Nice explaination of the 2 methods (and nice tutorial as always !) Just to let you know, this is exactly how my tool called Isomatic FX works ! My 2D tab aims at creating the SSR work in one click for each orientation, while my 3D tab contains the 3D camera set up with these exact same parameters (but there are a few more cool options as well) Check it out if you prefer not to do all this manually and to save precious time : aescripts.com/isomatic-fx/
Expressions for ISO Projections --> Rectangle 1 --> Rectangle Path --> Alt Click "Position" Expression: x = content("Rectangle 1").content("Rectangle Path 1").size[0]; x = x/2; y = content("Rectangle 1").content("Rectangle Path 1").size[1]; y = y/-2; value + [x,y]; --> Alt Click Size (Right ISO) (Shadow ISO) Expression: z = thisComp.layer("Controller").effect("Depth")("Slider"); y = thisComp.layer("Controller").effect("Height")("Slider"); [z,y]; (Left ISO) Expression: x = thisComp.layer("Controller").effect("Width")("Slider"); y = thisComp.layer("Controller").effect("Height")("Slider"); [x,y]; (Top ISO) Expression: z = thisComp.layer("Controller").effect("Depth")("Slider"); x = thisComp.layer("Controller").effect("Width")("Slider"); [z,x]; --> Hit P to bring up position y = thisComp.layer("Controller").effect("Height")("Slider"); transform.position - [0, y - .4]; These are all the expressions in case you couldn't download the file. (I'm using CS6)
great stuff! one thing though, can you please refer me to something where I can learn more about that expression you used to grow Rectangle in shape layers. I didn't get it intirely.
Thanks! As for the expression, it's one I made. So that's about all of the explanation available. We're basically just taking the size of the rectangle, and dividing it in half to get the anchor point to go the corner. Then we add those to the original position value.
This channel should be called "How To Make After Effects Easy" or "Don't Be Scared Of After Effects" Anyways Thank you for the tutorial you are killing it lately
For some reason your comment ended up getting moderated. Weird. Anyway, yeah, I'm in the beta thankfully. I'm not sure when it's coming out, but it's sorely missed for developing longer expressions. :)
To be fair, I'm standing on the shoulders of giants for this one. I just had to adapt it to work in AE properly and figure out a good way to do the rest of it. The rigging was all me though. :) Anyway thanks man!
joe this is great, i was doing a 3d box things with 2d planes inside aftereffects and this expression hack could have saved a ton of time. you are awesome man, Thanks for sharing
I remember that years ago I did an isometric project on After Effects and had to use the "Front View" and capture the render, because I couldn't find other way to use that perspective without any deformation. Thanks for this tips!
That's completely understandable, I've created at text file that shows the expressions and where they go in the comp.I'm using CS6 on windows so I couldn't use the file.
It depends upon what you need to do-and if you'd rather composite too or just animate, or if you have clients that make a lot of changes that might affect a 3D render.
Sure! It's being renamed, but it's a layer and key sequencer. It'll eventually be up on elementsupply.co. I got busy in between, but I've recently made some modifications to it.
Would it be possible to use the SSR method expressions all on one layer with the top, left and right shapes separated into groups? If I have a lot of isometric elements having each side on its own layer is going to cause my project to get massive really quickly
nice tutorial. i'm trying to figure out the workflow from illustrator to after effects for this sort of an animation - dribbble.com/shots/4330227-Isometric-Buildup, where objects like cranes are more than just shapes and some are even animating in 3D like the laptop in this one - dribbble.com/shots/4350515-Isometric-Buildup-III
Look at the Illustrator tutorial I linked in the description to build things like that you can just bring in to AE. Most of that is moving in a simple direction and trimming paths. If you're going to do animation of something like that laptop, you can use the method I show using the Isometric camera, and animate 3D layers in AE's 3D space.
Thanks! If you just want it to be flat, yes. To extrude it you'd have to do something else. I'd probably just use the 3D camera we made here, and then use the C4D renderer to extrude shapes in true 3D.
Thank you so much! that's a cool tutorial! I wonder about Controller layer. I created a Controller layer (null object.) and tried to add effect Height, Width, Depth, but there is no these effect in the effect panel. so how do i get these effect to Controller layer.
You can use gradient fills, but then I think you might need to modify the gradients with expressions so they don't move weirdly when you control the shape. You might be able to use the Gradient Ramp effect too. It also depends upon whether you want the gradients to move or not. You'll have to experiment. :)
What is the best way to animate the building with this setup? I want to animate a lot of buildings on one scene and I have a feeling that my project will end up with a ton of layers. Also I downloaded the project file and I noticed that in the isometric building composition, the buildings windows dont animate with the rest of the building.
They don't animate with the building in the file because they were just a throw-in for an example on our website. If you want to do a lot of buildings, I'd suggest a different method entirely. Check out the beginning of this tutorial: th-cam.com/video/kRGgiRaDUB8/w-d-xo.html That's the setup you should use. Draw them in Affinity/Illustrator in Isometric, and have them grow up from the ground through a track matte.
@@Workbenchtv Oh wow that new tut video is way more in depth with expressions. For this video though, what situation would this projection rig work best vs that forklift rig projection? Is there an email address that I can contact you at?
How were you able to get the anchor points for all the shapes at 0,0? When I snap the anchor points into the same position as you have them in this video then they are not at 0,0. When I type in 0,0 then the shape moves somewhere off the composition.
I just opened the project to recreate it and didn't have that issue. They're parented to the controller, so that's likely where the issue is. So the anchor/position of [0, 0] is relative to the controller null. Other than that, Transform: Rectangle Path 1 is set to [0, 0] for anchor and position. The only position or anchor that is modified is the one inside Rectangle Path 1-it's the one with the Grow Rectangle expression.
@@Workbenchtv Yea I realized that after watching the tutorial again today that the layers are parented to the null control layer and with the expressions. I didn't parent them to the null layer. Thank you for all your wisdom that you put into these tutorials. One more question, when would the need arise to use a true 3D isometric camera vs the SSR method?
@@IsionIndustries I'm glad we got that figured out! Using this SSR method works well for shapes because we can shear them easily and with correct numbers. I think you can shear in the Transform effect as well, so it might work with raster layers, but raster layers would be a case where it might be more difficult. There's always things like CC Slant, but I don't remember offhand if they work the same with shear values.
Are you talking about Expressionist? It’s an extension you can grab at aescripts.com. Right now it only works on CC 2017. It’s currently being updated for CC 2018. I’m on the beta team so I have a working version. I hope that helps!
Nice explaination of the 2 methods (and nice tutorial as always !)
Just to let you know, this is exactly how my tool called Isomatic FX works !
My 2D tab aims at creating the SSR work in one click for each orientation, while my 3D tab contains the 3D camera set up with these exact same parameters (but there are a few more cool options as well)
Check it out if you prefer not to do all this manually and to save precious time :
aescripts.com/isomatic-fx/
Awesome! I’ll check it out. That’s cool.
Thank you it works awesomely.
Expressions for ISO Projections
--> Rectangle 1 --> Rectangle Path --> Alt Click "Position"
Expression:
x = content("Rectangle 1").content("Rectangle Path 1").size[0];
x = x/2;
y = content("Rectangle 1").content("Rectangle Path 1").size[1];
y = y/-2;
value + [x,y];
--> Alt Click Size
(Right ISO) (Shadow ISO)
Expression:
z = thisComp.layer("Controller").effect("Depth")("Slider");
y = thisComp.layer("Controller").effect("Height")("Slider");
[z,y];
(Left ISO)
Expression:
x = thisComp.layer("Controller").effect("Width")("Slider");
y = thisComp.layer("Controller").effect("Height")("Slider");
[x,y];
(Top ISO)
Expression:
z = thisComp.layer("Controller").effect("Depth")("Slider");
x = thisComp.layer("Controller").effect("Width")("Slider");
[z,x];
--> Hit P to bring up position
y = thisComp.layer("Controller").effect("Height")("Slider");
transform.position - [0, y - .4];
These are all the expressions in case you couldn't download the file. (I'm using CS6)
Awesome!
great stuff! one thing though, can you please refer me to something where I can learn more about that expression you used to grow Rectangle in shape layers. I didn't get it intirely.
Thanks! As for the expression, it's one I made. So that's about all of the explanation available. We're basically just taking the size of the rectangle, and dividing it in half to get the anchor point to go the corner. Then we add those to the original position value.
Thanks,man!
You're welcome.
Hey dude, whats the deal with those rainbow boxes on the left side of your timeline? Looks like it could be something useful!
That's called Labels. I get this question a lot so I revamped on our FAQ. :) workbench.tv/faq/
aha my bad for being just as basic as everyone else. V impressed with your reply times - keep up the good work!
HAHA! No worries man! It's never a problem to ask a question! Thanks!
This channel should be called "How To Make After Effects Easy" or "Don't Be Scared Of After Effects" Anyways Thank you for the tutorial you are killing it lately
Haha, thanks! I haven't had time to pop in on your channel lately (been busy with end of year client work) but I'm sure the same can be said of you!
Thanks bro i just uploaded my 2018 Reel you can watch it now
Nice!
Having some serious Expressionist envy after watching this tutorial
For some reason your comment ended up getting moderated. Weird. Anyway, yeah, I'm in the beta thankfully. I'm not sure when it's coming out, but it's sorely missed for developing longer expressions. :)
Very clever! I really like the camera trick for doing this in real 3D. It’s very impressive how you manage to come up with these techniques
To be fair, I'm standing on the shoulders of giants for this one. I just had to adapt it to work in AE properly and figure out a good way to do the rest of it. The rigging was all me though. :) Anyway thanks man!
joe this is great,
i was doing a 3d box things with 2d planes inside aftereffects and this expression hack could have saved a ton of time.
you are awesome man, Thanks for sharing
Nice! Yeah, if this perspective works for you, this technique will work well! Thanks!
Create a new c4d file, go to Cinema 4d Lite make this, save it and you are good to go!
Sure, it can easily be done in C4D. But this is a little harder. gph.is/2ngludI
I remember that years ago I did an isometric project on After Effects and had to use the "Front View" and capture the render, because I couldn't find other way to use that perspective without any deformation. Thanks for this tips!
Yeah, I really don't know why there's no isometric camera in AE or even a parallel camera. Thanks for checking it out!
Thank you so much , it's so helpful :)
Thanks! I'm glad it helped!
Thank you!
there is so much to learn..
There is ALWAYS so much more to learn, haha. :)
You should really start leaving the expression code in the description or as a comment. But otherwise this tut was great!
Thanks! Normally I do, but it’s tougher to explain which one goes to which and there are so many that I just put out the project instead. ;)
That's completely understandable, I've created at text file that shows the expressions and where they go in the comp.I'm using CS6 on windows so I couldn't use the file.
This tutorial rocks! Thanks bigtime Workbench!
Thanks for watching!
Hi! Do you know how to rotate rounded isometric shapes around their axis?
While rotation can be done with non-3D shapes, it's best to ignore the SSR method, and use a camera (as explained in the first 1:35).
@@Workbenchtv Thank you!
@@GeGe-gg3zt You're welcome!
Added in Motion Lovers Facebook Community
Awesome! Thanks!
Wouldn't it perhaps be easier to just do the isometric stuff in Cinema 4D? And then import it to AE
if you have the money to buy cinema 4D then sure. why not.
oh yeah.. completely forgot to consider the price aspect
It depends upon what you need to do-and if you'd rather composite too or just animate, or if you have clients that make a lot of changes that might affect a 3D render.
Yeah, cost too, haha.
can you pls tell me something about the "taxonomy"-Script right down in the window? Looks interesting...
Sure! It's being renamed, but it's a layer and key sequencer. It'll eventually be up on elementsupply.co. I got busy in between, but I've recently made some modifications to it.
Would it be possible to use the SSR method expressions all on one layer with the top, left and right shapes separated into groups? If I have a lot of isometric elements having each side on its own layer is going to cause my project to get massive really quickly
I haven’t tested it, but I think it should work.
Hey Joe, that output is crazy. Thanks and God bless you and the team and your families. 🙂🙏
Thanks! Same to you!
nice tutorial. i'm trying to figure out the workflow from illustrator to after effects for this sort of an animation - dribbble.com/shots/4330227-Isometric-Buildup, where objects like cranes are more than just shapes and some are even animating in 3D like the laptop in this one - dribbble.com/shots/4350515-Isometric-Buildup-III
Look at the Illustrator tutorial I linked in the description to build things like that you can just bring in to AE. Most of that is moving in a simple direction and trimming paths. If you're going to do animation of something like that laptop, you can use the method I show using the Isometric camera, and animate 3D layers in AE's 3D space.
Hi!
Thanks for your tutorial movie.
Is it possible to use for ellipse?
Thanks! If you just want it to be flat, yes. To extrude it you'd have to do something else. I'd probably just use the 3D camera we made here, and then use the C4D renderer to extrude shapes in true 3D.
Thank you so much! that's a cool tutorial!
I wonder about Controller layer. I created a Controller layer (null object.) and tried to add effect Height, Width, Depth, but there is no these effect in the effect panel. so how do i get these effect to Controller layer.
Thanks! Those are Slider Control effects that are renamed. ;) They're under Effects > Expression Controls I believe.
Thanks, Man! The first video in search and everything explained very nice!
Thanks! I didn't know we were that high in the search! There's a ton more useful stuff on our channel if you feel like checking it out.
what if you want to add a gradient color and details to the isometric shape, whats a good method for this
You can use gradient fills, but then I think you might need to modify the gradients with expressions so they don't move weirdly when you control the shape. You might be able to use the Gradient Ramp effect too. It also depends upon whether you want the gradients to move or not. You'll have to experiment. :)
😍😍👍👍
😊
What is the best way to animate the building with this setup? I want to animate a lot of buildings on one scene and I have a feeling that my project will end up with a ton of layers. Also I downloaded the project file and I noticed that in the isometric building composition, the buildings windows dont animate with the rest of the building.
They don't animate with the building in the file because they were just a throw-in for an example on our website. If you want to do a lot of buildings, I'd suggest a different method entirely. Check out the beginning of this tutorial: th-cam.com/video/kRGgiRaDUB8/w-d-xo.html That's the setup you should use. Draw them in Affinity/Illustrator in Isometric, and have them grow up from the ground through a track matte.
@@Workbenchtv Oh wow that new tut video is way more in depth with expressions. For this video though, what situation would this projection rig work best vs that forklift rig projection? Is there an email address that I can contact you at?
LETS GO BOYS AND LEARN
Always. I was just in your neck of the woods a bit ago. ;)
no invite?
I was only passing through, plus can't even be sure you're home, haha! You make it back yet? :)
How were you able to get the anchor points for all the shapes at 0,0? When I snap the anchor points into the same position as you have them in this video then they are not at 0,0. When I type in 0,0 then the shape moves somewhere off the composition.
I just opened the project to recreate it and didn't have that issue. They're parented to the controller, so that's likely where the issue is. So the anchor/position of [0, 0] is relative to the controller null. Other than that, Transform: Rectangle Path 1 is set to [0, 0] for anchor and position. The only position or anchor that is modified is the one inside Rectangle Path 1-it's the one with the Grow Rectangle expression.
@@Workbenchtv Yea I realized that after watching the tutorial again today that the layers are parented to the null control layer and with the expressions. I didn't parent them to the null layer. Thank you for all your wisdom that you put into these tutorials.
One more question, when would the need arise to use a true 3D isometric camera vs the SSR method?
@@IsionIndustries I'm glad we got that figured out! Using this SSR method works well for shapes because we can shear them easily and with correct numbers. I think you can shear in the Transform effect as well, so it might work with raster layers, but raster layers would be a case where it might be more difficult. There's always things like CC Slant, but I don't remember offhand if they work the same with shear values.
Too slow speaking.
I don’t know what you mean but you can use youtube’s controls to change the playback speed to fit your preference.
Hey! sorry, would you tell me what is that plugin your using? thanks
Are you talking about Expressionist? It’s an extension you can grab at aescripts.com. Right now it only works on CC 2017. It’s currently being updated for CC 2018. I’m on the beta team so I have a working version. I hope that helps!
yes off course! thanks for answering!!!
You're welcome!
Thanks for sharing!
You're welcome! I hope it helps you!
in your experience it is easier to work with 3d or SSR? #sub btw :))
Thanks! I think SSR would generally be faster to render since you don't have to deal with the overhead of 3D in AE, but 3D is easier to set up.
@@Workbenchtv thank you so much, makes sense... lets force the GPU then :))
@@c2aus319 Jump into actual 3D then, use Cinema. Haha!
brilliant
Thanks!