What is the best way to make two scenes using same assets?

[mtbuck24]

This is a question I have had for quite sometime and have figured a few work arounds but sometimes makes things pretty complicated.

I make explainer videos and motion graphics using Anime Studio. As you know motion graphics have a lot of transitions and usually a lot of camera/workspace movement sometimes to explain ideas.

example: I have two scenes. Both with audio, a narrator, and the animations. I want to transition the scenes according to the two tracks of audio/narraration that I have for both scenes. Note: each scene i have saved in a different project folder. So that I can just paste them together in a video editor

Scene 1 - The narrator narrates the first scene and I make the animation according to the narraration.
Scene 2 - I am now doing a transition (example a zoom out of a thought bubble and scene 2 contains the person thinking of what I animated, inside the thought bubble is scene 1) to scene 2.

hope that makes sense.

So in this case I have a scene with in a scene. And the actual animation is actually more complicated because its a scene within a scene within a scene. Like a dream within a dream ...pretty much inception.

So what I do is take scene 1 go to file > save as > than name it scene 2. Than I go to where all the keyframes are from the ending of scene 1 (now saved as scene 2) I and go through each and every layer (which is a lot) freeze the pose and points to get the needed keyframes, copy and paste them to frame 1 and delete all the rest of the key frames that I don't need from the animation. Than I take and do the transition by zomming out that last animation which will now be contained inside the thought bubble and zoom out the scene to show a man sitting at a desk think with the thought bubble above his head which contained the previous scene.

Note: the reason why I don't want to put all the scenes into the same project is because they have a lot of assets(layers) and it makes it real complicated having a lot of crap outside of the project window and than moving it in to the scene one at a time. Because after that I actually have another transition so it is technically a scene within a scene within a scene.

The second way I have tried and done this is moving the whole channel (using the motion sequencer) to frame 1 to match up the keyframes I need and than zoom out (transition) the scene to scene 2. This one is a little more effective but still difficult to match up all the layers correctly.

So my question is, is there a way to move frame 0 to another specific part of the timeline rather than manually cut and paste and move keyframes? Or slide the timeline containing 'all' of the keyframes to frame 1 but not manually going through each channel on the sequencer and moving them to do so?

I really hope this make sense, or just typed up a lot of crap that no one can answer lol.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you!

I am currently at work but will draw a quick sketch of what I mean.



-McCoy

[hayasidist]

as in this between (about) the 3:40 to 4:00 mark? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMb7v6lvUw0

This was, as you've done, with all scenes are in separate AS files. In the "flight deck" scene the thoughts bubbles fills were animated to change from "filled" to "greenscreen" which I then chromakeyed out in the compositor so that the thoughts were revealed in the track below. I used motion animation in the compositor to make minor alignment fixes during the transition to full screen; otherwise all camera motion / zoom was done in the relevant AS file.

[mtbuck24]

as in this between (about) the 3:40 to 4:00 mark? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMb7v6lvUw0

This was, as you've done, with all scenes are in separate AS files. In the "flight deck" scene the thoughts bubbles fills were animated to change from "filled" to "greenscreen" which I then chromakeyed out in the compositor so that the thoughts were revealed in the track below. I used motion animation in the compositor to make minor alignment fixes during the transition to full screen; otherwise all camera motion / zoom was done in the relevant AS file.

Okay gotcha. So you took it into post production it sounds like. I am kinda looking to do the same thing but not using after effects, just to see if it can be done. I was basically wondering if you can just shift the entire time line to the left containing all the keyframes and than animate it into the next scene?

Thanks for your feedback!

If anyone else has a way they do it, let me know!

[hayasidist]

yeah - all in post. If you wanted to avoid the compositor, another option would be to render (lossless codec) scene 1, then import that as a movie into the AS file for scene 2.

[mtbuck24]

yeah - all in post. If you wanted to avoid the compositor, another option would be to render (lossless codec) scene 1, then import that as a movie into the AS file for scene 2.

Okay awesome! Thanks hayasidist!

[Nicohk92]

I'm having the same kind of dilemma these days.

I either composite everything in AS and then can only do grading outside, or I export my scenes layer comp by layer comp and composite back in Apple Motion (in my case).

The second solution allows me more control over depth, lights and all kinds of more "tacky" effects, as well as a more fluid playback and more stability. But when there are camera moves as in most of my shots, tracking is never perfect and it can be a hell to match interpolations etc... (If anyone know of a script to export cam to motion he would be my hero.)

A third way is also to export from AS in triple or quadruple the size, and then do even the camera moves outside. I do this sometimes and it often saves the day.

I'm often tempted to do it all in AS which in theory can almost do it all. But I'm not good enough yet in this particular program and neither is my machine to work through so much media. So for now I mix different approaches depending on the shot, my folders are a huge mess but it's working.

As for timing, I cannot playback any VO correctly in AS. It just slows it down as it makes its way through the timeline and when timing is concerned, it's completely unworkable. So I divide the timing by frame number outside, and create markers in AS. Works pretty well.


Also my advice would be to use the content library as much as possible. If there's something you'll be needing in another scene, just save it there for later. Too bad it doesn't update the elements, that would be fantastic.