Animated sting - Rework and tests

As i wanted to go for a slightly simpler, less busy animation solution, i started work on bringing my 'Down the Tubes' design to life, the same way i has done with the Whisky Business test stings. 

In Photoshop,cutting out the main elements i want to animate,

so I'm then able to move them around independently. 

Then i import the file into After Effects and start making some magic happen.

Experiments with the floating skull and horn

                        

tube bits test 2 from IanF on Vimeo.







Basic waterfall movements 
    
  WaterfallTest from IanF on Vimeo.



  waterfall test from IanF on Vimeo.

Basic frame movements and further waterfall tests

                       

tube bits test 3 from IanF on Vimeo.

The waterfall ripples are moving correctly but i needed them to appear to go behind the pipe, rather than in front, as shown above, This was proving to be a major hurdle in getting the desired results, as the method i was initially using, with a layer mask, wasn't locked and was moving all over the screen. Hard to demonstrate with a screen shot.

The answer to my problems was 'Alpha Matte', which I've learnt is a key feature when it comes to compositing. Basically you draw the shape of area you want remain visible, on a separate layer directly about the animated layer. Select  Apha Matte in the drop dow menu next to the layer name, and bob's your uncle. A locked layer mask. The water ripples would now appear to disappear behind the various tubes.

                   

tube bits test 5 from IanF on Vimeo.

The solution to this major pain in my ass was remarkably simple to remedy, but as a rookie still feeling his  way around the new (to me) program it took a good while, and lots of headbanging tables to get there.But felt like a massive breakthrough when i did manage to nail it. The test above shows the new results, plus an intro fade-in and pan down. Just need to introduce the rest of the elements into the middle of the shot.  Have also changed the shade of turquoise to better match that of my screen prints.