After Effects Expressions 307 - Color

[@Skycider]

I looked so hard this past summer and autumn for a tutorial on how to affect color, this is life saver. This is one of the most well-planned series I've seen on KZbin, all categories, great work! I'm now a happy paying customer. :)

[@Animoplex]

This particular series of intermediate videos (including Color) was uploaded in November, so it barely missed you in Autumn! Your kind words are appreciated, so glad the videos helped you out. And thank you for supporting the course! Please reach out here or via email if you have any questions or feedback.

[@IzoFoxUA]

Thank you Animoplex! This lesson helped me to understand sampleImage function and I've used it in the project where I will need to cover some information on screencast. This function was changing the color of my solid layer along the video duration.

[@Animoplex]

Great to hear, that is a solid use for expressions!

[@torjusaanderaa3749]

Awesome tut! Now I know how to basically lower the opacity or apply a CC the HARD way! ^^ No, but seriously very well explained and this can be very useful!

[@Animoplex]

Thanks! Glad it was useful. A few of these techniques are a bit long-form. But some problems require a complex solution like this so it's good to know what's possible!

[@pixydis]

Such magic! The adjustment layer trick was amazing!

[@Animoplex]

Isn’t it? It’s an awesome trick that works with a lot of workflows that need every layer underneath calculated as a unit. Any questions, please reach out.

[@maxleveladventures]

There probably is a very simple and easy answer for this question: How was the rocket layer made and split into groups for coloring? Is it an import from Ai? Was it made in Ae? What does the star beside the layer name mean? I've watched all of the videos in this series to this point, but I haven't been able to figure that part out. I'm so thankful for these videos! I've learned so much from these in a very short period of time. Cheers.

[@Animoplex]

Good question, someone else asked about this on another video: The rocket was designed in Illustrator, imported to AE as a single layer, then Converted to Shape Layer via the right click command. From there, the components were cleaned up and groups were named. Hope this helps!

[@maxleveladventures]

Animoplex Thank you! I didn’t know it was possible to import a single layer with multiple shapes from Ai and separate them later Ae.

[@Animoplex]

Yup! You can use shape layer groups to reorganize the converted art or duplicate and split them into different layers manually.

[@Williod]

Tank you, man. You helped me a lot.

[@alideep9656]

Super helpful, I will br coming back to this video a lot, thank you ♥️♥️

[@halmatgraphist1297]

Really really helpful, Thank you so much!

[@Animoplex]

You're very welcome!

[@rakmichal]

Very helpful, thanks!

[@Animoplex]

Glad it was helpful, you're welcome!

[@rahuldeshpande9997]

This is super helpful, thank you!

[@Animoplex]

Of course! Glad it was helpful Rahul.

[@matejfrnka8194]

How would i use this to set the color by certain pixel on the screen?

[@Animoplex]

If, by screen, you mean your composition, you can use a modified version of this expression: gist.github.com/animoplex/635d9d7990783e52913103f0ac811995 target = comp("SOURCE COMP").layer("SOURCE LAYER"); samplePoint= [960,540]; // Sample location sampleSize= [1,1]; // Sample area (in pixels) target.sampleImage(samplePoint,sampleSize) Best way to do this is add an adjustment layer to the top of your timeline, then target that layer with the expression linked above. Set the comp and layer names, the sample point (comp position coordinates), the sample size, and you should be set! Post back if this works for you.

[@anunciadavecinogasset5747]

Thank you so much for your tutorials, they are great!! I reached the end of this video, successfully. I would like to know what expression you used for the intro of this video: starts with: array=transform.position.value.splice(toComp([0,0,0]), 2); how it continues? the end result of the intro is different from the end result. thank you!!

[@Animoplex]

Hey Fizink, thanks for reaching out. It's difficult to understand your question. The expression you shared is correct, and the expression has another line: thisComp.layer("Color Source").sampleImage(array, [100,100]) which is included in the video. What problem are you trying to solve?

[@anunciadavecinogasset5747]

sorry about the question, because I answered before finishing the video, and I thought I did, I got the final result. your tutorials are awesome, so clear explained. thanks!!

[@Animoplex]

Glad you were able to figure it out, thanks for the compliments!

[@amiputranuaryanto7212]

is it possible to make the adjustment layer functionality applied inside the shape layer? so we can use only 1 layer or maybe we can save it as preset instead

[@Animoplex]

The only way to do that is to pre-comp all of the layers underneath that you want to read color from. The expression can't read color of the viewport, it has to read color from a single layer. The adjustment layer is a trick/hack to avoid pre-comping, but you can just pre-comp all layers under the rocket and sample that layer instead.

[@kolynxazaka6877]

Thanks a mil.

[@Animoplex]

No problem, any questions please reach out!

[@kolynxazaka6877]

sure. once again thanks

[@XxJKAlexandriaxX]

I don't understand why you added the Splice and toComp method. Please explain very troubled with this :(

[@XxJKAlexandriaxX]

What does splice mean? I feel like just knowing that would help a ton with figuring this expression out.

[@Animoplex]

The toComp expression was not the best example for this. Instead, you can use a single index value. Here's a better way to see how splice() works in JavaScript: var pos = [960,540,100]; pos.splice(0, 2); // returns first two indices, [960,540] or var pos = [960,540,100]; pos.splice(1, 1); // returns second index, [540] developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Array/splice

[@Iluhastecenko]

Круто чел! Thx a lot)

[@Animoplex]

You're welcome!

[@auxiliolacouture1221]

I would like to change the color of a light, to create a sort of blinking neon. A bit like in the Intro of "Enter the void". I've put a wiggle expression in the light color section, but my colors are to saturated and primary for my taste. I could try to create like a gelatin which could change color in front of the light, using hue/saturation effects, but I have a hard time figuring solids in space. If you have any idea on how to create a flicking light randomly changing color but where you can change the saturation/hue, it could really help.

[@Animoplex]

You could try a custom HSL Wiggle like this: seedRandom(0); h = wiggle(1, .5)[0]; s = 0.5; l = 0.5; v = [h, s, l, 1]; hslToRgb(v); First line sets the seed to keep it from changing with the layer index, second line is the hue wiggle, the saturation, and lightness values, the third line puts it all together and the fourth line converts to RGBA array for a color picker property. The "s" variable is set to 0.5 to keep it from being too saturated. See if this works, post an update when you have something. EDIT: Just to note, the wiggle value is based on the current property value. With the above expression, the best results are when the color property was set to "808080" hex value before applying the expression.

[@auxiliolacouture1221]

@@Animoplex Thank you ! I have already better results. The transition between colors is really smoother while flickering at the same time. I'm going to tweak the hex value to try different color spectrum.

[@Animoplex]

Glad it worked! Best way to tweak the color spectrum is to mess with the "s" and "l" variables, the "h" should already be cycling through all of the hues available if you set the hex to 808080. Also, feel free to change the seedRandom value from 0 to any number you'd like. It changes the seed for the wiggle, giving you some flexibility with the wiggle pattern. Post back with any updates!

[@AeBlues]

thanks for this :)

[@Animoplex]

You're very welcome, how are you enjoying the course so far?

[@AeBlues]

Thank you. I just needed this one segment to understand on sampleimage() and to get back to work but was impressed on how the information was presented in a clear way and would go back to this resource when I need to.

[@Animoplex]

Nice! Thank you for the compliments. Reach out with any questions.

[@joverttupag]

Was it possible to parent Checkbox into another Checkbox?

[@Animoplex]

Yes it is possible! Try pick whipping one to the other, the parent should then affect the child. Hopefully that works for you.

[@joverttupag]

@@Animoplex It work's smoothly as it should! Thank you Btw, also it's possible to parent into two checkbox? I think this is wrong it doesn't work . Please help. ------------------ comp("Main").layer("Color Control").effect("Navy x white")("Checkbox") ; comp("Main").layer("Color Control").effect("Chocolate x white")("Checkbox") ;

[@Animoplex]

You can do this with an If Else statement to use both checkboxes: gist.github.com/animoplex/65f4ba95c18868ca47d7c0e51700573f It might look something like this: sliderA = add link here; sliderB = add link here; if (( sliderA == true ) || ( sliderB == true )) { 100; } else { value; }

[@jd_mckee]

Is it possible to use this method to match the light and color variations of a layer patch and zero out the white and black levels as he's done in this tutorial? kzbin.info/www/bejne/g3y5nYafi7SUrs0 Seems like your technique here would get you close.

[@Animoplex]

Sure! It's a bit complex, but you could track a sample point, set a wide sample size, and then measure the color. Sorry for the delay, link was flagged for manual review. Have you tried it yet? Post an update if you get it working!

[@jd_mckee]

@@Animoplex I haven't gotten it to work. I can get the color to sample, but it's the zeroing out that I'm not sure how to accomplish