3D Invigorator is a fantastic tool, but I’m going to point you toward 3D ProAnimator today, specifically the version for After Effects. Zaxwerks had one of the first 3D plug-ins available for After Effects with 3D Invigorator. Note: You may also want to check out broadcastGEMs TypeGEMS which can utilize After Effects ray-tracing feature. Rampant Design Tools also has a nice little tutorial on the topic.

Here’s one from Digital Tutors, explaining how to extrude items in AE. Here are a couple of nice examples of Ray-traced 3D, culled from YouTube.Īfter Effects Top Tip: Extrude 2D Shapes and Text into 3D Objects This is where you can specify Quality and the Anti-aliasing Filter that you want to use. There is also an Options button which brings up a Ray-traced 3D Render Options dialog box. In the Composition Settings dialog box, click the Advanced tab. To use the Ray-traced 3D features in After Effects, introduced in CS6, you must first set the rendering plug-in to Ray-traced 3D. Many work in other NLE’s and I’ll make mention of that fact too. Here is a quick rundown of several options, including examples and tutorials. There are now easier ways to extrude 3D text within After Effects. When the object rotates, moves or bends, you can see bevels and the around the edges.

It was not the most flexible method of creating 3D text!Įxtruded text or an extruded object is one that looks as if it is 3D.

I remember there was an a script that would create tens or hundreds of duplicate copies of your text or layer and offset them in 3D space to give the look of extruded text. Zaxwerks plug-ins kicked was the first option to extrude text in AE. I remember when there just wasn’t a lot of ways to create extruded text in After Effects. Mettle ShapeShifter AE and FreeForm Pro.Boris Continuum Complete BCC 3 D Objects.

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