Intro.
In this lesson, we used the pen tool to create self portraits which we then animated in after effects.
Portrait.
The portraits were created with bezier curves, and so it proved quite a challenge to create a portrait that i was happy with, as the pen tool is notoriously difficult to use without a lot of practise.
I made use of layers to structure my self portrait, by adding in different elements of my face to different layers so that i could animate them induvidually, and move them as needed. Layers came in handy when constructing my hair, as instead of just being one shape, i could use layers to show parts of my hair that were in front of my face, as well as behind my head and in between those two layers. Below is a screenshot of my self portrait.
animating and adding effects.
the effects that i added to this animation were roughen edges and posterize time.
the roughen edges effect is used to make the animation look as though it was hand drawn frame by frame. to add this effect in, select the layer you want it on and right click. go to effect > stylize > roughen edges and then the roughen edges effect will appear in your window on the left of the screen. To animate this effect click the drop down arrow next to the square of solid colour, then click the effects drop down arrow,
here is the link to my animation.
Conclusion.
Over all, this lesson improved my knowledge and confidence with the pen tool, as it was a good oppurtunity to practise. I also learned more about the way shapes work in after effects, and in particular i got more confident with moving and scaling shapes, adding and removing the stroke from a shape, filling shapes with colour, and editing them using the bezier handles. I also got more practise with layers in after effects and how they behave, as well as adding in different effects in on each layer.