3D Camera in After Effects

Download project files here.

Activating 3D

1. Select all the layers in the layer stack.
2. Hit the 3D switch to turn on 3D. It resembles a cube.
3. If the 3D switch is not visible, hit Toggle Switches/ Modes.

Setting up Layers

1. Select all the layers.
2.  Hit P for Position.
3. Set the Z-Position of the foreground mushrooms layer at -300.
4. The Z-Position of the first cave layer is at -350.
5. The left bat’s Z-Position is -250.
6. The right bat’s Z-Position is -255.
7. Set the midground mushroom’s Z-Position at -230.
8. The second cave layer’s Z-Position is -340.
9. Set the third cave layer’s Z-Position at -190.
10. The background mushrooms’ Z-Position is at -170.
11. The fourth cave layer’s Z-Position is -150.
12. Set the fifth cave’s Z-Position at -130.

Camera Animation

1. Go up to Layer > New > Camera.
2. Check that the Camera is set to One-Node.
3. Hit Ok.
4. Make sure the Camera is at the very top of the layer stack.
5. Open up the Camera’s properties and navigate to Camera Options > Blur.
6. Set Blur to 0.
7. With the Playhead at the origin, hit P for Position.
8. Hit the stopwatch next to Position to set a keyframe.
9. Move the Playhead to 0:00:05:00.
10. Set the Z-Position to -1600.
11. Select both keyframes.
12. Navigate to Keyframe Assistant > Easy Ease.

Video Transcription

Hey, this is Tziporah Zions for Noble Desktop.In this tutorial I'm going to show you how to make this neat 3D cave dove animation in Adobe After Effects. After activating 3D, we're first going to separate all these layers, positioning them away from each other so there is more depth to the piece. Then we're going to create an animated 3D camera to zoom in through the piece.

So you can see this is what the project looks like when it's done. So while 3D and After Effects is a great tool on its own, the cameras are where it shines. You can not only animate your piece in 3D, but you can also zoom Dolly and spin around your composition, knowing how to use the cameras, making your animation a lot more dynamic as an animation technique.

While the animation is playing, you can end with the camera with around within it, which allows for a lot more options. So we're going to be using this key piece made in Photoshop for a project. There's some light animation already set up on as well on it as well, and you can find those assets in the video description below.

So let's get started. So this is the file that you're going to be working with. You can see that these are color-coded, just that the lavender layers or the cave ones, the brown ones are like the mushrooms, but the red ones, just the entire background over here, you don't have to worry too much about that. So the first thing that we're going to be doing is we're going to select all the layers, every single layer, and we're going to hit the switch over here.

See this cube? That's the 3D switch. And what that does is that it enables our piece to be moved in three dimensions before we add X and Y. Now, we added a Z dimension. We're just kind of like in and out that that, you know, that direction. So the first thing that we're going to be doing after that is that let's open up position, tippy for position.

And what we're going to be doing is we're going to be changing the Z position, how far away it's from the viewer. So they're going to be stacked on top of each other with some distance between each one. This is so the camera can achieve a greater sense of depth as it moves through the piece. So I'm going to start doing a couple of these.

This here can be a little bit tedious. So if you want, feel free to skip ahead, but maybe watch just a bit here so you understand the the kind of look that I'm going for. So the foreground mushrooms over here. So the Z position is a third quality, right? Over here. So I'm going to put this at -300.

And what that does is that it moves these pieces actually closer to us, closer to the viewer in space, and we're going to be layering these guys. So they're all going to have different positions. This one is going to have the first key player, let's put it like -350. So you could see that it moves closer to us.

And now it's like covering those other mushrooms on the left. That is a -350. Let's put that guy about there. You know, you don't have to do these exact values, but I think you're starting to see what I mean by stacking these on top of each other. You could think of it like paper layers the right, but I'm going to put it -255 and the mid-ground mushrooms.

Let's do it in -230. Right. You can see that these are getting greater and greater and magnitude because positive direction is away from this negative direction is towards this second cave layer -340 and we've got the third cave layer -190 after that. What's this one background shrooms. -170. Again we're pushing it further and further away and this is really going to make a difference when we get that camera moving through this space.

So we're the fourth layer on on -150 in the fifth cave layer, the last one, let's put that at -140 and I'm going to keep the background solid right where it is at at zero. It doesn't need to move because it is currently the greatest value, which means it's the furthest away. All right. So after this, we're going to create that camera.

So we're going to head up to layer new camera and we're going to create that image. And this is a let's begin one node camera. So one node camera acts much like a real camera. You know, you could think of it as like you set it on a tripod and could zoom in and out a tuna camera is a whole other thing that allows you to kind of like orbit around an object in space.

But for purposes of this animation, it's a one-node camera. And like I said, think of it as a camera on a tripod. And when you put it in, it's automatically going to be blurry. We're going to fix that. And it should be in the very top of your composition because it's going to be looking at all these layers beneath it.

So let's open up its properties, camera options. I know it's a lot. Don't get don't get nervous. We're only going to be working with a few of them. And honestly, those few or we'll get you pretty much anywhere you need to go. So the lower level is a 300 I don't want that. Please take that down and we put it down to zero, so that fixes that.

So if you're familiar with cameras, this should, you know, appear much the same to you. This is really just a virtual camera. So Zoom, as you can imagine, is how far in and out it goes. Depth of field is if you've heard of the term before. But, you know, as things get farther away, they get a little harder to see, a little blurrier for this distance, how far the distance you want to focus.

A blur, as we mentioned, is pretty straightforward. How much do you want to blur? And the rest of these options you can mess around with. By and large, they're quite niche but I encourage you to play around with them. But like I said, you know, for purposes of this animation, most animations, you're going to be set with just those handful of properties.

So we're going to be doing with this. We're really going to be animating the Z position. So you can consider us as a cameraman holding the camera, you know, the mouth of this cave. And we are like steadily darling, moving through the cave, getting in closer and closer. So we're going to hit a stopwatch with your playhead at the beginning of the timeline where you're going to get that position animated.

And let's move about 5 seconds in. That's actually after the animation is done. But we want this animation to be cut. You can see over here as it's still moving. I just think it's interesting that way. And let's move this in. How far should we move it? So I decided to settle on -1500. I know this is quite zoomed in, but like I said, because the animation stops as it's still moving, I just think it's an interesting look and so let's play.

All right. I forgot to mention I usually use my keyframes, which you can do by right-clicking both keyframes going to keep you consistent and hitting easy is that I'll give it a more organic look. So let's play back our animation. There we go. Pretty nice zoom-in with our 3D camera here. So yeah, that's how to get started with a 3D camera.

And after effects, you can mess around with the blurred positions, rotations, all sorts of things to get different effects. Cameras can also be animate and pretty always like zipping around the side of an animated logo, zooming through a space field, pulling out to reveal an intricate animation. So this tutorial covered the basics of understanding how layers and cameras work together, and we're actually going to be doing another on a slightly more complex camera animation.

So hang around for that. And yeah, if you like this tutorial, check out our other tutorials like I mentioned, we'll have a third installment of our 3D and After Effect series where we're going to combine several 3D techniques together. So yeah, let us know down in the comments, any questions, any targets you like to cover, any project you're working on right now.

And I hope you enjoy learning how to use a 3D camera and after effects. This has been Tziporah Zions from Noble Desktop.