basic features include keyframe animation, compositing, and visual effects tools.
How can I learn After Effects as a beginner?
As a beginner, you can start by taking online tutorials or enrolling in courses that cover the basics of After Effects. Practice and experimentation are also essential for learning how to use the software effectively.
What are keyframes in After Effects?
Keyframes are used to create motion and animation in After Effects. By setting keyframes at different points in time, you can define the position, scale, rotation, and other attributes of a layer, allowing you to create dynamic animations.
What is compositing in After Effects?
Compositing is the process of combining visual elements from different sources to create a final image or video. After Effects provides robust compositing tools that allow you to blend layers, apply effects, and create seamless visual effects.
How can I add visual effects in After Effects?
After Effects offers a wide range of visual effects tools that allow you to enhance your footage. You can apply effects such as blurs, distortions, color correction, and more to create stunning visual effects in your projects.
I hope you find useful my article AFTER EFFECTS BASICS 2, I also recommend you to read my other posts in my blog at this link.
If you need help with anything join the community or do not hesitate to contact me.
Best of luck! and follow your passion.
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