Main  © 2004-2009 by Eiperle CGM

Cube 3D - Movie


CGM DVE Vol.3+ contains a stunning filter for creating an animated 3D cube with videos playing on all six sides.

In this workshop you'll learn how to make a transition from a full-size video to one playing on one side of the cube.

Place the first scene onto track 2 of the timeline and make a cut at the point where the animation should start (1), then put the video which will fill the background behind the cube onto track 1.


Apply the CGM Cube 3D video filter (located in Video Filters / CGM DVE 3D) to the upper video scene and open the input controls in the viewer.

The outgoing video will be scaled down from full-size to one side of the cube. Place the playhead one second later than the cut on the timeline (2).

The video's width must be cropped to fit the cube, otherwise the edges won't have the same length. You do this in the Crop section. Set keyframes for the Crop Border (3) and Width (4) sliders by selecting the respective keyframe buttons (x).

The cube can be moved depth-wise into the picture by using the Move Depth slider in the Move 3D section. Set a keyframe for the Move Depth (5) slider.

Now place the playhead at the beginning of the filter (1) and define the start value of these sliders to make the outgoing video full-screen. Set keyframes for Move Depth (6) & Crop Border (7) to zero, Width to 1 (8).

You'll get nice smooth movement when you use the Bezier option for all keyframes. To do this, hold down the control key and click onto a keyframe point in the Viewer. A context menu appears where you select Smooth.

It's very important to use the Flicker Filter (9) when you are using standard interlaced video; for best results try the medium setting first.

Now we have a cube where only the front side can be seen. We'll animate the x & y axis rotation by setting different keyframes for these sliders in the Rotate 3D section.

Place the playhead a few frames after the zoom back ends (10) and select the keyframe buttons of the X axis Rotation (11) and Y axis Rotation (12) sliders. Their default value should be zero.

Now place the playhead three seconds later in the timeline (13) and set a keyframe (14) for X axis Rotation to 145 degrees and a keyframe (15) for the Y axis Rotation at 215 degrees. Smooth these keyframes as previously described.

Now the cube rotates and displays its other faces.

To put different scenes onto the six sides of the cube, simply drop the desired video onto the respective Movie/Map wells.

 

 


As working out where you are on the cube can be tricky, the side numbers are displayed in the canvas. If you cannot see them, simply change the view mode of the canvas to 'Image'.

That's it!

Rotate 3D
X axis Rotation Animate this angle to rotate the cube in 3D space around its X axis.
Y axis Rotation Rotation around Y axis.
Z axis Rotation Rotation around Z axis.
Move 3D
Move Horizontal Horizontal position in 3D space.
Move Vertical Vertical position in 3D space.
Move Depth Distance between the virtual camera and the cube.
Offset Sides All sides can be moved outwards from the center of the cube. You can see all six sides at once if you switch on the "Render Hidden Sides" gadget. This function can be useful if the cube is going to explode.
Render Settings
Render Hidden Sides If enabled, all 6 sides of the cube are calculated. While using a standard cube, it's best to disable this gadget because there are always only three sides visible at once. Rendering time is thus halved and the quality of the edges also improves.
Labels While previewing, the numbers of the sides are shown in the canvas so that you have better view of where you are.
Filter This improves the quality while scaling down the video footage.
Flicker Filter If the source video is interlaced, you should enable the flicker filter to interpolate the frames. The result will look much better.
Border
Border Here you can switch on a border on the edges of the cube and also set its width.
Color Choice of color.
Crop
Crop Border Use this slider to cut off the black edges of video footage.
Width All sides of a real cube have the same length. As video is wider than its height, you can adjust it here to get a real cube.
Show Pixel Aspect If you know the aspect ratio of the pixels of your video system, you can switch on this control view and adjust the Width slider to get the same aspect ratio.
Cube Sides
Mode Here you can flop the video if desired.
Movie/Map If left unchanged, the filter displays the same source video on all sides. Alternatively you can drop footage you want to display on a particular side into the well.
Offset Offsets the start frame of the video placed in the Movie/Map droplet. This is necessary if you have not assigned an in point and you don't wish the movie to begin at the start.
Shadow/Glow
Center of Light This is the center of the light source which drops the shadow.
Size Defines the size of shadow. If zero, the shadow is turned off, thus needing no color.
Softness The shadow`s softness.
Opacity The shadow`s opacity.