RAT 2008 WAREZ

Now you are probably thinking “oh great, that’s all we need is a bunch of cheesy Star Wars screen wipes.” I am here to tell you, gentle reader, that the Gradient Wipe can be a powerful tool in your arsenal.

The gradient wipe is used to transition one image to another by using the luminance values of a layer in the timeline. That layer could be an image, text, or as the name implies, a gradient-Basically anything that contains pixels.

Let’s start our spooky transition in Photoshop. Create a new image the same size as your video. For this tutorial we will be working with NTSC DV at 720 x 480.

STEP 1:

Create a new layer and label it transition. Fill it with black. Next, select the brush tool (B). Set your brush color to white, and choose a grungy type brush tip.

STEP 2:

Set the brush size to something relatively large, like 100 pixels or so. Set the brush opacity to something low like 30. If you have a tablet, set the opacity to pressure. The idea here is to get a range of grays. Solid black areas of the transition layer will show first, white will show last. With many levels of gray, you will get an eventual transition rather than an on/off effect.

Start painting with your grunge brush, building up the intensity of the white. Feel free to change the size and even the brush shape. The more variation in the transition layer the better. Unless you are doing a full screen transition, don’t worry about filling in the whole layer, just the area where the text will be.

STEP 3:

Next, create a title with the text tool, label this new layer as title. Save your transition document as title.psd.

NOTE: The nice thing about After Effects is the variety of files it accepts. You could create your titles in different formats such as EPS or TGA, and then compose everything in AE . For this lesson, we will do everything in one PSD file and import it as a composition..

STEP 4:

Open After Effects and create a new composition (again at NTSC DV 720 x 480). Set the duration to 5 seconds..

STEP 5:

Right click in the project window and choose Import>File and choose the title.psd file we just created.

Choose Composition from the Import Kind drop down list, and set the Footage dimensions to document. Pre-6.5 users will make this selection from the bottom of the Open File dialog box. Adobe Bridge tip: If you switch your Bridge view to Compact View, you can keep your Bridge window open on top of your other Adobe applications, allowing you to drag and drop without switching applications. Cool stuff!

STEP 6:

Double click the “title Comp 1″ composition in the project window to open it. Notice in the timeline all the layers are imported. Since we don’t want to actually see the transition layer, click on the eyeball next to the transition layer to hide it. As long as it is on the timeline, we can still use it.

STEP 7:

Click the title layer in the timeline to select it. From the Effect menu, choose Transition>Gradient Wipe.

Since we want our title to “materialize” we will start the transition at 100%. In the Effect Control box (F3) set the Transition Completion to 100%. This setting will make the title disappear, but don’t worry, we’ll make it come back in just a second.

STEP 8:

Make sure you are on the first frame (home key) and click the stopwatch next to the Transition Completion setting in the Effect Controls window to set your first keyframe at the first frame of your animation. To see your keyframe in the timeline, hit the U key.

Now go to the last frame (end key) and set another key frame by clicking the “add or remove keyframe” checkbox next to effect. If you click on the stopwatch again, you will turn off all keyframes for the effect.

We want to start and end our animation with a black screen, therefore both keyframes should be 100%.

STEP 9:

Next we will set the keyframe for when the text is visible on screen. Hit Ctrl + G to bring up the Go to Time dialog box and enter 200.

This will take the slider right to the two second mark. Using the Ctrl+G mode of moving around the timeline is much quicker and efficient than dragging the slider, especially after 3 cups of coffee.

STEP 10:

In the Effects Controls panel, change the Transition Completion number to 0%. This will make our text materialize over a two second period. Let’s have our text stay on screen for two seconds, then disappear. Go to the four second mark (Ctrl+G and then type 400) and create another keyframe. Set the Transition Completion number to 0%.

Now if you do a RA M preview, your text should pop up, and then disappear. What gives? I thought we were doing a transition? No big deal. To really see the benefit of the gradient wipe, in the Effect Controls box, select the “transition” layer (or whatever you may have named your gray splotchy layer) from the Gradient Layer drop-down box.

To smooth out any hard edges, set the Transition Softness to around 10%. It’s also good to make sure the Gradient Placement is set at Center Gradient.

Now when you run the RA M preview, your text should sort of “grow” onto the screen. The sample on the right shows the effect with extra “dirt” for effect. That’s all there is to it! You’re ready to create some creepy titles in time for Halloween!!