Behind the Work: Rose 3D Promotional Video

The most recent project of mine was certainly challenging on a variety of levels. I was balancing my current paying job as I was finding time to work on this project; while I was trying to have some kind of life outside of work...and work. Emotionally I had been through a lot and that certainly affected my focus and creativity. Lastly, I was using Red Giant's Trapcode Suite plug-ins that I wasn't too familiar with. Against all odds, I feel accomplished for the most part.

Rose 3D Promotional Video

Ideation, Creation, and Pre-Production

This project goes back a couple of years. My brother is the main entity of Rose 3D. For the past few summers, I would begin working on a promotional video to help advertise his business and work, but I always had to stop what I was working on because of school. This past summer was different. I had graduated from Purdue University. I struggled initially with a style for the presentation. I didn't know if I wanted relatively simple animations but stunning effects, or how color would influence the composition. I played around with geometry initially. I was influenced by how Vox or other YouTube channels do their animations. Many YouTube videos that are graphically done well do so with simplicity and interesting transitions and a lot of color. What ultimately led to me not following this direction was how I wanted to transition panel-to-panel. These "panels" displayed information and examples of my brother's work. I didn't want some kind of information to just appear on screen. I wanted dynamic expression. I wanted this to be in a 3D world and not in a contained flat environment. And of course, I wanted to use the Trapecode Suite. How would I make this all work?

Let me be the first to tell you, ALWAYS sketch out your ideas. Use storyboards and write down how you want the camera to work, and how the effects will behave. I didn't do this at the very beginning. I began this project by creating the splash sequence first. I look back and appreciate how helpful the initial sequence was. It gave me a general idea of how these new Trapcode particle systems worked in After Effects, and I experimented with text effects and blending options.

The initial Rose 3D Splash Sequence

The Assembly Process

I began the main promotional composition by focusing on each segment of the video individually. There were three different "parts" of the composition. You can visually see what I'm talking about. There's the fluffy cloud particles, the stringy multi-colored particles, and the blue tunnel particle. I knew that the main attraction besides the panels were the particles themselves. I wanted the particles to be drastically different from each other, but still relatively related via color scheme. The beginning of the video in my opinion was done relatively well. I like the initial bloom and camera movements. I didn't want to overdue the video with too many effects. I made sure to keep the text and panel animations simple.  

The second and final Splash Sequence

I really enjoyed the colors I used in the first splash sequence. I made sure to reproduce that look, but keep it less cluttered without all the layers. I changed up the font as well. I wanted the new splash sequence to have an edger look compared to the rounder edges and fuller look of the first. For the second splash, I had the main 'Daniel Rose" and "3D Artist" have a turbulence effect combined with a vector blur and venetian blind. I purposely had the screen light up in bloom to add more aspect to the animation, and to allow the text to appear in a fluid manner. 

Resolution and Result

If I had to give this project a score, it'd be a 5/10. I'm very critical and I know that this could've been much better. I really dug the colors, but I would've use the panel-to-panel idea again, and I think I over did it with the particles. "Keep. It. Simple. Stupid." I do appreciate the Trapcode plug-ins but their usefulness could've been produced in a more tasteful way. I could've been more innovative with how I transitioned to the different segments of the video. The ending of the promotional video could've had a better animation of the texts appearing. It looks weird, as if the blur is making the venetian blinds look too sharp.

There's still a lot for me to learn, and I'm determined to make it known that I can make great content for myself and the viewer. Stay tuned for more in-depth analysis of my work and the exploration of techniques and technologies that can increase my work, and yours.

Andrew C. Rose