(After Effects) Problems with simulated snowfall.

[Infernal Burrito]

For a video I'm making I need to add simulated snow. I used the default CC Snowfall effect. Unfortunately, my camera pans around in the shot which makes it incredibly obvious that the snow is just an effect. I compensated for zooming by key-framing in changes in the amount of flakes and their size and speed. Unfortunately, this couldn't help for when the camera rotates. I tried rotating the effect with 3d enabled. That did not help as it just created a mask which rotates. Is there any way to make it more realistic? I am quite new to after effects, but if the method is a bit advanced I'm still willing to try.

[Jacktastic-Mofo]

For a video I'm making I need to add simulated snow. I used the default CC Snowfall effect. Unfortunately, my camera pans around in the shot which makes it incredibly obvious that the snow is just an effect. I compensated for zooming by key-framing in changes in the amount of flakes and their size and speed. Unfortunately, this couldn't help for when the camera rotates. I tried rotating the effect with 3d enabled. That did not help as it just created a mask which rotates. Is there any way to make it more realistic? I am quite new to after effects, but if the method is a bit advanced I'm still willing to try.

Make a new sequence that's like 10,000 pixels by 1,080 pixels and then do the simulated snowfall there. Then put that video layer over-top of your panning video and just have it move at the same speed.

[Infernal Burrito]

Make a new sequence that's like 10,000 pixels by 1,080 pixels and then do the simulated snowfall there. Then put that video layer over-top of your panning video and just have it move at the same speed.

Yes, but is there a way to compensate for the camera's rotation? Recorded atop a tripod, the scene is still, it is slowly zooming out as the actor approaches, the camera pans with the actor as they move past it. This makes the rotation much more apparent.  What I tried to do with the 3d was change the direction of the snow with the camera's rotation. I have wind enabled on and the actor is acting like there is wind coming from a certain direction, so I think some sort of 3d manipulation would be necessary. If I were to move the clip as the video goes, it would account only for horizontal movement but not the rotation. 

[Jacktastic-Mofo]

Yes, but is there a way to compensate for the camera's rotation? Recorded atop a tripod, the scene is still, it is slowly zooming out as the actor approaches, the camera pans with the actor as they move past it. This makes the rotation much more apparent.  What I tried to do with the 3d was change the direction of the snow with the camera's rotation. I have wind enabled on and the actor is acting like there is wind coming from a certain direction, so I think some sort of 3d manipulation would be necessary. If I were to move the clip as the video goes, it would account only for horizontal movement but not the rotation. 

Have you tried key framing it? It allows you to change settings frame by frame.

[Infernal Burrito]

Have you tried key framing it? It allows you to change settings frame by frame.

I have. I didn't find any way to do it with the settings under CC Snowfall. Are there any you think I should try? I tried to change the wind direction during the pan, but it didn't look right in that when it was going straight down, it was going down and not towards the camera.

[ALwin]

You're going to have to look at some online video tutorials.  Can't tell you what to adjust because we have no idea what your scene is.  Do you want to post us a sample/preview of your video, with and without the effect, so that we can see how it could be improved?

 

 

 

[ALwin]

You're going to have to work with layers.  You need to add the CC Snowfall effect on a separate layer and move it, and set the wind speed to either negative or positive depending on the direction of the panning.  It won't be perfect, but it will be a step closer.

 

I was reading on Creative Cow

https://forums.creativecow.net/thread/202/880588

 

since cc snow is not a 3d plugin, you may need 2 or 3 snow layers to create a believable depth movement as the camera pans... think of it as foreground, mid-ground and background snow layers, each would have a different x-position move rate as the camera pans (foreground snow would pan by faster than background snow). of course settings for the snow flake size will need to reflect foreground, mid-ground and background snow too...

 

So it may be better to use a 3D particular plugin, I recommend Trapcode Particular from Red Giant.

http://www.redgiant.com/products/trapcode-particular/

[Infernal Burrito]

You're going to have to work with layers.  You need to add the CC Snowfall effect on a separate layer and move it, and set the wind speed to either negative or positive depending on the direction of the panning.  It won't be perfect, but it will be a step closer.

 

I was reading on Creative Cow

https://forums.creativecow.net/thread/202/880588

 

 

So it may be better to use a 3D particular plugin, I recommend Trapcode Particular from Red Giant.

http://www.redgiant.com/products/trapcode-particular/

Thanks for pointing that out from CreativeCow. The deadline to get this video done (for a video production class I'm taking at school) is relatively soon so I don't think I will use new plugins like the one you suggested, but I'll certainly use what you recommended from CreativeCow.

[Infernal Burrito]

You're going to have to look at some online video tutorials.  Can't tell you what to adjust because we have no idea what your scene is.  Do you want to post us a sample/preview of your video, with and without the effect, so that we can see how it could be improved?

 

 

 

Thanks for the links. I'll try to figure it out on my own for now, I also somewhat circumvented the problem by cutting the majority of the pan.