New Tutorial: BioHazard Logo
July 16th, 2012

In this exciting new tutorial, we'll create an impressive 3D logo right inside of After Effects using the new plug-in Element 3D. First we create masks of the logo and use Element to extrude and animate the final result.

The key to a dramatic title like this is lighting! You want to keep things dark and add subtle contrasting lights. You definitely don't want to have everything lit up and bright or it will be less mysterious and therefore unmysterious. Which is not a word, which is why it is bad.

Watch the Tutorial!

Then check out the Plug-in!

Here is the final result that we will be creating!

Andrew Kramer
POSTED:
13 years ago
86 Comments
Derick
13 years ago
After my element object is created and I create a camera I try to use the camera tool the way that you do at 9:16 to cause the object to rotate and spin, but instead it moves like it is connected to a long stick so instead of spinning on an internal axis it is spinning from a far away axis. What am I doing wrong? Help please!
POp
13 years ago
please i want to know how u make it dust fall from the logo at second 8 and 9 ... as tutorial don't show it how ,, So if anybody can give any link or advice i will be so thankful ..
michelle
13 years ago
Thinking of buying element 3D for creating 3D text and logos. Can I import the design of a client's logo into element 3d and use it as a material?
patostar
13 years ago
i have a problem please anybody help me,i installed element 3d and activated it,and i updated the graphic card ATI radeon 3400 series ,but there is an error message that say there is "unrecoverable error" ,i don't know what to do please some one help me
patone89
13 years ago
Hi,

Maybe I am missing something but I am trying to shatter text with Element 3d. I have tried the method within the "biohazard" tut. I would like to substitute the shape layer with alpha for a text layer with alpha that is auto-traced and pre-composed. I have tried numerous ways that have included using the "floor shatter" as the element and tried to assign the "layer" in E3D and have had no success. Any insight would be most appreciated. Thank you.
13 years ago
Hey Andrew,

do you only use Pro Scores and Designer Sound FX for this? I like the (dont know how to call it) scatter Musik effekt in the end... does it come with Pro Scores or Designer Sound FX? What track? Just love it... By the Way... another Time a Plugin from You saved my ass... Element 3D One of the most important tools for Motion Graphic Designer!!!
Bondouwa
13 years ago
I got a stupid question and so, I need a stupid answer... Where can i find this Logo Biohazard ^_^
Project files somewhere ? or something like that ? If someone could help me i'll be happy <3

Very good tuto Mister Kramer...
yousef
13 years ago
hey andrew, where do u get ur sound effects ?
Don C
13 years ago
Andrew and the whole Video Copilot team...Congratulations! I bought this last night after reviewing your tutorials over the last few days. I'm blown away by what you have created and how intuitive this is. Keep up the great work and... I will continue to support your products.

Best regards,
Don
Aaron Welborn
13 years ago
Hey Andrew. This is my first purchase from Video Copilot. I am pretty new to the GFX scene and your tutorials help out tremendously. I purchased Element 3D and have not stopped using it since. My girlfriend is actually getting pretty mad about it too lol. Anyway I wanted to thank you for all the great work you and Video Copilot do. This is a little something I put together with Element:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7izHGz8TFI4
13 years ago
Hi great plugin Is it posible to make 3d objects cast shadows with light ??
13 years ago
Andrew, I am having so much fun with Element, it is just Awesome! I do have a question. When exporting (downloaded) models from Blender to use in Element, I seem to get an OBJ file and a MTL file. I cannot seem to get a JPG file to use as the material file in Element. I have checked "Include Normals" as well as the "triangle" options. Any ideas? Thanks man!
13 years ago
Oops, I forgot to mention this question in my last comment:
How hard, if you can do it, would it be to use Element 3D to make the Demon Cam scene where it is in the castle and the guy is unveiling the orb? I know it required Boujou or another motion tracking plugin, but would it be possible with just Camera Tracker and Element 3D? It seems like it would be, I am just curious because I haven't been able to buy it yet.
13 years ago
This plugin truly looks great. No, great is an insult, it's epic! I like to use After Effects for replacing Photoshop work I don't know how to do. I have watched all of the Video Copilot tutorials and they were and still are very helpful. Keep up the good work!
13 years ago
Hi Andrew & team. Thanks for the amazing plugin. It works like a charm and it is superfast. Just made this small promo with 3D Element https://vimeo.com/45932322
13 years ago
Great job, Andrew. This plugin is really great. Congratulations to the team videocopilot. Thanks !!!!!!!!
13 years ago
The castle footage is a great fit for my UH-1 model, if I only figur out how to get it to work in element.
This is what I have I mind. The flying castle footage, Huey distant sound, then Huey drinker the scene from top, rare view . Bay style.
Tobi0688
13 years ago
Andrew i can use plugin on my two computers?
13 years ago
Very cool. I enjoyed it even though I don't have Element.... . By the way, can you have more than the 5 groups there? And also, is there any issue with having multiple solids with Element applied to them in the same comp?
13 years ago
You can use multiple layers with element, will be slower of course and currently only 5 groups but each group can have multiple pieces like the watch example.
13 years ago
Okay that makes since now, Thanks!
Landon Hill
13 years ago
Hi andrew. Great Tutorials.

What happend to the tutorial about extending the train cars with sam running? The blog post said it was going to be released the same week as the jungle tutorial.

I really need to know how to do this as we have a few shots coming up that need to be finished.
13 years ago
Is it possible to have element working twice to two different solids in one comp?

I want to use the animation function to animate two sets of objects over time, When I tried this, it used the layer order and just displayed one element group above the other (they didn't interact in 3D space) any way to use the animation functions for more than just two groups????

AMAZING PLUG IN BTW
asART
13 years ago
Here another example of my ELEMNT 3D work

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Imv_TGbVRDE&feature=plcp

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2YVumzUqm4&feature=context-chv

hope you'll like it
Pablo
13 years ago
Anyone knows an email for technical support?
Tobi0688
13 years ago
Plugin runs on one computer or can I use on two computers? plx re
Maui
13 years ago
It's really a great plug in but there are a few things I found that could be improved:
- A search field for the material browser so that we don't have to go trough all the folders to find a specific material
- When we drag and drop a material onto an already existing material it changes it's name. That's not always prefered because all the names I gave the individual parts in blender are so erased and I have to remane it manually. Would it be possible to include a second column for the material name so that the object name is preserved?
JohsDK
13 years ago
Awesome tutorial. And great plugin. Heres my first try.

https://vimeo.com/45872675
13 years ago
Great logo design!
13 years ago
How about letting us know how to create our own materials to import into Element. I'm pretty new to the whole C4D scene but would love to create and save my own materials.
13 years ago
... and then there is the good old problem of your tutorials which aren't watchable on my iPad at home
13 years ago
Hi there,
I tried to rebuild the biohazard animation yesterday when I saw it and as a 3D / Mograph designer who knows how bloodsucking it can be to get it right I must say that this thing just blows me away. I mean, it took me about one hour to rebuild the exact same animation and the rendering took just 5 Minutes on my machine! This project would probably take me 1-2 days plus rendering time and post production! The level of coolness that is achieved by adding animated lights to that scene and the priviledge to see it changing and happening in real time is unparalleled!

I also tried to rebuild a logo animation I made some time ago and that one wasn't that easy to achieve because i stumbled upon some limitations.

1. Multiobject animation is a little bit too randomized. I would like to have the ability to translate every piece individually (as I'm writing I think this might work by separating the pieces into individual groups but there is the problem with the 5 group limitation when you want to break a word apart and let the pieces fly somewhat more controlled)

2. Optical Flares tracked by lightsources are not obscured by the 3D Model. This would be a killer feature.

3. I would love to see .obj sequences in the next updates... right next to the import button which should be a "red button" that says "caution"

4. When importing an .obj file - which pivot point do the pieces relate to? A generic from element or the original from 3dmax?

Light the competition on fire Andrew - there's a red button for that
Bob K
13 years ago
This may have been covered already, but I created a layer with 10 masks, and Element extruded them all - just as expected - and the object shows up in 10 individual parts.
But when I enable "Multi-Object" for the Group they are on, Element randomly rotates and scatters the parts in only 3 or 4 segments.
How can I set it up to scatter and rotate all 10 parts of the object individually?
13 years ago
The pieces have to have a good amount of space around each one in order to make it's own piece. Some objects work better than others but if necessary you could use a 3D program like blender to break it up manually.
Tobi0688
13 years ago
Plugin runs on one computer or can I use on two computers?
Flo
13 years ago
Hey Andrew and Crew
I work on a Mac Pro with Nvidia Quadro 4000. With the Plugin Optical Flares I cannot use Open GL. That may be a problem with the grafic card. Thats sad, cause it costs a lot of extra time. Did you test "Elements" on mac with nividia quadro? If it is not possible to use open gl, it makes not really sence to buy this very fantastic new plugin.

hiho flo
13 years ago
Element works on the quadro and we finally have an update for Optical Flares that should fix this problem with open gl at the end of the month. Best!
Flo
13 years ago
sound great
thx - I am looking forward for the first session with elements

hoho flo
Element 4D
13 years ago
Andrew, why can't we download the tutorials in zip files like before???
This is mean...;(
Please do something...
bnkpro
13 years ago
I just downloaded the new one! plus it has a actual thumbnail pic now.
Element 4D
13 years ago
Alright, now I got it...I didn't notice the small 'Download Tutorial' link t the corner...;E
Christian Michael
13 years ago
Writing this makes me sad.

I (like many others) have been clicking on links of other peoples work to see how everyone is doing with Element 3D. I have to say there is some great work out there??? some???.not so much. I see work from a snot nose kid going by the name of Andrew Kramer who needs to pick up the slack a little, however I digress :0)

Anyway I clicked on a link from our very own forum community that took me to a youtube video which was promoting hacked versions of our very own Elements, pro shaders and 3D models!!! Really guys this product is still warm off the shelf and you slimmy swine???s are hacking it already?

Don???t think for one minute I???m upset because I had to pay for it. On the quandary, I???m proud to say I purchased all the VC products (to date) and feel its awesome value for money and I want our boys to succeed in every way. I???m not blowing smoke up ass???s here either. I truly believe in what this great team at VC can do, will do in the future and how they treat customers and continue to GIVE to the community in the way of free tutorials and even giving the product files away with it for Pete sake.

What this/these individuals are doing while promoting hacking is nothing short of theft. Stealing from the mouths of the creators of a game changing product and doing it right under our noses while the rest of us are here to have fun, learn new talents and support the team that willingly help us learn new talents to maybe one day make a full time living with these tools. And do it with flare???.lens flare.

My point??? It truly p*sses me off people do this to a company that???s trying to make a difference in an arena they can, will and have make a difference. I support them for that. So much so and I???m not going out looking for the videos on youtube, but IF I stumble across videos promoting theft from our boys, I Will and HAVE continued to hit every report, flag, guidline and copyright button I can find just to get in r mo f*cking thieves way.

Can one guy make a stand? Sam Loya once started this website off with his acting/stunt career in a promo video by Matt Kramer titled Basic Sky Replacement. If he can do that, We at least owe the VC time a friggin good try to shut these b*stards down!
Christian Michael
13 years ago
the VC team..Not "the VC time" it was almost 5.30 am when I wrote that.
iacere
13 years ago
you just spoken out my thoughts dude.
Christian Michael
13 years ago
So I see two out of the several I have seen out there have been deleted by you tube under the ?scams and commercially deceptive content? Act. This makes me happy. I also see a lot of who I hope to be VC followers out there giving these guys stealing from our boys hell! Keep it up guys?..keep it up :0)
grant
13 years ago
guys, im planning to buy 3d models - but i dont like to buy element (my computer is not high class) - are the 3d models will work even if i dont buy element 3d?
fred
13 years ago
yes
Farshad
13 years ago
very good thank you man
13 years ago
Is there anyway to have Optical Flares recognize the foreground layers in Element? I was trying to have element to be a foreground element for OF and it was not recognizing it on a similar set up as this tutorial. Is that even possible to do?
R-CANE
13 years ago
Read up, and you'll find your answer.
13 years ago
Sorry, totally missed the comp trick.
Ron Weaver
13 years ago
Here Andrew, someone being very creative with YOUR new product:
>>>
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0hDFUb5s3s&feature=g-upl
>>>
klaus
13 years ago
As always great tutorial. Any plans to do a workflow tutorial on how to bring models and textures from C4D to E3D? I'm having a hard time with baking UV textures that match my model in E3D. You know, maping all the texures in one UV jpeg/ping and then just throw it on my model in E4D.
Ed
13 years ago
If you're a student, or a hobbyist, any software you buy is too expensive. If you use AE as part of your livelihood, Element will pay for itself on the first job easily. I consider Element a no-brainer investment. The saying goes- It takes money to make money.
AARON
13 years ago
I just had to try something similar even before watching the tutorial.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ax2zk01Omt8

Only proves how user friendly Element is.
13 years ago
Interesting problem: Making a hole in a mask layer doesn't translate when extruded in Element. The 'hole' of the object becomes black and is not extruded. Also, once extruded, the shape is clipped to the dimensions of the original mask size. Ideas??
Pablo
13 years ago
Exactly the same problem. I hope someone has a solution
13 years ago
Could be a bug, will check it out!
khuber
13 years ago
Same issue.
DecodaX
13 years ago
Ahh, just posted this in another blog. Hope there is a fix soon, this is when you use the subtract for the mask correct? As it still remains 2D.
Jerard
13 years ago
but its a bit expensive, this was suppose to be my gift to my self last july 16th but its too expensive=,) but its ok.
Jim Gravina
13 years ago
Trust me...it is NOT expensive...
Christian Michael
13 years ago
Its a steal at the price and far from Expensive!
13 years ago
I know that the price seems high, especially if you are outside the U.S. And I have tried as best that I can to persuade VC to start offering other smaller products at different (lower) price points for global customers and customers in all economic strata. But so far, I think every single product that VC sells is priced exactly on spot, and this is no small praise as pricing strategy is actually very critical to business success. There are many very thick books on pricing strategy (yes, I have actually viewed some). Element 3D is actually an extreme value, a very extreme value, and its price in my view almost perfectly resonates across the globe in these economic times. The economic times will also be getting worse before they get better, so, the price is very attractive to its market and that is what it needs to be for the foreseeable future. I think raising or lowering the price right now may hurt more than it helps. I know that many people wish that they could buy element, and can't, but let me tell you, in time hopefully from the work of others you will see just how much worth it element really is and then save for it as you would anything else. For now, I recommend learning to use Blender and learning to build 3D models in Blender if you cannot afford Element 3D. At least this way you can learn to start working in 3D with After Effects. Blender by the way, if open source and free and creates OBJ's fine. They even have an AE exporter for Blender now. And, when you do get Element, you will be able to use your Blender OBJ's in Element 3D. Hey, you may even decided that building 3D files for sale by others may get you the money you need to buy Element. So even if you can't buy Element 3D, just the fact that it is available to offers many more opportunities for all.
Darren
13 years ago
Dude, considering what it does, it's really not expensive at all. Heck, it's cheaper the CameraTracker, and I thought that was pretty darn cheap.
Jerard
13 years ago
i cant say a word im totally speechless im sorry to say this andrew, but you're ONE HELL OF AN ARTIST!!! ONE HELL OF A PROGRAMER! ONE HELL OF A CG ARTIST! YOUR NOT JUST DOING THINGS RIGHT, BUT YOU DO THINGS PERFECT! NO WONDER TRISHA IS SO INTO YOU... HAHAHA Thanks Andrew, Godbless you always and your family greetings from the Philippines
13 years ago
So he's a great artist. So he might be a great programmer. He is obviously a great CG artist! But are these the things that make one great? No! He is worthy of admiration because he is offering these products at a value. He deserves praise for actually giving a damn about his customers. He deserves praise because he and VC are giving people who give wonderful tutorials for free. ?You will know them by their deeds? as Christ our Lord has said. And his deeds are kind and charitable.
But flattery is also a sin! So no more sucking up to AK and VC for it is not good for them or us! Show by your example that you are also charitable and kind and let that be enough. Give praise where it is due and let that be enough. If you treat him like a start too much he'll end up like Tom Cruise! And no one wants that!
SAW
13 years ago
Great One. Could you do a tutorial how to bring custom material in Element. Like doing a 3D Animation of a customer logo. Therefore we would need to know how to import the "original" customer material "look" of the original 2D Logo. THANKS
colby
13 years ago
just wondering how well will element run on a 27 inch 3.1 ghz imac?
13 years ago
Please make the automatic resizing thing optional - it makes it difficult to line things up. The shape I have is already split into separate layers which fit together nicely. When Import them into AE and auto-trace the layers, they're all nice and cozy there too, but once I extrude the layers in Element the resizing thing moves everything around and I can't seem to get them aligned again.
Justin
13 years ago
Is there anyway you could let us know how / where you get those sound effects from? I'm always looking for good ones in my comps, but those sound really good in this video. Thanks!
Matt
13 years ago
Will tutorials from this point on continue to be widescreen?
13 years ago
Yes. They may even get wider... probably not.
13 years ago
Any idea how i can send you a file andrew to look at what i have to improve C4D THING YOU TALKED about. its too big to be sent as an email attachment. waiting for your answer.
13 years ago
Hi ,
Is it going to be any DEMO REEL for ELEMENT 3D like other VC Products ?
13 years ago
Wow. Look at the Element 3D videos that are on Youtube and Vimeo now. A lot of so called "Tests".
Nikolaus
13 years ago
Hehe, it so much fun to try all these stuff. Today there is not much time. But here is my short "remake" and play-around with your tutorial. Like it sooo much.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqZnVvcBzz0

Hope its ok to post this here. Tomorrow i will try my own work. Bye bye to my C4D...
Sam
13 years ago
Element is really limited so i wouldn't say goodbye to C4D if I was you.
Nikolaus
13 years ago
@Sam You're right. But it save much time to do 3D Text or something like this. I really love my C4D but i hate the long rendertime... I am not a big pro like Andrew or so, but i do work for little image films for internet since many years. And for me Element is time saving pure.

I really love Andrews work, love the tutorials and like to play around with this stuff. But: i think i am too old to learn that stuff right.
13 years ago
Andrew Kramer is a Chuck Norris of CGI
13 years ago
Andrew, awesome project as usually, one of the best yet actually, but there's something I've wondered for a long time now. How does a smart guy like you use FireFox? Haha
brum
13 years ago
Maybe you just aren't smart enough to realize that firefox IS the smart choice, hah!
Tim C
13 years ago
Thanks for another great tutorial!!! I have a quick question pertaining to rendering out of Element 3D.

You mentioned something about paying attention to the light intensity of the comp to make sure there isn't any weird flickering or artifacting going on, but I'm also noticing sometimes some black bars and or squares that are appearing in screen as well as during render time. Do you have any suggestions that may be causing these black spots to appear or how to go about increasing the render settings so that the black spots go away.

Thanks so much again for this wonderful tool!!!! This is going to be the biggest game changer in the industry right now!!

Cheers!
13 years ago
What GPU are you using, can you email support with some screenshots and we can take a look at it. Thanks!
Pablo
13 years ago
Same problem. It happens with some bump-mapped materials when DOF is on: Macbook Pro with Geforce 9400M 256MB
13 years ago
Email us projects or screenshots with GPU info, we will check this out.
Rick
13 years ago
I was disappointed with Element when I discovered it didn't handle booles or symmetry and that I had to rebuild my textures in AE. I have to remake C4D models to work inside of Element and this erases a significant portion of the time saving advantage of the plug-in.
Mike Nielsen
13 years ago
I also have wishes and hopes for the future of Element, but I'd have to disagree on those points. Adding tools for editing polygons is probably taking it in a wrong direction. Creating materials in Element on its own merits and strenghts is actually a good thing, as opposed to just using "converted materials", that the renderer doesn't support to begin with. Thanks!
13 years ago
The purpose of C4D importing is that C4D doesn't export OBJ files correctly so we spent a significant amount of time creating a c4D conversion system for Element to work like the OBJ files. Now C4D has unique modelling tools that create geometry that is not "polygonal", in other words, those modifiers (booles etc) aren't available to 3rd party plug-ins. However there are ways to convert your objects to polygons and save for Element.

As far as materials, it works similar to other OBJ files, Element uses a custom render engine that has different texture options than other 3D programs. It only accepts certain image formats (JPG and PNG) and every 3D program has a different way of dealing with material values like specular etc so we didn't try to automate this since most people will want to customize the values to look right in Element. We may be able to automate this in the future but it will still never work in every situation since there are different renderer that use physical values that don't translate.

Sure, tt can take a couple of minutes to setup a complex model with multiple materials from scratch but that is a pretty small amount of time compared to the speed advantages during the creation process.

If you are having trouble opening a particular file, please send us an email and we can check it out. We are looking to improve our C4D converter but there are software limits outside of our control.
Steve Green
13 years ago
I'm not sure if this has been covered yet, but what's the best method of integrating Element with other plugins which sit in 3D space, such as particular?

I'm guessing they're not aware of each other so if you had an element 3D scene, and wanted particular particles to sit in there and sort properly you'd need to output a z-depth pass?

Or is there a simpler way?

Thanks,

Steve
13 years ago
Yes, best way is to use a Z-pass from Element and crush it down to create a mask for other plug-ins.

http://www.videocopilot.net/blog/2012/05/z-depth-compositing/

This is actually the same idea. Think of the stock footage as other 3D plug-ins.
Steve Green
13 years ago
Cool, thanks Andrew.

Steve Green
13 years ago
BTW, are there any plans for a wishlist thread? Maybe something a bit more structured than the blog posts?

I was looking at using the face to camera option with stock clouds but because there is no opacity map support, I can't see a way of doing it inside element, (and I'm not sure if this is possible) it would be great to be able to use the SSAO as a map to soften the boundary where facing particles intersect.

Thanks

Steve
13 years ago
Very Impresive.
Andrew, for the animations and 3d titles in Fringe, have you been actually using Element 3d?
Eric Y Lin
13 years ago
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJah_sNONhY&feature=youtu.be
a motion graphic work with element!!
awesome plug-in
but I have to fake shadow with radial blur. 1 minutes 1080p video rendered for 1hr and 22min, which is really good! Using some model from the bundle and some from other places.
and as you might notice, all the flourish graphics are from Evolution!!
JJ
13 years ago
Nice work!
Ed
13 years ago
Classy. Hope you'll post more of your excellent work.
Squirds
13 years ago
Really nice! If I may give one advice to make this even nicer : Work on the ease of the camera movement. It seems every time you stop and go, the movement is a little abrupt. But other than that, looks good
Eric Y Lin
13 years ago
thanks! yeah now that you mention it
I did use easy ease but I guess it's not enough, might have to tweak it myself
iacere
13 years ago
I read that someone used the animated (!) shapes of the product "Evolution" and turned them into (animated) 3D with Element3D. Is that really possible?
Mike D
13 years ago
I wonder if you could use the auto trace function to do that... auto trace an evolution layer so the mask animates, then apply element... If someone could try this, I'd love to know what happens.
13 years ago
Excellent tutorial. I had asked for some kind of information/assistance on another blog entry, but this answers most of the questions I had.

For those that don't already know: look at http://www.videocopilot.net/help/element

There's some info in there in case you have simple questions. There's a lot of room in this plugin, and we're only just now scratching the surface. Remember all the crazy things Andrew did with just simple AE tools?

Thanks for all your amazing work, Andrew!
13 years ago
New tutorials for Element will be landing soon. Basics to advanced features!
13 years ago
Thanks for the reply! I know that you'll really be supporting this product 150%, since it's obviously your brainchild. You've really shaken the market with Element and I would expect Adobe will have to make a response in CS7 or 8.

Whatever happens, please do not let Adobe buy you out!
Rafael Rodriguez
13 years ago
can I apply a shatter effect to a 3D object made in Element?
Mike Nielsen
13 years ago
Great stuff, Andrew - I'm really impressed with the balance in speed vs. quality. With all due respect, I have a few concerns though: I don't quite feel that the documentation is "up-to-parre". I enjoy your tutorials as much as the next guy, but I'm wasting time trying to navigate, select and edit models, materials, groups, presets. Just clicking frantically, until I reach the results I'm after. The help files state WHAT you can do, but not really HOW you do it. Documentation work is boring (I know from experience), but IMHO it needs to be done. One other thing: The automatic "scale reset" of imported models may be convenient for the novice, but I might run into trouble down the road, where I need an object to have the exact same size, as in my 3D app. If you use scenes with 3D tracked footage, a hit and miss approach with a unit or percentage spinner could pose a few problems. Regardless, this is a fantastic product, and I wish all the best. Thanks!
13 years ago
The reality is that there is a lot of stuff to cover and we are working through it. I have about 10 technical tutorials that will be posted to the help section soon to go over many specific features.
13 years ago
The reality is that there is a lot of stuff to cover and we are working through it. I have about 10 technical tutorials that will be posted to the help section soon to go over many specific features.

The auto-scale is actually ideal for the main purpose of the plug-in which is using objects as particles and they need to be normalized for the arrays. But if you uncheck the normalize function you will keep the same relative size. Once you figure out your programs multiplier you can reuse this to keep scene scales.
Maxi Claudio
13 years ago
Very impressive. I'd like to see a tut that shows how to integrate Elements into a real scene. Particularly ways to use the new 3D tracker in CS6 and have elements (literally) in the background. I'm thinking of Blade Runner and District 9. For an indie, it looks like you can very easily, add these 3D elements in a scene, with the new tracker and have very high production value, with minimal effort. I see this a trend in a lot of areas. Even though you can do all you animation, render passes in Maya and then comp them. Less features but ease of use wins.
13 years ago
Sexy cinema lighting! I think this one's more tame for a reply haha
Jesse Head
13 years ago
Your arrow objects will be a perfect match for Sure Target 2 in 3d kinetic typography! I love these macro shots!

On a side note, I humbly request a new "Blog Show" and it must end with another duet with Sam. That is all.
Göran
13 years ago
Exellent tutorial and insight on this plugin.
Bought it the minute it was released but haven't had time to take it for a test drive yet but I can see it's going to change the time schedule on a lot of my work! (which my client is going to love)
R-CANE
13 years ago
I was trying to figure out the Optical Flares - Foreground layer function setting Layer 1 to Element 3D but I don't really get it to work the way as showed in the examples in the Optical Flares tutorials. Is this something I'm doing wrong or something you guys have tried out/are working on?
13 years ago
You would need to copy your comp and camera with element and use as an alpha obscure layer in Optical Flares. This is somewhat the same thing you would do if you were bringing in a 3D render, except after effects requires layers to be pre-composed to be seen by effects.
R-CANE
13 years ago
Thanks, I'll try it out and see if I can get it to work that way.
R-CANE
13 years ago
I finally got it to work! I pre-composed The Element 3D layer together with the camera and the lights and named it 3D. Then in Optical Flares I set the foreground layer 1 to this precomposed layer. If you copy the comp and use a new comp as an alpha obscure layer you can't make anymore changes. I did notice with the copy method when copying the layers into a new composition Element 3D did not copy the text and mask layers so I had to re-assign them. I'm glad I got it to work ! *doing a happy dance*

R-CANE
13 years ago
I finally got it to work! I pre-composed The Element 3D layer together with the camera and the lights and named it 3D. Then in Optical Flares I set the foreground layer 1 to this precomposed layer. If you copy the comp and use a new comp as an alpha obscure layer you can't make anymore changes. I did notice with the copy method when copying the layers into a new composition Element 3D did not copy the text and mask layers so I had to re-assign them. I'm glad I got it to work ! *doing a happy dance* Note: This method is not applicable if you show the environment in the comp.

R-CANE
13 years ago
Note: This method is not applicable if you show the environment in the comp.

Bruno Silveira
13 years ago
Hi Andrew!! Hello Andrew and crew!! i love your tutorials and??? all of your products and the web page too, i live in Uruguay i dont know if you know this country but is very nice here, (im sorry if i have errors in my grammar but here speak spanish), i have a question can i buy the products and you send for my country? i never buy anything by internet and i want this plugin is AWESOME
ps: i learn to use AE here!!!
Christian Michael
13 years ago
As much as I love the plug in and strike me down for saying this, but is that inner part of that bio hazard logo not centered AFTER the logo was split in two???or are my eyes not plugged in straight?
13 years ago
In the tutorial I may have moved it on accident but you can use the object settings to reposition exactly where you need!
Christian Michael
13 years ago
Darn the kids for breaking your concentration! Lets blame my eyes?I wont tell anyone :0) Now?.where?s the bloody rope??
Graham
13 years ago
Andrew... you should create an "icon logo" for your plug-in. Just a thought, its a creative way to identify your plug-in.

Cheers
Dave Hirschberg
13 years ago
You know.... I've been an AE artist for over 15 years and I can't touch what you've managed to accomplish in just a few! If I was cynical I'd hate you! LOL. You continue to inspire DAILY so thank you! Can't wait to get Element and start playing.
13 years ago
Stuff sleeping! I must learn!

Thanks again Mr. Kramer! Send my sentiments to the team that I love you all and we should all engage in a mass asphyxiation orgy for all your hard work, as friends of course!

(I really hope Australia humour translates well to American)
13 years ago
Great, I am so glad I bought the complete package.

Elements 3D is for me the best AE since many years.

Thanks,
Thorsten

http://dreamridiculous.com/
13 years ago
Hey Andrew! If I have the Element 3D and I need to format my PC, can I use the same license? Or how it works?
Thanks in advance!
Jeremy Abbott
13 years ago
Awesome as always, though I have to say I miss the old music, it was a lot catchier and easier to remember. It would start and you're like "BAM! Now I'm watching a VC tutorial." Why the change?
13 years ago
Only for Element 3D Tutorials. I sometimes change up the music!
Nikolaus
13 years ago
I hatte that i can't watch your Tutorials on my iPad. That sucks.
Nikolaus
13 years ago
Ups, i mean: i hate
David
13 years ago
You should be able to see this one. It's posted up on Vimeo
Nikolaus
13 years ago
@David no, all tutorials need Flash to run in a browser. The sample here is on vimeo, yes. But not the tutorial. So, when i am on the run, i always have to wait, until i get home. No iPad, no iPhone.
13 years ago
Another great tutorial!! BTW, All stuff in Video Copilot are amazing!
I realy love this site. At my academic works, I already did 3 or 4 works involving (and writing about) Video Copilot!


You guys rock!!


All the best,
Anderson D. J. Rohr
http://youtube.com/AndersonRohr
13 years ago
Taking time to watch this now. Not sure what's happening with my version of 3d Text and such but I'm getting render estimates in the 15 hour range. Maybe this will shed some light on what may be happening.
13 years ago
I do have a fast computer but that should not be that differn't. What GPU are you using?
13 years ago
2 GTX 560 Ti, SLI. Updated drivers. Literally crashes my system; totally unusable when I go to render out. i7 2600k, 16 GB mem, 240 gig SSD. Kind of weird right?
13 years ago
Try to disable SLI but we will try to update the plug-in to support it.
13 years ago
Done. Send specs and screenshot as well. Thanks!
SAW
13 years ago
Have u tried out disable "Render Multiple Frames Simultanously"? That is what my system sloooows down a lot (2xXeons)Or is it solved with the disable SLI?
jimp1102
13 years ago
Yeah- what was the final story ? Do you know? I ordered two GTX580's to run in SLI. Kind of wondering if that was for nothing if using SLI kills performance.
13 years ago
Joe,

I have those exact same parts in my computer (2 GTX 560 Ti, SLI)etc., all except the SSD drives and I just tried the extrude text like in the tutorial (via element) and it worked just fine.

As far as extruding text via AE (not using element) you have to make AE see your video card because it's not on the list of approved cards so it only uses the CPU to render. Once you go in and add your video card to the list of accepted cards it will use the GPU and then it will render way faster. Here is an article that I found about that if it will help and assuming that is the problem. http://www.studio1productions.com/Articles/PremiereCS5-2.htm
13 years ago
Awesome, exactly what I was looking for. My last auto trace gave me a really rough extrusion.
muckyman
13 years ago
Tutoriall <-------typo.
Lukas
13 years ago
Amazing! Would render 5 hours in blender to get a beautiful result like that one!
13 years ago
Awesome Mr. Kramer, if this hasn't sold Element to me, I don't know what will! Thank you ... AGAIN!
13 years ago
wow amazing,, gotta watch it
13 years ago
You really know how to make a man want something hazardous
(first)
imari
13 years ago
ya