Programs like AE?

[CrackTheSky]

Actually I have nothing specific in mind, save for adding moving graphics to my videos. I was really just curious; if I do get a cheaper After Effects-like program, it probably won't be for a while. I just wanted to know what my options were, should I ever feel so inclined to search something out.

[kmv]

What are you trying to do in After Effects? I doubt it's everything AE can do.

Actually, I am interested in this too for a project I am about to start so I might as well chime in...

I am interested in motion paths and camera positions. For example: having a number of clips/masks move along a number of pre-determined, non-linear paths in "3D space" while the camera moves in amongst them.

I can think of a way to do that in Premiere - but not accurately, and certainly not easily. I haven’t used Blender, but judging from some of your stuff, it could do it – but it also sounds like the rendering times are a problem.

What are the cheap/free options? Excluding eBay of course.


Oh yeah... and I am thinking of buying a Mac (not that changes much of anything these days)

[Zarxrax]

Blender would be your best choice on the cheap. As long as you aren't doing anything terribly complex like trythil does, rendering time wont be bad at all.

[trythil]

Actually I have nothing specific in mind, save for adding moving graphics to my videos. I was really just curious; if I do get a cheaper After Effects-like program, it probably won't be for a while. I just wanted to know what my options were, should I ever feel so inclined to search something out.

Well, reason I asked is that depending on what you want to do (see kmv's post, for example) there are other programs that can enable you to do the same thing. (Sometimes, they'll let you go even further.)

For example: 2D motion graphics can be done in Blender (or pretty much any other 3D program). One example can be found in the credits sequence of Elephants Dream. An implementation of the technique is to use an orthographic projection for your camera and rotate your camera so that it faces perpendicular to the plane containing your 3D objects.

Blender can also import 2D vector formats such as SVG, which will allow you to use dedicated vector graphics tools like Inkscape, Xara Xtreme, or Illustrator to design your shapes.

I'm not saying that this is the industry standard way, but it certainly works.

I am interested in motion paths and camera positions. For example: having a number of clips/masks move along a number of pre-determined, non-linear paths in "3D space" while the camera moves in amongst them.

I can think of a way to do that in Premiere - but not accurately, and certainly not easily. I haven’t used Blender, but judging from some of your stuff, it could do it – but it also sounds like the rendering times are a problem.

Yeah, that's doable, and rendering times are generally pretty good -- mine go through the roof because I like playing with really expensive operations that can usually be faked at a lower time cost. I'll see if I can post an example Blender file soon.

On the speed issue: Blender's renderer is multithreaded, so you can use multiple processors / cores to speed things up. (Of course, distributing frames across multiple computers also works, and can be managed with software like DrQueue.)

[kmv]

OK, sounds like Blender is the main option.

Can Blender cope with audio tracks? If not, how do you match the action to the soundtrack? Really careful planning and keeping a close eye on the frame/time marker?

[trythil]

OK, sounds like Blender is the main option.

Can Blender cope with audio tracks? If not, how do you match the action to the soundtrack? Really careful planning and keeping a close eye on the frame/time marker?

Yes, Blender will sync animation to audio, and also does scrubbing. It also has a built-in (rudimentary, but functional) audio and video sequence editor.

[Minion]

/has blender
//can't do shit in it

[trythil]

/has blender
//can't do shit in it

http://mediawiki.blender.org/index.php/Main_Page

[DJ_Izumi]

/has blender
//can't do shit in it

And the poor craftsman blames his tools.