Basic After Effects 7 question at DVinfo.net

Alan James · October 5th, 2006, 05:08 AM

This is a simple question but I can figure it out for the life of me. How do you add more points to a mask in After Effects 7? Oh yeah and whats up with the export frame rates??? 23.98??? I want 23.976. I keep loosing frames every time I run the same video through, even if its uncompressed. So basically 2 questions. What is the best way of doing visual effects on a 24pa video with a 2:3:3:2 pulldown in after effects and how do u add more points to a mask. Thanx for the help.

Steven Bills · October 5th, 2006, 09:20 AM

Let's say that you have a 4 pt mask. Just select the mask, and press G on your keyboard until you get the mask sign with a little plus next to it. Then just click antwhere on the mask where you want another point.

About the 24p thing, I think that this is how you do it: Right click on the footage, and say interpet footage. Then say 'guess 24p Pulldown', or something like that.

OR... If you just want to make a comp that is the EXACT came settings as your footage, just drag your footage over the 'Make New Comp' button, and all of that should be taken care of for you.

I hope that helps,

Steven

Alan James · October 6th, 2006, 04:36 AM

This is what im talking about here. Why don’t my layers line up with where the frame of the timeline is? I have to lose a frame when I export this. I edited all my 24PA stuff in Premiere Pro 2.0 24pa timeline exported as 24pa (which is really 29.97 with a 2:3:3:2 pulldown) then started a composite in After effects using its built in 23.976 widescreen DV preset. When I droped my files into the time line they didn’t line up. I looked at the field options and it was removing the pulldown like it should but I was still losing one frame at the very end.

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d1...aequestion.jpg

Oh and thanx for the mask help. Thats gunna be very useful.

Steven Bills · October 6th, 2006, 08:43 AM

So you want your layers to be all lined up? Are they lined up at the beginning? I don't really know what you want here...

Conor Ryan · October 6th, 2006, 08:56 AM

Take a quick look under File>Project Settings...

Check to see if you're project timebase is correct.

Alan James · October 8th, 2006, 07:42 AM

Okay so I checked all my setting and they all appear to be set correct. I still don’t know why the end on my layer wont line up with the timelines last frame. That pic above is zoomed all the way in so you can see each frame. And you can see that both layers end in the middle of a frame.

Phil Gosselin · October 11th, 2006, 12:42 PM

The reason why your layer or footage don't line up is because your material is too short for the composition settings, if you had a 20 sec movie file but a 1 minute composition you would have to loop the movie 3 times in order to have your layers "lined up".

To do so simply right click on the footage in the project window and go to "interpret footage" at the bottom of the window there is an option to loop the footage.

If you don't want to loop the footage well... tough luck bro, remember AE is not an editing suite.

See ya

Alan James · October 12th, 2006, 08:59 AM

That’s zoomed in so you can see each frame. The lines up top are the start of the next frame and the end of the previous one. My footage ends between a frame and I don’t know why. My footage is just right for my time setting but it seems to still not work right. You guys have been a great help but I have a feeling that my question isn’t going to be answered and I will always be losing a frame.

Conor Ryan · October 13th, 2006, 07:08 PM

Hello again. I had a little look again at your pic, and messed about with After Effects for a few minutes. I must admit, that working in Pal mostly, I don't come across these problems too often.

I think your problem is that After Effects is being very literal about the frame rate of the clip you are using. So is showing 23.98 on the timeline as slightly less than 24, and the cumulative difference over the length of the comp accounts for the discrepancy between layer and time marker.

I would try exporting to a 24 fps file from your editor to work in it. It may have the frame rate of 23.98 (976) when you do this, so you can force it to 24 in the "interpret footage" dialogue box once you import it to After Effects.

October 5th, 2006, 05:08 AM	#1
Alan James Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Tampa, Florida Posts: 261	Basic After Effects 7 question This is a simple question but I can figure it out for the life of me. How do you add more points to a mask in After Effects 7? Oh yeah and whats up with the export frame rates??? 23.98??? I want 23.976. I keep loosing frames every time I run the same video through, even if its uncompressed. So basically 2 questions. What is the best way of doing visual effects on a 24pa video with a 2:3:3:2 pulldown in after effects and how do u add more points to a mask. Thanx for the help.

October 5th, 2006, 09:20 AM	#2
Steven Bills Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Vineyard, Utah Posts: 192	More Points to a Mask... Let's say that you have a 4 pt mask. Just select the mask, and press G on your keyboard until you get the mask sign with a little plus next to it. Then just click antwhere on the mask where you want another point. About the 24p thing, I think that this is how you do it: Right click on the footage, and say interpet footage. Then say 'guess 24p Pulldown', or something like that. OR... If you just want to make a comp that is the EXACT came settings as your footage, just drag your footage over the 'Make New Comp' button, and all of that should be taken care of for you. I hope that helps, Steven

October 6th, 2006, 04:36 AM	#3
Alan James Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Tampa, Florida Posts: 261	This is what im talking about here. Why don’t my layers line up with where the frame of the timeline is? I have to lose a frame when I export this. I edited all my 24PA stuff in Premiere Pro 2.0 24pa timeline exported as 24pa (which is really 29.97 with a 2:3:3:2 pulldown) then started a composite in After effects using its built in 23.976 widescreen DV preset. When I droped my files into the time line they didn’t line up. I looked at the field options and it was removing the pulldown like it should but I was still losing one frame at the very end. http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d1...aequestion.jpg Oh and thanx for the mask help. Thats gunna be very useful.

October 6th, 2006, 08:43 AM	#4
Steven Bills Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Vineyard, Utah Posts: 192	So you want your layers to be all lined up? Are they lined up at the beginning? I don't really know what you want here...

October 6th, 2006, 08:56 AM	#5
Conor Ryan Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Dublin, Ireland Posts: 67	Take a quick look under File>Project Settings... Check to see if you're project timebase is correct.

October 8th, 2006, 07:42 AM	#6
Alan James Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Tampa, Florida Posts: 261	Okay so I checked all my setting and they all appear to be set correct. I still don’t know why the end on my layer wont line up with the timelines last frame. That pic above is zoomed all the way in so you can see each frame. And you can see that both layers end in the middle of a frame.

October 11th, 2006, 12:42 PM	#7
Phil Gosselin Major Player Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Quebec, Canada Posts: 211	The reason why your layer or footage don't line up is because your material is too short for the composition settings, if you had a 20 sec movie file but a 1 minute composition you would have to loop the movie 3 times in order to have your layers "lined up". To do so simply right click on the footage in the project window and go to "interpret footage" at the bottom of the window there is an option to loop the footage. If you don't want to loop the footage well... tough luck bro, remember AE is not an editing suite. See ya

October 12th, 2006, 08:59 AM	#8
Alan James Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Tampa, Florida Posts: 261	That’s zoomed in so you can see each frame. The lines up top are the start of the next frame and the end of the previous one. My footage ends between a frame and I don’t know why. My footage is just right for my time setting but it seems to still not work right. You guys have been a great help but I have a feeling that my question isn’t going to be answered and I will always be losing a frame.

October 13th, 2006, 07:08 PM	#9
Conor Ryan Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Dublin, Ireland Posts: 67	Hello again. I had a little look again at your pic, and messed about with After Effects for a few minutes. I must admit, that working in Pal mostly, I don't come across these problems too often. I think your problem is that After Effects is being very literal about the frame rate of the clip you are using. So is showing 23.98 on the timeline as slightly less than 24, and the cumulative difference over the length of the comp accounts for the discrepancy between layer and time marker. I would try exporting to a 24 fps file from your editor to work in it. It may have the frame rate of 23.98 (976) when you do this, so you can force it to 24 in the "interpret footage" dialogue box once you import it to After Effects.