Code for After Effects
Here is some code you didn't know you needed, or you don't need it and live a full, healthy, life.
I'm not sure what any of this matters. AI will probably do most of this for you, but sometimes it's good to know how some of the code works, so you know what to ask AI.
I'll start off with something useless and complicated.
Let's rethink the wiggle.
I aimed to create more specific controls for the dials, which led me to overthink the assignment and dive into some fun with math. Custom code in After Effects can significantly slow down rendering, and with the number of dials I was working with, it might have been more practical to use wiggle with slight modifiers for each object. However, this approach allowed me to learn more about After Effects' inner workings.
Download AE file
// SPIROGRAPH ---------------
y = position[1];
x = position[0];
r1 = 10; // r1 - radius of wheel A
r2 = 50; // r2 - radius of wheel B
o = 100; // o - offset
v = 5; // v - speed
s = 1.9; // s - scale
r = r1 + r2;
// x = r*Math.cos(time*v) - (r2 + o)*Math.cos(r*time*v/r2);
sy = r * Math.sin(time * v) - (r2 + o) * Math.sin(r * time * v / r2);
[x, y + sy]
// SAW ---------------
y = position[1];
x = position[0];
loopTime = 1; // loop every X seconds
t = (time - inPoint) % loopTime;
val1 = y - 100;
val2 = y + 100;
saw = linear(t, 0, loopTime, val1, val2);
[x, y + saw]
// PENDULUM ---------------
y = position[1];
x = position[0];
veloc = 10;
amplitude = 100;
decay = .1;
pendulum = amplitude * Math.sin(veloc * time) / Math.exp(decay * time);
[x, y + pendulum]
// SINE ---------------
y = position[1];
x = position[0];
freq = 1;
amp = 100;
sin = amp * Math.sin(freq * time * Math.PI);
[x, y + sin]
// SINE CLIPPED ---------------
y = position[1];
x = position[0];
freq = 1;
amp = 100;
sin = amp * Math.sin(freq * time * Math.PI);
// creates a toggle animation 100 on/off
if (sin < 0) sin = -100;
if (sin > 0) sin = 100;
[x, y + sin]
// SINE CLIPPED (SOFT)---------------
y = position[1];
x = position[0];
freq = 1;
amp = 100;
adj = 50;
sin = amp * Math.sin(freq * time * Math.PI);
if (sin < adj && sin > -adj) {
if (sin > 0) sin = adj;
if (sin < 0) sin = -adj;
}
[x, y + sin]
// WIGGLE (CONTROLED) ---------------
y = position[1]; // not used
x = position[0];
l = 8; // loopTime (in sec)
f = 3; // frequency (per second)
a = 100; // amplituded (size)
o = 1; // octives
m = 0.5; // amp_multiplier
t = time % l; // time
w = wiggle(f,a,o,m,t);
[x,w[1]]
// WIGGLE (QUICK) ---------------
y = position[1]; // not used
x = position[0];
f = 3; // frequency (per second)
a = 100; // amplituded (size)
w = wiggle(f,a);
[x,w[1]]
About Color
Getting the perfect color in After Effects is complicated.
I'm not sure why this was so hard, but Random Colors in AE took way longer then it should have.
I hope this saves someone some time.
I grabbed “Change Color” from the Effects & Presets plane,
dropped it onto a Black Solid that I have masked by an image layer.
Next I raised the “Lightness” and “Saturation” to where I thought they felt good.
Next I oppened “Hue”','
x = number of seconds
f = frames per second
posterizeTime = how many frames to wait before refreshing value
random = any color value between 1° and 360°
x = 3;
f = thisComp.frameDuration * x;
posterizeTime(1 / f);
random(1, 360);
Sometimes you need a comp to change color, progamatically. Tint does a fair job of this. Adding this to the "Change to Color" effect also has nice results, allowing you to more subtlly control the color effects.
// fps
posterizeTime(0.1);
// R,G,B,A
var c1 = [0,0,0,0];
var c2 = [1,1,1,1];
random(c1,c2);
Text from File
I use this script a lot. It allows me to set up the text effects I want in one clip, while keeping the text in a separate txt file.
// In After Effects:
filePath = "/Volumes/your path to/TEXT.txt";
$.evalFile(filePath);
text.sourceText = eval(thisComp.name)[0]; // first position in array
// in your TEXT.txt file
/*
Text1 = ["CARDONE!","Heather is the best!"];
Text2 = ["OPTIMIZATION",""];
Text3 = ["TV APP",""];
Text4 = ["STB TV APP",""];
Text5 = ["KID'S ZONE","Until the police arrive."];
*/
Countdown
I couldn't believe how tough it was to figure out a decent countdown.
this one uses the Slider Control.
For 5 minutes, I set the first keyframe to 300, and the last keyframe to 0.
s=Math.max(0,effect("Slider Control")("Slider")*1000);
d=new Date(s);
options= {timeZone: 'utc', minute: '2-digit', second: '2-digit'};
//if (s>3600000) options.hour = '2-digit'; // only show hours if needed
function addZero(n) {
if (n < 10) {return "0" +n} else {return n}
}
function killHundo(n){
if (n == 100) {return "00"} else {return n}
}
mil =addZero(Math.round(d.getMilliseconds()/10))
d.toLocaleTimeString([],options)
+':'
+String(killHundo(mil))
