In Space No Once Can Hear...Your Name?

This week, I decided to further examine the capabilities of After Effects. As I mentioned in my previous post, AE has a lot of useful filters and plugins that developers can take advantage of. One filter effect that I've always tried to create was a particle system effect. This effect can be used in many situations to create snow, rain, hair, flowing water, clouds, fire, and fog to name a few. I also was interested in testing out the animation presets that the program has to offer. I decided to develop a short video project that incorporates these elements to display my name in a unique fashion. The tone of the video has a somewhat eerie undertone that draws the audience in to the unexpected. The video actually takes place in space where a mysterious blue light simmers, inviting you to take a closer look. My name slowly fades into the scene in a seemingly cryptic language. At the end of the video, the text then is dispersed across the screen to bring the back into their reality.

Rationale
I was also inspired by viewing a commercial by Video Copilot that was posted on Youtube. In this commercial we see a lot of 2.5 animation procedures, including text animations. I did not attempt to achieve the same text animation styles that were shown in this video; however, I did try fiddling with the other animations that were listed in the Effects & Presets panel. 

Materials Used
I mainly used AfterEffects to develop this project. I started by creating a new composition for the project. I then moved on to creating a solid background so I could apply my particle system effect. I accomplished this by using the Particle Playground option. This part took me the longest because I had to adjust the settings so that the particles looked like they were moving at a slower speed.

Technical Difficulty
I think this project would have been more difficult if I used another video editing program, such as Premiere. I could have created these animations using an animation software program and import them into the the project; however, this would have defeated the purpose and take too long to achieve.

Closing Thoughts
This was a fun project, but it also took took me a lot longer than I had intended. I remember not knowing what I would do for this week's blog. I started by opening the program and I played with the settings. I developed some really interesting videos--I also created some that were not as mentionable. Up until now, I don't fully grasp the capabilities that this program has to offer. There are so many things that I can do in this program; I just don't always know where to look.


Final Product