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CraftyClown
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How do I change the velocity of an image that is being scaled over time?

Jul 3, 2012 11:17 AM

Hi guys,

 

I'm a bit confused and I could do with a little assistance from some of the wise AE gurus on these boards

 

I have an image in a sequence that starts at a scale of 2.5% and finishes at 400% after about 5 seconds.

 

I want it to start scaling up slowly and speed up as it goes

 

The problem I'm having is getting it to scale at a suitable speed. I thought I understood easing in and easing out but I am having real trouble making this work the way I need it to.

 

The best I can currently get this to work is by selecting exponential scale, which at least prevents it taking of like a jet engine, but I appreciate this is not what I should be doing.

 

I'm sure this is pretty obvious stuff and I hate to ask for help, but I've got myself very confused now and feel like i'm hitting my head against a brick wall!

 

Can someone help?

 

Kindest regards

 

Rich

384 Views   5 Replies   Latest reply: Rick Gerard, Jul 4, 2012 12:09 PM
 
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  • Rick Gerard
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    1. Rick Gerard,
    Jul 3, 2012 12:46 PM   in reply to CraftyClown
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    CraftyClown wrote:

     

    ... sequence that starts at a scale of 2.5% and finishes at 400% after about 5 seconds.

    Your images are going to fall apart at 400%. You want to keep your maximum scale close to 100% or, when working with 3D layers keep the distance between the camera and the layer the same or greater than the zoom value of the camera. For either technique the easiest way to adjust the speed of the move is with the graph editor.

     

    It sounds like you would be better off turning your image sequence into a 3D layer and moving in with a camera. The other option would be to use exponential scale from the keyframe assistants. Trying to adjust velocity to get a natural looking move with scale is a bit like herding cats. It's possible, but not very easy. Getting pleasing results with a camera and 3D layer is usually a much better way to go.

     
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  • CraftyClown
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    2. CraftyClown,
    Jul 3, 2012 12:56 PM   in reply to Rick Gerard
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    Hi Rick,

     

    The image is a company logo and we are pushing into one of the letters so the screen goes completely white as it is filled, therefore we don't see any quality loss as we don't see the edges past 100% scaling.

     

    You mention using "exponential scale from the keyframe assistants" could you elaborate on what you mean by this. I had already selected exponential scale between the first and last keyframe, however the initial movement is still much too fast.

     

    I was hoping the logo starts scaling up slowly and gets faster as we approach it

     
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  • Dave LaRonde
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    3. Dave LaRonde,
    Jul 3, 2012 1:30 PM   in reply to CraftyClown
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    Sounds like you could stand to do a little light reading on the Graph Editor:

     

    You'll find it on this page.

     
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  • CraftyClown
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    4. CraftyClown,
    Jul 3, 2012 3:25 PM   in reply to Dave LaRonde
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    Thanks Dave,

     

    I had a read through that section on the Graph editor but I still couldn't work out where I'm going wrong here.

     

    Sorry, I'm sure I'm being completely dense, combined with lack of sleep and some horrific deadlines, leaving me unable to see the wood for the trees.

     

    Should I be able to re-arrange the keyframes to get the desired effect using the graph editor then?

     

    I feel like I should be sat in the corner with the dunce's hat on

     
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  • Rick Gerard
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    5. Rick Gerard,
    Jul 4, 2012 12:09 PM   in reply to CraftyClown
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    If you want to stick with adjusting the scale you can do this two ways. Edit the value graph or edit the speed graph.

     

    The problem is that a camera move, a zoom or a dolly in, is not linear and scale is. This means the graphs are not a good representation of what you'll see visually. This makes them hard to use. At a constant rate for scale the appearance is that the increase in size slows down to closer you get to the final value. In other words, as you scale an object up at a constant rate, the visual appearance is a gradual slowing.

     

    A speed graph edited to look like this gives the appearance of a constant rate scale of the layer when you expect an acceleration at the end. There's just not enough granularity in the graph editor or enough control to predictably achieve the results you want.

     

    Screen Shot 2012-07-04 at 11.40.55 AM.png

     

    You'll have better luck editing the value graph to look something like this:

     

    Screen Shot 2012-07-04 at 11.44.22 AM.png

    While this looks extreme, you will get closer to achieving the results you want using the value graph. Once again, the amount of control and the resolution of the graph combined with the visual tomfoolery that scaling an object brings with it makes this a difficult way to achieve predictable results.

     

    You select the graph you'll edit by clicking on the second icon from the left.

     

    As I said before, you'll have much better luck getting the look you want if you make the layer 3D and move a camera toward it.

     
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