AfterEffects S3 - Title Sequence

For the final session of AfterEffets we were tasked with creating a title screen/start/end slate that used some of AE's 3 dimensional functionality, but first we had to create the assets in Illustrator.

I created a series of hexagons and a title (along the same theme) of HEXA, as with other AE projects each of the elements that I wanted to be animated separately had to be in their own layer within Illustrator, with most o the artwork being towards the centre of the board to avoid it running off screen between different viewing devices, and in this case the text had to changed to create outlines for the animation to work properly.

My illustrator artboard

Then we imported it into AE, and during the importation, retain layer size had to be clicked on. After importing the artwork and checking the composition settings, we toggled the switches and modes in the timeline, and activated the 3D layer option (symbolized with an isometric diagram of a box).

Turning on the 3D layer option adds a z axis to the standard x and y axis used in 2D work. X being the horizontal, Y being the vertical whilst the Z axis measures depth. Having done this I experimented with some of the effects available as well as the position of my hexagons within x,y and z fields.

Then we added texture and we did this by firstly selecting the element, and then selecting the pre-compose option from the composition menu. This creates a new composition, open this, and import that texture file before placing this at the bottom of the layer stack next to the timeline. Toggle the switches and modes again so that the mode options are available. Select the option that says TrkMat and select Alpha Matte, and this should add the desired texture to the desired element, in this case I chose on of my hexagons.

After this we added a vignette to the animation. This is done by creating a shape at the top of the layer stack, and dragging it over the top of the composition, leaving a border around the outside. We then changed the mask from add to subtract and feathering the edges to give a vignette effect around the outside of the frame. I chose not to include this in my final animation as I did not feel it matched the aesthetic I wanted.

hexa from Matt McGough on Vimeo.

Given more time I would have liked to have added a more fitting texture to my work, as well as add more depth to some of the individual hexagons.