Book Image

Lightning Fast Animation in Element 3D

By : Ty Audronis
Book Image

Lightning Fast Animation in Element 3D

By: Ty Audronis

Overview of this book

<p>Element 3D is a plugin for Adobe After Effects, used to create basic, yet stunning 3D visual effects. Some may find 3D to be tricky and downright complex. Element 3D allows actual 3D models to be created from scratch or exported to Adobe After Effects, and rendered and composited at a high level of quality and impressive speed.</p> <p>This practical guide will lift the veil of mystery around 3D animation. It will teach you everything from modeling, preparing, and exporting from various 3D programs to match-motion, texturing, and complex animations using Element 3D.</p> <p>This book is a comprehensive guide to using Element 3D and is appropriate for users of all levels. It will walk you through the basics of modeling objects for Element 3D. Then, you’ll learn how to texture, light, and animate as well as optimize your scenes for quick render times.</p> <p>You will discover some of the limits of Element 3D, and learn how to break through those barriers to create virtually any 3D scene imaginable. You will also learn how to take advantage of other 3D programs such as Maya and Blender to create content and create stunning abstract scenes in relatively no time, and how to composite 3D animation into motion-tracked live action scenes.</p> <p>By the time you complete this book, you will have all the information you need to effectively create professional 3D graphics using Element 3D.</p>
Table of Contents (18 chapters)
Lightning Fast Animation in Element 3D
Credits
About the Author
Acknowledgment
About the Reviewers
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
Index

Assumptions about the reader


As this is not a book on Adobe After Effects, but rather a plugin for that software. It is assumed that you have at least a working knowledge of After Effects and its interface. You do not need to be an expert in After Effects; you just have be familiar with it.

Element 3D does not have a proper modeler within it. You must create models within another 3D package. There are free modelers available (such as Blender). Some can be quite expensive (Maya, Lightwave, 3D Studio Max, Cinema 4D, and so on). The principals shown in the modeling section of this book (Chapter 3, Your First Objects, and Chapter 4, Painting Your Geometry (Textures)) can be applied to any 3D software. They all contain the tools used in this book; just the locations of the buttons might change. Thus, it is assumed that you are familiar with the interface of the modeling software that you have chosen.