Rotoscoping is a process by which special effects are postworked into video. These special effects are made to follow some object that is moving in the video. An example is the lightsaber, where is appears that the actor is sword fighting with a glowing energy blade, when in fact he has nothing but a small prop hilt in his hand. This process long and laborious, and there are several aspects to it. For the purposes of this article, Adobe After Effects CS3 will be used, but principles will be the same regardless of the program you use.

Video

1. An important part of the rotoscoping process is shooting your scene. You will need to give your actors light sabers props they can swing around as they pretend to sword fight. When you create the effect later, the glowing blade will appear to extend from this prop.

Preparing After Effects

2. Before you begin in After Effects CS3, you will want to go to Creative Cow and download the free plug-in they have for creating this effect. While you can do the rotoscoping without it, it will make the whole process much quicker and easier. You will want to copy this file to the Adobe After Effects “Presets” folder. Now open After Effects CS3. Go to “File” and import the video of your actors sword fight scene.

Rotoscoping

3. You will start adding the rotoscoped light saber effect. Now in the menu select “Layer,” then “New” and “Solid.” So that you can keep track of parts, name the layer “LS Effect.” On the right, you will see the “Effects and Presets” panel. This is where you will find all your premade effects. Go to the “Animation Presets.” Under this folder in the “Andrew Kramer,” “VFX” sub-folder you will see “light_saber.” Right-click on it and place it in the video.

   You will see that the effect has two parts. You should drag the part that says “Start” to the end of the hilt in the actor’s hand. You should then drag the other part to the point where you want the effect to end (the tip of the light saber).

   Use your mouse to scrub the “Slider” in the timeline at the bottom to the next frame in the sequence. Reposition each end of the effect to match the new position of the actor’s hands. Now just keep doing this for every frame in the sequence.

1. Adobe Flash Professional CS3 provides powerful tools allowing you to import and embed Flash video. You can also embed audio and image elements in web pages, customize media player controls and create animations and interactive components for an all-Flash website. Flash websites are distinguished by looking more like a full-blown multi-media presentation than a traditional web page. Installing Flash will allow you to add Flash components to your next web design project.

Operating System

2. Flash CS3 runs on Windows XP Service Pack 2 and all versions of Vista and Window 7 (only 32 bit versions are eligible for tech support). Flash also runs on Apple Mac OS X version 10.4.8. Although Adobe will not provide support for 64 bit versions of Vista and Window 7, there are no known specific issues related to using a 64 bit operating system with Flash CS3.

CPU

3. Windows based systems should have either an Intel Pentium 4, Intel Centrino, Intel Xeon or Intel Core Duo or newer processors. Mac users will need at least a G4 or G5 1 GHZ PowerPC or dual-core Intel processor. Increased speed and performance will be achieved by using the most recent CPU offerings by Intel.

Memory

4. 1 GB of RAM is recommended for both Windows and Mac platforms. Install at least 2 to 8 gigabytes of RAM if you plan to use Flash CS3 in conjunction with other programs from the Adobe Creative Suite. More memory will allow you to open and use multiple programs at the same time.

Disk Storage

5. Flash CS3 requires 2.5 GB of hard disk space available with additional space needed during installation.

Video Card and Monitor

6. The video card and monitors for both Windows and Mac should support a 16 bit pixel depth with a resolution of 1024 by 768 pixels.

Additional Devices

7. Flash installation discs are in the DVD format, so a DVD player is required for installation. Your computer will need an Internet or phone connection for product activation and registration. QuickTime version 7.1.2 or later will be needed to enable certain multimedia features.

The Flash CS3 application, which is part of Adobe’s CS3 suite of applications, is used by web and design professionals to create interactive content and animations. After building a flash element, you can export it to your website or web server to view it online. Adobe Flash CS3 is compatible with both Mac and PC systems. Previous versions of the program were known as Macromedia Flash before Adobe bought the franchise.

Getting Started

1. When you launch the Adobe Flash CS3 application on your Mac or PC computer, you will see several toolbars around the edge of your desktop and a welcome window in the middle of the screen. To begin using the application, go to the “Create New” column on the welcome window and click on the “Flash File (Actionscript 3.0)” button. Your new Flash CS3 file will be created and you will be taken to a blank canvas. Before adding any designs or animations to your file, use the toolbar at the bottom of the screen to set the dimensions of your Flash content. The default size for the file is 550 pixels by 400 pixels. Then point your attention to the toolbar at the top of the screen, which is known as the timeline and displays the movement of your animation frame by frame. If you plan to add large amounts of graphical content to your Flash file, organize the different levels of your design by building more layers on your timeline. Start adding to your blank canvas by using the toolbar on the left side of the screen. If you are a beginner at Flash, you should mainly stick to text and basic shape elements.

Creating Buttons

2. Once you have a basic text or graphic element on your canvas, you can begin implementing some of the effects included with Flash CS3. In order to build interactive content and animations in Flash, you need to set your elements as buttons, which can then be manipulated based on mouse movements. First, with the pointer tool selected, right-click on one of your graphic or text elements and choose the “Convert to Symbol” option. In the pop-up window, choose a name for the element and make sure to select “Button” as the symbol type before hitting “OK.” Now, when you double-click on the element you just converted, your timeline at the top of the screen will change to button mode. Instead of displaying frames, you will see different options for different mouse movements. You can change the design of your element for each of the mouse movements, and those settings will show up in web browsers.

Using Actions

3. Experienced web designers who want to add customized features to an element in Flash CS3 can use the “Actions” menu. Before opening the menu, make sure the object or text you want to add features to is selected on your canvas. Then go to “Window” at the top of the screen and choose “Actions.” A pop-up window with a large text box will open on top of your canvas. In the text box, you can enter coding language to customize the element selected in your canvas. Adobe Flash CS3 uses the ActionScript language, which is a special type of coding used primarily in Flash files.

   If you have never used ActionScript before, you should consult a tutorial specifically focused on it. The right side of the “Actions” window contains shortcuts to some of the most popular ActionScript commands, including some that control the playback of your Flash movie or build hyperlinks into your Flash elements.

Exporting to the Web

4. Once you have finished a basic design in Adobe Flash CS3, you can use the program to export the Flash file to your own active web server. First, customize the web settings for your content by going to the “File” menu and choosing “Publish Settings.” Go to the “Formats” tab at the top of the window and check the boxes next to “Flash” and “HTML.” Click “OK” to save these settings, which will create both an .swf file and an .html file from your Flash content upon publishing. Then go back to the “File” menu and select “Publish.” The .swf and .html files based on your Flash design will now be created and saved to your active web server. When you navigate to either of those files in a web browser, your animated content will display, as long as you have the free Adobe Flash Player program installed on your computer.

Adobe After Effects is a program with almost limitless animation possibilities. Fans of traditional 2D animations can create new ones of their own, and fans of 3D animations can create full CG worlds or mix both animations together to create a hybrid animation. The program can also be used to create animated presentations and advertisements like those used at arenas or in digital billboards. To learn how to create all these things, After Effects users first need to know the basics and controls featured in Adobe After Effects CS3.

Project Window

1. The start of any project occurs in the Project Window. The program accepts picture, movie and audio files, all of which can be imported by right-clicking and selecting the “Import” option. Use other Adobe files like Premiere Pro and Photoshop to make projects more functional. Organize the different elements in the project window by right-clicking and selecting “Make New Folder.” Label the folder as “Video” or a more specific example, and drag and drop the different files to each folder to keep it organized.

Composition Window

2. Create a new composition by right-clicking in the “Project” window and selecting “New Composition.” The default size is “DV-NTSC,” but video sizes can be changed to almost any size along with other presets like “Widescreen” and “Web Video.” A preview of the composition will appear in the “Composition” window as a black box. Every element and change within the project will appear in realtime on the Composition window. Users can also click in the window to manipulate objects in the window.

Timeline Window

3. No elements are on the active project until they are dragged to the Timeline window. The Timeline window is broken into two elements. The left side features a list of active files and effect controls. The right side of the window is the actual time code of the project with specific times listed at the top of the window. A Timeline navigator is located on this side as well, and can be dragged from side to side to reach a different time on the time code.

Key Frames

4. Key frames are how animations are created in the program. Basically, users set a starting point and finishing point for an object, and the program automatically creates the animation that goes in between. Each different effect on an object can have its own set of key frames. For example, a picture will have four standard animation options that include “Scale,” “Rotation,” “Opacity” and “Position.” To create an animation of the picture moving, they would first click on “Timeline Navigator” and set it to the beginning of the video. Click on the “Stopwatch” icon to activate the key frames and drag the Timeline Navigator to the end of the project. Move the object in the “Composition window” to its final spot. The second key frame is automatically made and the animation can be previewed by pressing “Enter.”

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Adobe After Effects CS3 software is used primarily for the post-production of films, videos, and other digital motion graphics. Developed for both the Microsoft Windows and Apple Mac OS X operating systems, it allows artists to create and edit media files in both 2-D and 3-D in a production environment that assigns each element to its own layer. Whether you purchase a hard copy of the software or download it from the Adobe website, installation is simple.

1. Launch the After Effects installer. If you purchased a hard copy of the software, insert the disc into your drive and the installer will launch automatically. If you downloaded your software, locate the file and double-click its icon. Select a location for the temporary installation files, then click “Next.” Extraction of the temporary files takes several minutes.
2. Step 2

   Enter your serial number. Provide your unique 24-digit serial number in the appropriate fields. If you want to install After Effects as trial software, select the corresponding button on the right-hand side of the screen. For either method, click “Next.”

3. Step 3

   Accept the license agreement. Review the text of the agreement, then click “Accept.”

4. Step 4

   Select the installation location and other options. Click the “Change” button on the left-hand side of the screen to change the default After Effects installation location if your needs require it. Scroll down the list of additional programs on the right-hand side of the screen and place a check in the box next to every program you wish to install along with After Effects.

5. Step 5

   Install After Effects CS3. Click the “Install” button when you are satisfied with the installation options. Because of the size of the program, installation can take up to 20 minutes on slower computers. You may opt to register your software once the process completes.

6. Step 6

   Restart your computer before using After Effects for the first time.