Product Description
Bend, Warp and Distort a layer in 3D space in After Effects. Practical to create cylinders, curves, ribbons, and folds. Easy to create terrains, tunnels, animated water simulations, 3D character animation from 2D images, and much more!
Compatibility: Mac/WIN CS5, CS6, CC, CC 2014, CC 2015.
Tabaat Al Mushahid – Title Sequence
This title sequence for the Saudi morning newspaper review show, Tabaat Al Mushahid, shows a really practical use of FreeForm. The newspaper sequence was shot with a Canon 5D, with some blank areas left on the newspapers. The graphics were then added and peeled off/distorted in After Effects with FreeForm
True Detective Title Sequence
Chris Morris (studiobreeder.com) used FreeForm/FreeForm Pro to distort and add dimension to the footage in After Effects during compositing.
Features
3D MESH WARP
Move and rotate your 3D layer in 3D space with FreeForm’s Mesh Controls. Position X,Y,Z; Rotation X,Y, Z; and Anchor Point X,Y,Z controls. Add up to 400 control points and corresponding tangents, each of which can be controlled with bezier handles.
DISPLACEMENT MAPPING
Gives you the ability to create detailed organic shapes quickly and easily. Use grayscale “maps” to define the height of displacement on your mesh. A black & white cloud pattern can quickly become a mountain range. A simple gradient makes a curved ramp. Displacement maps can also be animated, giving you rippling water, flowing curtains and blowing flags.
TANGENT ALIGNMENT
A very intuitive, easy to use method for aligning or breaking your tangent handles. Create smooth curves or sharp angles easily with FreeForm’s Tangent Alignment. You can choose to turn alignment on or off.
3D MESH CONTROLS
Move and rotate your 3D layer in 3D space with FreeForm’s Mesh Controls. Position X,Y,Z; Rotation X,Y, Z; and Anchor Point X,Y,Z controls.
MANAGE CPU USAGE
The 3D Mesh Controls are also great way to work fast. Choose your rendering level: Full, shade or wireframe, adjust Mesh Subdivision and anti aliasing to lower settings and work fast. Then pump them up for the final preview and render.
MANIPULATION ON THE X, Y AND Z AXIS
A much needed feature missing from most mesh warp tools. You select on which axis your vertex points move by choosing X ,Y or Z. If you want to “Freeform” it, you can select the fourth option and move in all 3 axes freely.
3D MESH QUALITY
Get perfectly smooth final renders. The 3D Mesh Quality property gives you full control over the final quality of your warped layer. Mesh subdivision raises and lowers the density or smoothness of your mesh. As if that’s not enough, refine the detail further with 3 levels of anti-aliasing and Image Filtering.
SURFACE CONTROLS
DYNAMIC LIGHTING PROPERTIES
Adjust the Diffuse, Specular and Roughness properties to create a wide variety of “textures”. From a highly reflective surface like water to a totally diffused surface like cloth. FreeForm V2 even has controls that can map a different image to the Backside of your 3D layer. Perfect for “signs” or “maps” that fold, roll, or crumple and reveal the back side.
FASTER PREVIEWS AND RENDERS
With a highly optimized 3D rendering engine, renders and previews with FreeForm Version 2.0 are up to 8 times faster than FreeForm that was bundled with CS5.
Character Animation in Ae
Mettle`s FreeForm plug-in is a key component of Dave Legion’s character animation. It streamlines the workflow in AE, and lets you control your character more like a puppet. A key feature is the ability to rotate your character`s head 180 degrees in 3D space.
Character Animation in Ae
Dan Gies, a Master of character animation, utilizes FreeForm because it allows him to do a more intuitive and creative method of animation. Use 2D images and animate them in 3D space. This is an enormous time-saver. Thanks to Dan for giving everyone this fully rigged 3D puppet.
After Effects Guru Mylenium (Lutz Albrecht) created this amazing underwater sequence. The top of the Jellyfish was created with FreeForm, while the tendrils were created with Trapcode Particular. Lutz was kind enough to share his project file.
Check out The Mylenium Edition, Lutz’s Pro-level Project files for FreeForm and FreeForm Pro.
Create Textured 3D Sequences
Gary Bird created this fun sting for a childrens’ history program in Australia. He combines many animated elements with a textured map. The displacement map feature makes it fast and easy to create the textured map from a single image.
FreeForm Receives Worldwide Recognition
Matt Silverman and the good folk at Bonfire Labs were commissioned by Adobe systems to craft the Adobe stinger for the CS5 launch to showcase some of the great new features. This clip includes sequences that are made with FreeForm, which was bundled with CS5 under the name digieffects FreeForm. Thanks to Adobe for that honour and recognition. FreeForm still offers the same great features, is now known as mettle FreeForm, and has been optimized to work up to 10 x faster. Don’t Wait… Create!
3D Animation, Quickly and Easily
Chris Bobotis, the creator of FreeForm (mettle.com) put together this Animated 3D U.I. Gadget to show some of the plug-in’s capabilities. Chris comes from a designer/art director/creative director background. Inspiration for our plug-ins came from his desire for a more productive, creative and intuitive way to work in After Effects.
Download the free project file and see exactly how it works.
