After Effects / Motion Graphics Question

[daveFelton]

Greetings. I'm not sure if this belongs in 'random' or not...but I couldn't find a better place to put this.

My question...have you guys seen the motion graphics effect that I best describe as a 'growing vine' effect? Basically it looks like a curved path that 'grows' or draws itself out, almost like its being masked, but as it goes, smaller little vines or leaves or flowers or whatever grow out of the vine. I have seen this more times than i can count, but now that I look around for examples I cant seem to find any. I'm hoping someone knows what i'm talking about so i dont have to find an example, but if this is unclear, let me know and i'll hunt one down.

So basically I want to know how to create this effect. Ive heard that it is done thru a plugin, and that its really easy. I kinda hope thats not the case because it looks really cool, and i'll lose alot of respect for it if its plugin based, but either way, i'd really love to be pointed to A)a plugin or B)a tutorial on how to do it. Part of me thinks it can be done with intense masking, but the way that items 'grow' off the vine make that seem like quite the mountainous task.

okay...hope that makes sense. thanks everyone.

df

[eilsoe]

well there's a filter in AE called Vegas, which allows animated strokes around objects, might a place to look..

also there's imagelounge, check the tut here: http://www.ayatoweb.com/ae_tips_e/ae41_e.html

It might help... otherwise I'm stumped for ideas :)

[DDD]

you can try trapcode stroke as well.

[Loststarz]

Or you can do it manually in flash with a hand drawn mask. I don't need no plug-in or AE or any of those hacks.

VERY SMALL example of a hand drawn mask effect:


http://www.courtneylyn.com/Coming.swf

[mlk]

http://www.creativecow.net/articles/hansen_jaysen/growing/growing_things.html

[daveFelton]

thanks for the responses so far guys.

Loststarz, thats a similiar effect to what i'm looking for, except that basically picture when the mask moves alont the 'vine' that leaves actually grow and scale out of the vine.

i found a close example of what i want. its on exopolis' website. go here:
http://www.exopolis.com/home/portfolio.php
scroll down...view the quicktime for the Nickelodeon KCA: 2005.

I took a screengrab of where in the animation the effect happens:
http://www.davefelton.com/images/grab.png

at that part, watch the way the green leaves not only 'unmask' with the animation, but the leaves also scale up a bit as the stem is revealed.

thanks again guys!!

df

[.soulty]

A nice effect, it may even be 3d created with something like maya and their brush effects imported into ae but quiet possibly a smart use of masks and animation as mlk tutorial link previews. Are you sure it's created in ae? it may even be combustion with 2d particle sprints.

[daveFelton]

yeah i'm not really sure...i always just assumed it was done in AE...most of the examples i've seen look really 2D, and are usually just a flat color, unlike that nickelodeon example where its a little more detailed.

the tut that mlk linked to is actually pretty much the effect i'm looking for. i'm sure some plugins or particle systems can be used, but doing it by hand seems to be the solution for now.

thanks again for the help everyone.

df