Responsive Collaboration: Experimenting With After Effects

I wanted to carry out some quick tests with after effects to see whether I could make the digital drawings look more like paper cut outs. To do this, I coloured my first kitchen design in Photoshop, making sure that each of the room's components were on separate layers. Once I had got them in the right position in a composition in After Effects, I experimented with the effect 'Fractal Noise'. 

Original Drawing

Fractal Noise Test

I quite like this effect and think it could be a good alternative to scanning in paper components to achieve a realistic paper texture. This method would also mean that we could make quick adjustments to the shapes in Photoshop if we needed to, which would save us time and money (won't have to keep buying paper). We will be able to change the subtlety of the effect too, and choose which components we want to have this texture; Here I gave the background components of the kitchen Fractal Noise as I wanted the dining table and chairs - the main focus of this scene - stand out. 

AE Light Casting Shadows Test

AE Drop Shadow Effect Test

I also experimented briefly with shadows. In my first test I created a light layer, and set the foreground components to cast shadows. In the second test, I simply added a drop shadow effect to each of the components and experimented with the direction and softness of the shadow. I'm not sure what I think of these tests. I quite like that it makes the subjects stand out from the background, almost like they have simply been placed over a 2D backdrop, but I'm not sure whether this is the look we are aiming for. If this is something we want to pursue, I think I prefer the drop shadows to the lighting, as this method doesn't make the rest of the scene duller, yet retains their original colours.