After effects and stop motion

I was tasked with putting together the different clips we shot over the last few weeks into after effects. I hadn't really used it in the past so I had to learn how to use it from scratch. One problem I ran into was a few of the shots not having enough frames, so I had to extend these so it would match the sound from the animatic, which was what I was using to set out the final animation. I put the animatic on a lower opacity and matched up all of the starts of the clips. From there I would slow down certain shots or add freeze frames where applicable.

Another issue I ran into where the bedroom shots, as they came out a lot darker and being able to see anything proved to be quite a big struggle. This lead to a lot of pixelation, and would probably only be fixed by a re shoot, which we really didn't have time to organise.

Another issue I ran into was another frame that had a shot with the wired cup model, so I had to go back in Photoshop and mask the wire, but I managed to get it done pretty fast as I had a good idea of what to do from the last ones.


It took me around 2 and a half hours on Monday to move all of the clips into the right order and at the right speed. From there I had to make sure all of the different animations were moving semi accurately to the pace of the animatic. This was also important for syncing up sound effects so the immersion of the animation isn't broken. 

Another Thing I learned to do in after effects was to fade shots in and out to make certain scenes blend smoothly together. Especially the Opening title and end credits. I also made use of this technique when transitioning between the cutout animation and 3D Armature models. I think maybe holding the screens on black might be more effective, but some small finishing details I had to overlook because of the time limit we had and the other projects that I still need to work on in the final few weeks.


I was waiting on the titlecard and credits so I decided to leave the final touches till todays class. I think the one thing that could really improve it overall is with reshoots, but with the amount of time we had towards the end it really wasnt a viable option.