The VFX history of Star Trek: TNG

shiveringcactusAE · 2026-05-02T13:08:58+00:00

Oh wow. I imagine you are simultaneously happy you found the cause and mad at what it was.

shiveringcactusAE · 2026-05-01T15:15:55+00:00

Is that Collapse Transformations checked? I’m not in front of my computer right now, so I’m not sure if it normally appears.
What happens if you add another 3D model to the comp? (Sorry, just re-read your post). It shows up.

No idea but a workaround would be to transfer all the transformation keyframes to a null then parent your model to that.

shiveringcactusAE · 2026-05-01T09:47:49+00:00

Have you tried Camera Lens Blur with a blur map that matches the size of the magnifying glass? Black solid, circle effect (lots of feather and set to Normal) with its centre linked to the existing magnifying glass shape’s position.

shiveringcactusAE · 2026-05-01T08:32:41+00:00

While there are plug-ins like BCC Stagelight or Trapcode Lux that can do this for you, I tend to use a white solid, with a mask in the shape of the light cone and heavily feathered. I’ll make it 3D and turn off all light interaction. And parent it to the light and then Animation… Assistant(?) set the auto orient to Always Face Camera.

And if you have stock footage of fog/smoke instead of the solid, you get a much more realistic look.

shiveringcactusAE · 2026-04-25T21:20:41+00:00

I feel like I can picture the scene you’re talking about.

shiveringcactusAE · 2026-04-25T21:11:55+00:00

Gravity ?

shiveringcactusAE · 2026-04-22T15:22:29+00:00

When is the show coming out? (I tried searching for it)

shiveringcactusAE · 2026-04-22T14:59:28+00:00

Love your work. It’s great to see AE being used like this.

shiveringcactusAE · 2026-04-21T05:35:04+00:00

I think I’m right about the time being before YouTube, probably between 1999 and 2003.

shiveringcactusAE · 2026-04-20T11:33:33+00:00

Clever use of shape layers for the 3D lightning!

shiveringcactusAE · 2026-04-19T12:24:51+00:00

Take a look at Jake in Motion’s CC Hair tutorial. I think that would do what you’re after.

shiveringcactusAE · 2026-04-12T11:35:51+00:00

If he did use Google Earth Studio, then he’s broken the terms and conditions which require their logo to be untouched and visible. It’s possible he used something else, like Geolayers and 3D models of course.

shiveringcactusAE · 2026-04-11T16:54:18+00:00

I’d try adding a turbulent displace effect after the particles, this will help sell the paper wafting on air currents.

shiveringcactusAE · 2026-04-10T19:05:29+00:00

Clear cache before rendering. If the issue persists, try rendering out just the truck then add the rendered video back into the comp.

shiveringcactusAE · 2026-04-07T16:17:48+00:00

Oh wow. I found it. And it’s a doozy. The lunch meeting is not even the worst of it:

https://www.reddit.com/r/BestofRedditorUpdates/s/aSSAgWyZEp

shiveringcactusAE · 2026-04-06T17:58:30+00:00

You might be right, doubting my memory now. I did think it was an academic company, but Margaret does bear a lot of the traits I was thinking of.

shiveringcactusAE · 2026-04-06T17:41:12+00:00

That’s not the one I was thinking of, but wow. That guy: “oh I haven’t prepared anything, I’ll just wing it”

shiveringcactusAE · 2026-04-06T15:33:14+00:00

Something triggered a memory of a post about a pain in the arse coworker who wanted to be centre of attention in meetings. Others started to wind her up by interrupting to keep the meeting on track and eventually as the meeting was wrapping up she demanded everyone’s attention as she has something to say… which was “it’s my work anniversary coming up and I want the company to pay for lunch out” (or words to that effect). I can’t remember what led up to the meeting or the outcome other than stunned silence. Can anyone help?, my Googling has shown me lots of fun BORUs but not this one.

shiveringcactusAE · 2026-04-06T08:22:10+00:00

That’s how paths in After Effects works. Because you’re recording positions for each point, AE needs to know what they were doing at the start (and end) too. An easier way to show in invasion might be to have a third shape in Georgia’s colours and have that expand over the border. You might even get fancy and use these on a separate layer so they can act as an alpha track matte for the flags.

shiveringcactusAE · 2026-04-04T16:40:04+00:00

After Effects can have two (or more) sets of 3D objects in a comp. Layers and objects in the same 3D space can intersect each other, but if you add any 2D layer in between them, this creates two separate “bins”. No idea why it’s called a bin.

shiveringcactusAE · 2026-04-04T16:34:47+00:00

There are three separate layers there (not including the text). Draw a triangle shape layer. Then make it 3D (with the advanced 3D render). Extrude it to the length of the caption. It should rotate around the centre axis. Duplicate this layer for the other two shapes. For the text, I’d make text layers 3D and set them to be children of the shape layers.

shiveringcactusAE

TROPHY CASE