When Adobe first introduced motion tracking and stabilization in After Effects, many users were disappointed in some of the poor results they received. As AE improved over time, so did motion tracking and stabilization. By knowing which settings to tweak and how to manipulate the tracking data, After Effects generates results that may have those naysayers using this option a lot more.
When I am not busy working at the DMN Central Division, I teach a couple of classes at the local university. Recently, some of my students were in the process of producing a short trailer for a 70ish type buddy/action flick. As is often the case in action movies, if it has explosions in it, it must be good, and so my students wrote in a couple of scenes where the two heroes break into an office to do some investigating only to find a bomb ticking down the moments to their doom. Because there was very little money to produce this project, the students were curious how they could build a prop bomb with a working countdown on a zero budget. Simple answer, "Let’s do it in post!" [an error occurred while processing this directive]
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| The prop bomb used in the student production "In Too Deep" |
For this example, the student DP did a slow zoom in on the bomb so the viewer can really see how far the clock has countdown. Once the footage was digitized, it was imported into Adobe After Effects 5.5. To make sure that there was enough footage to edit to later on, the raw shot was used.
Let’s start by creating the countdown. Create a new composition that is 400 pixels wide by 100 pixels tall.
Add a new solid that is the Comp size, and add it to the timeline.
Apply the Text>Numbers effect to the layer. You will need to pick an appropriate font for your countdown. Because of the time period, a LED font was used. There are thousands of free fonts available on the Internet if you do a search. I ended up with a font called Pocket Calculator.
Change the number format to Timecode (30). We’re not concerned with the frames numbers, as they should be going fast enough for most people not to notice. I also used a large offset number (2000) so the effect wouldn’t be drawing from the current timecode numbers for the number generation.
Position the numbers in the middle of the composition and along the right edge. Adjust the size of the font and the tracking to taste. Depending on the font you choose, you may need to turn off Proportional Spacing to prevent the numbers from popping around. Again, because of the time period, I left the text color red. Turn on Composite on Original.
To add a bit more flair to the number effect, add a glow to the later.
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