Thanks to Christie today, I now know how to pan around After Effects using the camera (yes, this very basic thing was a difficulty for me but what are you going to do?) so that's a very exciting development!
Last week I tested how the poppies looked on the purple cloud background that I painted in Photoshop and the results are surprisingly lovely. Both Emma and Tristan are very happy with how it's looking and that's such a relief. I'm really happy with the contrast of the vibrant reds on the deep blues and purples.
I had the idea today to have a whole array of smaller poppies spinning around the main one, rather than just a pair of them, partially to take up more time but also because the cycling of them is actually quite nice to look at.
Tristan created some really lovely generated stars in VDMX which was great because it saved me from having to do it haha! I was planning on doing some but he beat me to the punch. I do still need to animate some little sparkles/stars to scatter along the path the camera will follow across the background.
For my own future reference, here's a mini tutorial on how to use the Camera function on After Effects.
First off, we want to have the lil' cube selected (indicated in the topmost purple bubble). It's what toggles on the 3D control which is what layers the camera will effect.
When selected, the lil' cube will turn blue and we can select the relevant layers, in this case the Purple Sky BG. The Poppy layer will be unaffected by the panning of the camera and will float in the centre of the screen regardless of the position of the background.
To create a camera layer, navigate Layer > New > Camera, and the basic setting should be sufficient for what we're working on here. That'll create what we have named Camera 1 in the pink layer.
Now, to create the panning effect, select the Track XY Camera Tool from the top tool bar. You may need to hold-click the Unified Camera symbol to choose the right camera tool but it'll be in this spot once you do.
Anyway! Unfold the Camera 1 layer, and select the stop watches on Point of Interest and Position, which will enable keyframe creation.
Create beginning keyframes indicating the start position, scroll down the timeline to the next point and with the Track XY Camera Tool selected, move the background to the next point in the display area. Rinse and repeat for the rest :)
Here's a handy tip! To ensure that the keyframes aren't harsh corners in the camera pan, select the keyframe in the timeline and right-click it. A menu should appear. Select Keyframe Interpolation.
Change Linear to Continuous Bezier.
That'll smooth everything out nicely. Now you have no excuse to forget, Annalise!!