Drawing over a video in AE

Pas · Post by **Pas** » Wed Sep 19, 2007 12:53 am

I tried to make the title as descriptive as possible.

What I'm trying to do is use the first few seconds of "Hare Hare Yukai", but replace the "H" with a "P" and draw my own character in place of Haruhi.

I had my drawing tablet all set up and was prepped to go last night, when I realized I had no friggen idea how to use AE :/

Yeah, any links to some guides would be nice, or if you're feeling up to it, some guidance would be nice.

I tried to do it in Photoshop, it nearly killed me.

lister007 · Post by **lister007** » Wed Sep 19, 2007 5:09 am

You need to look into track mattes, junk mattes and masking using the pen tool, that should do the trick really but imo the best way is to always roto frame by frame as you will get more-or-less exactly what you need.

Pas · Post by **Pas** » Wed Sep 19, 2007 5:25 am

Mmm, well I will be doing it frame by frame, but I'm not really rotoscoping or masking.

What I'm doing is pretty much copying Haruhi's movements onto the character I draw, so rotoscoping/masking wouldn't really work.

Though, I'm sure you can create a blank new layer and draw on it, only I haven't figured out how to yet :/ which is why I'm asking here.

Zarxrax · Post by **Zarxrax** » Wed Sep 19, 2007 5:42 am

Pas1990 wrote:Mmm, well I will be doing it frame by frame, but I'm not really rotoscoping or masking.

What I'm doing is pretty much copying Haruhi's movements onto the character I draw, so rotoscoping/masking wouldn't really work.

Though, I'm sure you can create a blank new layer and draw on it, only I haven't figured out how to yet :/ which is why I'm asking here.

Actually, that IS rotoscoping in the original sense of the word. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotoscope
*The More You Know*

Getting started with after effects: http://library.creativecow.net/articles ... cts101.php

I do recommend photoshop though. If you are trying to draw your own character, after effects just isn't the best application for drawing.

Pas · Post by **Pas** » Wed Sep 19, 2007 6:36 am

Hahah thanks for that.

I guess I'll take your advice and use Photoshop after all. The only major problem is that I've saved about 50 images. Dragging them into CS2 isn't the problem, what bothers me is that I'll draw a sketch where Haruhi is, but in the next frame when she moves, and I change the position of my character, it becomes very difficult to check how smoothly he has moved compared to the last, because I'm showing up to 4 layers at a time with opacity.

I guess it can't be helped though, I'll see how it turns out.

Cheers, though I'll probably be asking something else very shortly

JaddziaDax · Post by **JaddziaDax** » Wed Sep 19, 2007 8:08 am

if your program can import psd files, then you can always use layers and go back and fix it if it doesn't look right.

lister007 · Post by **lister007** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 10:59 am

You can even preserve those layers for importation into after effects when you finally put it together, you can then interpret that footage at any frame rate you like so it looks as smooth as you like

Pas · Post by **Pas** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 9:10 pm

Ahh great idea lister, thanks heaps!

I'm thinking of how to do this right now, because I want to make sure it keeps with the music. And I don't think I can be bothered colouring it in :/

Thanks for the feedback everyone, I really appreciate it