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Particle Writing Logo - CS3

Many thanks for buying this project. There are only a few steps required
to customise it so you can be ready to render very soon!
Tip: Save a back-up copy of the project file ... just in case you need it.

Prepare your logo / graphic


If you want to use a logo or graphic from outside After Effects, I
recommend vector .eps or .ai with transparent background, to allow for
lossless scaling. .psd or .png will also work but bitmap formats can suffer
quality loss when over-scaling.

Audio
http://audiojungle.net/item/fragmentum-logo-intro/126012?ref=Generator
http://audiojungle.net/item/implosion-explosion/126447?ref=Generator

Once you've imported your external material, you're ready to begin


customising the project...

File Structure

Assets Folder
These are the assets provided in the assets folder that came with the
project. They include the background horizontal highlights and the flare
(both of which you could re-do using, for example, VC Optical Flares).
Also in this folder is the scratched texture image used in the floor and
the Envato logo which you will replace with your own logo / graphic or
text.
Elements Folder
Contains three pre-comps of the background highlights, the pulsing flare
(animated with a wiggle expression) and the floor.
Solids Folder
Contains the various solids and adjustment layers used in the project
Main Comp - Render Me
This is the HD comp for final rendering. If you want a lower resolution
final render simply create a new comp at the final size you want, drop
the Main Comp into this and with it selected go Layer > Transform > Fit
to Comp.
Your Logo - Customise Me
Let's do it...

Add your logo


1) In the project panel double-click to open the Your Logo pre-comp.

2) Notice two adjustment layers used to tweak colours. You can decide
whether or not to keep these or use them to adjust whatever effects you
want to apply to your logo.
3) If you want to retain the metallic effect on your graphic or text do not
delete the Envato logo just yet (see 5 below).
4) Now either drag down your graphic into a new layer, or type some text,
ideally keeping inside the guides provided.
5) Toggle down the Envato logo layer. Select 'Layer Styles', copy and then
paste the 'Layer Styles' to your logo layer. Delete or disable the Envato
logo layer.

6) Toggle down the Layer Styles and make any adjustments you like. One
effect - Gradient Overlay - is animated to enhance the reflective qualities
of the effect. Scrub along the timeline and you'll see the brighter band
move slowly upwards.

Particle Writing - Customise it to your logo


Open the Main Comp. There's a fair bit going on but all will be
explained...

Let's start by customising the particle writing effect so it follows the basic
shapes in your logo / graphic. In essence what we will be doing is
changing the motion path (bezier path) of a light which Particular is set to
use as its particle Emitter.
Click on the Emitter layer (#10) and the path become visible:

As you can see from the screenshot above (top view on the left), the light
(the particle emitter) flies in from foreground right, 'writes' the logo
centre stage and then flies out foreground left.
Working at some point in time after the initial reveal has finished, take
your time and adjust the motion path of the light, using the bezier
handles, until the path is relatively smooth and its shape looks similar to
your logo.
You can add and remove vertex as required and change keyframe spacing
to speed things up or slow down the effect. And you can customise all
the Particular settings (Particles Trail, layer #11).

Tip: I don't know whether it's a documented bug in After Effects CS3 or
it's a glitch with the Particular plug-in but sometimes when a point along
the light's motion path is adjusted it seems to un-sync Particular with the
Emitter (a noticeable jerk appears).
The fix is simple: Select all the keyframes in the animation, move them all
one frame left or right and then move them back. This re-syncs
everything.

Having perfected your motion path you will now probably have to adjust a
some other timings:

Your Logo layer (#15) - Linear Wipe


Toggle down this layer and notice the keyframes applied to the linear
wipe effect. Adjust the timing so it matches the timing of the particle
writing. You may or may not need as many keyframes as I used but it's
important no part of your logo is visible before the particle writing 'has
done its stuff.'

Flare Crossing layer (#13) - Position and Scale


This is the flare that crosses with the particle writing effect and then
stops at a point on the right end of your logo. Adjust position and scale
keyframes. You of course also replace this layer with your own Flare
animation.

Particles Falling layer (#14) - Emitter Position and Particles/Sec


These are the particles that fall onto and slide across the floor (notice
layer #20 - the virtual floor created by Particular. Do not delete this).
Adjust emitter position so it syncs with your particle writing. You can also
adjust the number and of particles and of course all the other Particular
settings. Also notice glow applied to this layer.

Flare - Flash (#12) - Timing and Scale


This is the bright flash that appears just as your particles trail enters
stage right. You may need to adjust when and where it appears to sync
up with your customised motion path. You can also adjust the scale make it even bigger and more noticeable, for example.
Light - Follower (#4) and Light - Crossing (#3)
The movement (position) of these lights is parented to the particle
Emitter and Flare Crossing respectively so there should be no need to
make adjustments. You can of course change light options like colour
and intensity - and adjust how the Ceiling (#18) and Floor (#19) react to
these lights.

At this point everything at the beginning of the sequence should be good


to go. Particles fly in, reveal your logo, other particles fall on the floor and
slide away, your main particles fly out.

Explosion / Implosion effect


You can decide whether or not to retain this element, made up of five
layers in the main comp:
Logo Shatter 01 and 02 (#8 and #9)
The Shatter effect is applied and animated on both these layers. Notice
one layer has motion blur applied (giving a streaky appearance) and one
doesn't (maintaining more solid looking pieces). The scale of each layer is
also animated.
Flare - Flashes (#7)
Some random mini flares to enhance the implosion effect.
Flare - Explode (#6)
The main flare that 'swallows' the pieces of your logo.
Light - Explode (#5)
An animated light to enhance the implosion effect.

Other layers in the Main Comp


Floor, Ceiling, Background Highlights, Curves Adjustment
These are the environmental elements. Toggle down each layer to see
effects / animations applied. If you want to change overall colouring a
simple way would be to apply Hue and Saturation via the Curves
Adjustment layer. Alternatively you could customise each individual layer,
for example change or remove the texture in the floor; create your own
background highlights, change the colour of the ceiling and so on.

Camera 1
The position of the camera is animated, slowly moving deeper into the
scene. You can adjust the timing as you like.
Fade to Black
The basic fade out at the end.

I really hope you enjoy this project and will rate it if you already haven't :)
If you need any help just send me a personal message from my profile
page at videohive.net, rather than leaving a comment which I may not see
for a while, and I'll do my best to assist.

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