Animate a Simple 3d Book in Adobe After Effects

This tutorial is sponsored by Skillshare, the online learning platform. Visit skl.sh/ECAbrams3 to sign up for Skillshare. The first 500 to sign up get 2 months FREE!
So you want to animate a book opening? Turning around? Pages flapping open, curving and arching? Well now you can, and it is very very simple. If you are new to after effects, or new to 3d in after effects, this tutorial should get you started. Let's turn the page to new knowledge. This is opening a simple 3d book in after effects.
If you have any questions just let me know in the comments.
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[@NomadaProductions]

At the end you can duplicate the page layer in the project panel, go in there and make your custom page design. Then drag and drop while holding ALT/OPTION on one of the pages in your composition to replace it with your new one and this way you can custom design each page as you like :) Thanks again for a great tutorial!

[@ashleytay]

Hi! Did your book content appear different on the front and the back? Thanks! ^^

[@vistick]

Hi! I know this video is super old, but I used it just now and found a way to make the pages seem two-sided. Just upload 2 images onto your page, one mirrored, and when the page turns in your main comp, make sure to switch the image (I did this by keyframing the opacity from 100 to 0 and vice versa) and it'll look like there's a backside to the page! Hope this helps someone. :)

[@ECAbrams]

Great tip!

[@FinLineFly]

Hey - thanks for the great tip. I managed to get the pages changing using this technique. Here's my intro/promo/#short using this template and your advice on the pages! Thanks for posting! kzbin.info/www/bejne/eKfPY4qra7ysbas

[@toxicm4rkel541]

Just to add one thing, if you would like to add different texts on different pages there is a little, I do mean very little extra effort. You dont have to duplicate blank pages but rather just create numerous as per your requirement pages on your project area.

[@Lost-io9ux]

Digging through your videos is just knocking it out the park mate. The other day I needed a camera tutorial. Only understood yours. Today I'm looking to animate a magazine. I'm expecting no less today than the past. Don't let me down... 3 years ago, without knowing I exist.

[@Treasuretom]

I stumbled on this video looking for some exercises to try, and this one is brilliant! It's a really neat project that covers a lot of basics and it's explained perfectly, succinctly and to-the-point. To finish off I added a little bounce to the pages once they opened and a back to the cover (by pasting the cover, replacing it with a blank copy, and dropping it .1 points behind the cover). Thank you!

[@iseealivingpeople2443]

I just thought about making a book animation on after effects few days ago, and you came with this video today! What a blessed day lol

[@nerdypeachmango]

Thanks so much for this. I am going to use it in reverse (open book closing) and have it zoom out of the page to use in an elearning course I am building. Much appreciated!

[@gyropilot9817]

Thank you! This was so easy to follow and I love how versatile it is, I loaded my book up with textures and nonsense words and it looks great so I'm happy. Much love 😘

[@ECAbrams]

That's what I like to head :)

[@LLAWREN]

How did you do that exactly? :) When I add text to the solid, it is also visible when the pages turn and I only want it to be visible on one side of the page/cover :/

[@niektenhagen560]

your tutorials are executed very well, to the point, fast but not too fast and with no errors or skipping important details. Great Job!

[@ECAbrams]

Thank you very much. I'm glad you enjoy them!

[@LLAWREN]

Awesome tutorial! I would have never thought that something like that can be so simple 😊 I've played around with After Effects every now and then years ago, but I'm basically starting from scratch and I understood everything you showed us here, hats off to you 👏👏 SUBSCRIBED

[@nematurd]

Finally got to use this in a project after years of seeing this tut. Thank you ECA!

[@sachinsaxena2504]

I think we can replace the composition by making a copy of the comp in project panel and then "alt+drag n drop" on existing comps in timeline to have different content on each page...!!

[@rafaeli.montes5792]

Thanks men, that was very helpfull.

[@thomasronnlund9299]

How do you do this? Trying hard to get different content on each page but can't get it to work..

[@JohnDlugosz]

@@thomasronnlund9299 He said COPY the comp. If you have the same one added several times, then there is only one to change.

[@adityaawagh943]

You, my friend, are a life saver!

[@alestoryboards]

@@JohnDlugosz what comp should i copy? the assembly??

[@sblga]

And 3 years later.. I find this tutorial. Learned a lot from this.

[@ilmakio]

Oh jesus I can't belive it I was animating a 3D book in After Effects today, and I just found this video on my home page Love your tutorial!

[@cemalcrak4972]

A useful and competent explanation, so I tried it and it turned out that everything works fine. Special thanks to the author for such useful content.

[@TheJohnRowley]

Great tutorial, thank you. Your delivery has got more enjoyable too, you seem less worldweary and it's more encouraging.

[@ECAbrams]

It may just be the new microphone and pre-amps. Or because I'm older now and more chill about the universe in general. Hard to say which.

[@TheJohnRowley]

Hello Evan, how kind of you to reply, thank you!. And thank you for the tons of stuff I've learnt from your excellent tutorials. Sound quality is lovely and rich yes but the other reason sounds more likely - I'd do well to follow your lead there too.

[@MAGAMAN]

Making different images or text on the opposite side of pages is very easy. Just duplicate the page in the timeline. Parent it to the opposite side of that page and remove any rotation animation (leave the other animation). offset the page by something really small (all depends on the scale of the book). Now duplicate the original page composition and add whatever content you want (may need to scale by -100 to get it appear correctly) and replace the duplicated composition used in the animation. Not the best explanation, but if you are familiar with after effects, you should be able to figure it out. This should be more that enough to look good as long as you are not zooming in on the edges of the pages.

[@GurpreetSingh-kb6rr]

I was animating a 3D book in After Effects today, and I just found this video on my home page.Why Skillshare when we have ECA`Thanks you Are even! you`re agood person really. I just thought about making a book animation on after effects few days ago, and you came with this video today! What a blessed day lol Oh jesus I can't belive it I was animating a 3D book in After Effects today, and I just found this video on my home page

[@MrMuffinLord]

Never knew something like this could even be possible in AE, amazing!

[@FrazNinja]

you always know just what i need, right before i know i need it

[@dandabrowski6535]

FrazNinja that's the magic of Evan Abrams

[@FrazNinja]

ain't that the truth!

[@ECAbrams]

We have dedicated algorithms... I mean... magic.

[@motionmarketer4762]

He is jeebus

[@chiaramelacarne8274]

This was great!! So easy to follow too. Thank youu!!

[@ryan.m.weisgerber]

This was so helpful. Thank you for this and all of your awesome videos that've taught me a bunch of great stuff. 🥰

[@zainmohsin6556]

Great Video!!! You're the finest 2d animator!!! :D

[@marsinternational70]

Hi, If you want to learn Adobe After Effect in Hindi or Urdu just visit the channel name Adobe World. If you find something helpfull then subscrib. Thank you.

[@satyabhankumar9258]

@@marsinternational70 cartoon pe bul vana chahe to kaise bulbaye& 2d cartoon desing ke sath soft.. ps.ai.after effect me my whatsApp.no8171885753 [e-mail]

[@crimebodge7274]

Why use the opening as an example when the end product looks nothing like it? I just went through days of doing this just for you to say at the end "you can't do this so the images don't show through the pages."

[@AtaurRaziq]

i would just have a blank version of the pages or covers and place them right next to each other so they block you from seeing the backside, but I agree with you. Opening example should be recreated in full.

[@JiminyHCriquet]

figured out a way around. in the project panel (not inside any of the comps) where you have a list of all the comps ("Assembly etc"), duplicate the page and call it something else. Then go in there and change the color of the solid (Layer > Solid settings). Make it something super visible like purple. Then go to this tutorial and follow again from where he says how to insert the first page into the book. Once the position is right, just copy over the keyframes. You can then edit what the page says. It's really annoying that After Effects doesn't let you edit one duplicate of a comp inside a composition without changing every single instance of it. this is the best workaround i can think of. Hopefully it helps.

[@beckyboradley]

So the left page is showing the same image on the back as the front, it is doing what he says. You can follow the tutorial as explained. Then at the end duplicate the main page composition twice. Create a design on each of those 2 pages. Then select the proper page layer in your final comp where you want the design, hold alt and drag the new page with design on so it replaces the blank page. You just couldn't use actual text on the left page as you'll see it clearly on the back, use lines or something like he has so it's less obvious. The right page can be more detailed with text and images though as you don't see the back of that page.

[@evolnull125]

@@JiminyHCriquet There are scripts doing that. Cant say I used them, but I have seen them around, doing "smart" duplicates

[@omuro2797]

well he is teaching you a concept, you can use this information and adapt it for your use. I just made an stamp album that came out very nicely and I altered a lot of stuff from hist tutorial.

[@maryamsamadi4714]

Wow! The movements are so well thought and brilliantly animated!

[@ECAbrams]

Thanks! I've animated a few books openning in my day ;)

[@DarkRiderMotovlogs]

I made a way more complicated version earlier in the year as I couldn't find a 2D example of what I wanted to do....typical. The master releases this video just to taunt me :P ECA is the best. :D

[@nerdypeachmango]

Could you do a tutorial similar to this but with a ringed Notebook and holes in the pages?

[@skoreman2405]

bro, muchas gracias. es lo mejor, los 21:48 más aprovechados que eh tenido en mucho tiempo

[@TheSarahg555]

I'd love to know where I can buy the finished product lol. I am not skilled in this area but need this exact thing. Awesome voice btw!

[@brandonwei2430]

This tutorial was amazing. Thanks for posting it!

[@tingwen1713]

You are awesome! Such a great tutorial. I am learning so much from you!

[@lajoieshow]

Thank you so much for this It's soooooo easy to follow!!! Job Well Done! I'm gonna be stunting on my colleagues with this one! 😎😎

[@ECAbrams]

Glad it was helpful! You got this!!!

[@Cdeseco]

I'm lucky that this tutorial came out a few week before I needed it

[@passion_proh-jects]

Effortless way with words... prolly handy when making books ;-) Thank you. Can curvature be moved 'off-center' or pick-whipped to something else, so as to change where the pages curve? Most gratified to have found this instructional, albeit a little late.

[@remocreative]

This is a fantastic tutorial - thanks so much!

[@bijeshshrestha2450]

Just colouring the spine green wouldve been a blessing

[@ECAbrams]

how so? I'm confused.

[@bijeshshrestha2450]

@@ECAbrams wow you reply faster than me, I just meant it would be easier to understand/comprehend if the spine was different coloured,up until you add the pages

[@bijeshshrestha2450]

@@ECAbrams nice video ,very informative

[@elahehmoazezi]

wow! that was amazing...thank you...thank you so much

[@abrahamramirez6561]

you are literally the best

[@SlaterMGFX]

Brilliant!

[@Simplology]

Thank you Evan شكرا You're a good person really

[@BigJLilChange]

Good tutorial! Learned a lot from this

[@e_ducationally]

you are amazing man ,thank you so much you help me a lot.

[@liamwiebe5272]

And once again, you make it look way too easy ;)

[@ОлегДудкин-э2щ]

wonderful lesson, thank you very much

[@ECAbrams]

you are very welcome. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

[@abacadusale]

My notifications failed me! I missed this! :( BTW Very nice tut, Mr. Evan :D

[@cyejames]

damn! u always wow me everytime I watch your tuts bro. Well done

[@Workbenchtv]

Nice way to do it. I haven't experimented with curvature in AE so I'm not sure if this works, but back in the day, I'd build pages in a precomp with front and back pages slightly offset in Z and then continuously rasterize them so they come in as a pseudo 3D object in the main comp. My suspicion is that it won't work with C4D curvature, but maybe that's a workaround to get rear pages?

[@Workbenchtv]

I tested it. It becomes way more complex (you might as well just pop into Cinema), but it's possible. You can make a front/back pages in separate comps. Then you can put them together in a precomp. You offset the front and back pages slightly in Z. I pushed the back page to .05. Then animate the curvature in the precomp. Both pages curve and scale the same amount without collision. Then you just do the rotation in the main comp. You could probably get fancy with master properties to swap pages and have an interesting rig.

[@ECAbrams]

That method will definitely get you there. I think someone put up a book rig script of some kind that uses this very method. Ultimately we just have to assess if having unique front and back pages is necessary in the larger context of a piece, and is it practically appreciated on viewing. In the example case, not really. But it would certainly be worth rigging up a more advanced system if we were to simulate paging through a book from spread to spread. The real question now is... how do we make a pop-up book!

[@Workbenchtv]

Yes, definitely! In most case we'd never need to really see that back page. But for a single page curl or something, that's kind of useful. A pop-up book might win the greatest-effort for-least-return challenge!

[@ECAbrams]

I tried fruitlessly back in 2016 to get a simple popup card to happen. Full disclosure, I am a huge popup craft fan. Ultimately I ended up just making a physical card in way less time. And we ended up going in a totally different direction in the end anyway. But I still wonder how it could be done. Maybe really does need a true 3d system to simluate the properties of paper for some of the flexing and tension requried.

[@Workbenchtv]

I vaguely remember seeing someone do a popup in something, I think it was Cinema, but I could be completely wrong on that. I think it'd be too complex for AE. I'm pretty sure it'd need IK. Maybe DUIK would work. The setup would not be easy.

[@Jambolineum]

This is amazing! Well done!

[@ECAbrams]

Thank you so much!

[@simpleguide3275]

당신은 정말 멋진 아이디어와 멋진 튜토리얼을 가지고 있는 것 같다. 훌륭하다.

[@Fanceh]

Ayo thanks man! I was lookin for this! :D

[@paulocardoso8519]

Thank's again Evan!

[@jjuk1025]

thank you so much!!

[@ECAbrams]

you are very welcome

[@NicolasLombardia]

I am loving this, its so epic, so amazing, like spiderman

[@shreyabagchi3916]

Very useful, thankyou somuch.

[@jekciso]

Why Skillshare when we have ECA.

[@ECAbrams]

Oh, there are lots of good stuff on the skillshare. And sometimes a more structured course is what people need. I do my best over here and I'm glad people enjoy it.

[@full8127]

Didn't expect to find you here, Jackson. LOL

[@jekciso]

cello :D

[@lalaland2022]

​@@ECAbrams jkk

[@TheXeviour]

Thank you, Evan!

[@ECAbrams]

you are very welcome

[@jogindernahil3671]

Love it. I am novice as far AE is concerned. Can someone give me a quote for a book like this with 5 or so pages?

[@yal5440]

Thank you. Perfect tutorial. Is the downloaded tutorial commercially available?

[@mbbm0606]

Nice tutorial!

[@Slesaint17]

I love you so much you just saved my life 😍😍😍😍😍😍😍

[@czlowieknozreloaded4093]

much informations, great job

[@polinapetrova2694]

Wonderful tutorial! :)

[@2kilian]

Thank you!!!

[@Easy81English]

Excellent 👌

[@florianbusch94]

Love your intro btw

[@ECAbrams]

Thanks. Glad you enjoy it.

[@user-rr2xq2fs9o]

learned a lot

[@kobicgihet]

again I am just a beginner. I record so softsetups and a Microkorg, even use it as a midi keyboard. But the problem arrives with content

[@denyspolishchuk1633]

Thanks teacher !)

[@BrookVG]

This was still hard to follow, because what if things did not pop up like they were suppose to such as when we did 3D, I didn’t get the same markers on my screen as you

[@ECAbrams]

This tutorial is a few years old. The 3d widget has changed and some of the 3d view options are different now. But, the core functions remain the same. Let me know where you're getting stuck when you try to repeat the steps and maybe I can help you out.

[@motionmarketer4762]

Thank you very much,

[@SkyScar7]

I love you Evan

[@yahyaelnaggar2264]

Oh, That's Genius.

[@veebordeleau3902]

Very cool!

[@DivyashreeMangalorkar]

How do I increase the time frame I want the opened book to stay on screen for a few extra seconds?because I also continued further to close the book. But it’s closing very fast and I don’t want that to happen

[@anangka4616]

Love You man

[@charlie7694]

Can I make the cover thicker, so it's not flat like the pages? Do you have a video for that too?

[@parsa1054]

how would you insert a half note in the channel rack

[@mehdiarjmandi5280]

ty

[@MohammadRezaDashtBozorgi]

amaaaaaaaazing

[@Piedra33]

Great program

[@emoultragaming]

Amazing

[@nahshonmiller]

Every time I parent the first page to the page holder, it doesn't make my page perpendicular and I'm stuck. ..... grrrrrr!

[@signwiser7095]

How about a Spiral Bound book that lays flat?

[@ECAbrams]

Spirals are tricky. Might be better to use a true 3d solution for spirals.

[@Piedra33]

Love it

[@fcrjr]

My brain exploded like Nagasaki but i slowly understood the whole video the more i watched it

[@TheKidlegend1]

7:40 continuar mais tarde a partir daqui

[@sparklethefarkle]

I was wondering how you made your cover fold like that? When i tried it the cover just stretched out and it didnt look as appealing.

[@Daniel-xh5jq]

TYSM :)

[@steveh718]

Is there any way to extrude the cover or add thickness? Maybe start with a shape instead of a solid?

[@ECAbrams]

Shape layers can indeed be given real depth with the c4d renderer. Given where we're at with c4d lite being bundled with Ae, I might actually redo this tutorial in there and see if I can get better page turning and texturing going on.

[@Nicktonyous]

So, if you would make multiple styles of "Blank Page" you could have different looks to the pages. Right?

[@ahmadnabtiti7105]

change their names in the project area, make different styles in each comp then Alt+ drag them over to replace

[@ahmadnabtiti7105]

What if we duplicate the page make the bottom one blank and write on the top one, can we eliminate the duplication problem? just a theory and I'm too lazy to try it.

[@andreasioannides6759]

Excellent tutorial. Btw do you use microphone in your speech?

[@ECAbrams]

I do indeed speak into a microphone. It's one of the only ways I know to get my voice inside the computer.

[@sydneypayne6225]

My precomp pages are blurring every time I zoom into the pages, and on the video they are beautifully crisp and clean, have a completely missed something, or do I need to do this again with bigger comp sizes? I'd really appreciate the help :)

[@jmd6195]

Such a good tutorial! Just a question, is there a way to make the book's cover thicker than the inner pages?

[@ECAbrams]

We can use the extrude in the geometry options if you use a shape layer?

[@mrgoodburker]

@@ECAbrams not sure if you're still responding to comments on this tutorial, but 1. it is AWESOME. and 2. why don't I see "extrude" in my geometry options??

[@TheJohnRowley]

I can see that it was important to hold SHIFT when parenting the blank page to the Page Holder but I'm not sure exactly what this accomplished - it took on the properties of the Page Holder at the same time as parenting?

[@ECAbrams]

Yeah, that's about the size of it. The purpose is to have the page aligned and positioned at and to the null so it will behave as expected.

[@TheJohnRowley]

Thanks for taking the time to confirm Evan, appreciated.

[@joideas5382]

Bro thats what I said haha im back right now sober lol

[@تبصرة]

Wow !

[@Jeff-xq8ku]

When I add text to the front cover then look at the in assembly view the text is backwards. how do I flip the the cover over. any help?

[@ECAbrams]

You could flip the elements inside the cover with a transform effect or using their scale property? Does that help?

[@bengood5499]

I'd really like to know how to do a three-dimentional head and body rotation of a flat-design character. All the tutorials employ the parallax method, which sucks and is limited to a few degrees.

[@ECAbrams]

Are you asking about what we typically call a "turn around"?

[@bengood5499]

Yes. One where the head or body components turn around without having to manually adjust the shapes of individual layers at every keyframe.

[@Fairygelic]

If it duplicates all the pages for you, how were the last 2 pages different??