You probably noticed the lack of updates in the past week. I’ve been in New York City, first for NAB NY and then to a fabulous weekend with the folks at Maxon Computer, maker of Cinema 4D and BodyPaint.
At NAB NY I went to a training session with Marcus Geduld that explained some basic Expressions for After Effects, so I thought I’d share a bit of it with you. I learned a hell of a lot. I’m not the most math-oriented person (which I totally blame on two inept mathmatics teachers in high school who basically showed up too collect their paycheck and let student teachers teach their classes… no I’m not bitter! I did have a terrific math teacher in junior high. Thank you, Mrs. Simmons. Because of you, I can make my way through expressions.)
Alright, back on topic here… Let’s chat about Wiggle. Wiggle is fun to say and is one method of generating random movement without keyframes. Marcus gave a terrific example in the training session that showed how to use wiggle with the Write-on effect.
The values of wiggle are as follows.
wiggle(HOW OFTEN IN SECONDS,HOW MUCH FROM PRESENT POSITION)
Replace the words in all caps with numbers. For example, if you want it to wiggle once per second and move 250 from it’s current position, you’d do this:
wiggle(1,250)
So let’s apply this. First, create a screen-sized solid in black. Apply Write-on. To apply the expresson, hold down the option key and click on Brush Position parameter. It will add a default expression. Delete the default expression and type
wiggle(1,500)
You may need to adjust your Brush Size, Hardness and Brush Spacing.
For the Color setting of Write-on, set your color to 50% gray. Then apply this expression:
wiggle(1,0.5)
Watch it go! Wiggle will work with many parameters in After Effects.
Thank you, Marcus, for a terrific class.
Glad to have you back… I was going into DTs without any new AEPs to play with for a week. The wiggle expression is fantastic. I can think of many different ways to utilize it. Thanks for sharing!