Logovideo to article
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hello everyone this is Evan Abrams and

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in this video we're going to look at

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this shadow box technique inside of

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Adobe After Effects the concept here is

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to have a kind of portal or window into

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a little 3D space but without any

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external walls getting in the way we can

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see all the way around this object if

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you want to follow along exactly the

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project file you see me working on here

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will be available in the link in the

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description if you want to pick that

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apart and I should say this tutorial

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will be making use of After Effects 2023

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and make specific use of the updated

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track matte system so if your interface

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doesn't look exactly like mine that may

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be the reason but please ask any

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questions you have in the comments and

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I'll try to help you out when I'm able

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and if you enjoy this kind of thing make

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sure you subscribe so you know when new

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things come out around here alright

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without further Ado let's push on

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through and get a little bit deeper into

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After Effects

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[Music]

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so here's the file we're creating and

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you can see as we rotate it around those

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internal parts that have depth are

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getting cut off around the the outside

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of the window this is in essence the

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shadow box technique and we might as

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well start from the very beginning or at

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least near to the beginning so here in

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illustrator here are all the parts that

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are going to create our beautiful object

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we have all of the layers that will be

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separated out we have those markings

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around the outside separated out onto

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their own layer we have the frame itself

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a little black line that'll go around

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the outside and then of course we have

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the matte object this is the visible

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space through which we will observe the

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rest of the elements this is the space

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that we're going to look through so when

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you're creating your designs think about

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making this space giving it its own

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layer we'll come back to it later we can

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create all of this stuff inside of After

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Effects but I find it a little bit

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easier to draw things in illustrator so

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I start there you could also start this

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all in Photoshop but always remember we

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want to think about this card matte part

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as an integral part of our design so

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back in After Effects we're going to

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import that object select of course the

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card Parts choose composition and layer

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size that'll create a little space for

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us to get organized and our first step

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within that composition is to make

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everything three-dimensional and let's

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make everything continuously rasterized

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let's enjoy all of the quality of our

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Vector layers by turning on the sunshine

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and turn on little 3D cube now you'll

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notice that the card mat has had its

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little eye poked out we'll just be using

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the visible space the data of that

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object in a later step so we don't

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really need to see it now let's move

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these objects around I'm going to grab

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all of the hero elements parent them to

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the largest part of them call up their

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position let's push that back in space

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Maybe 250 pixels let's grab the markings

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let's push that by say 50 pixels pushing

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them all back positive numbers pushing

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them away from us that'll leave the

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frame and the card mat right here at

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zero the living at the Baseline

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everything else is behind them for now

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I'm going to go ahead and offset the

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rest of these things just so they're

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exactly like the example file putting

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them at say negative 10 negative 20

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negative 30 and so on that way they are

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offset towards the camera coming towards

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us adding a little bit of depth to our

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lives always important to seem deeper

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than you are here on the internet and

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with all of that work done let's see how

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it's operating we're going to take the

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card Parts we're going to create a new

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composition call this in use because

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this is how we're going to observe this

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thing in use drag the card Parts out

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onto here make it three-dimensional and

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now we can use the rotate tool to give

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that a turn and we want to be able to

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see all of the lovely depth all of the

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extruded elements so go ahead and hit

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that star button which in this case

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stands for collapse Transformations and

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you can see all of those Transformations

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being pushed back in 3D space look at

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that wonderful work now we want to

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constrain them inside that visible area

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inside that window to create the shadow

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box technique so back to the card Parts

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grab all of our layers and we're going

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to point them here in the track matte

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column we're going to point them all to

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use the card mat as their track mat by

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default we are using the alpha matte you

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can switch this to luminance if you want

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to use black and white values and you

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could invert it clicking the second

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switch out here that would invert the

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relationship in our case though this has

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created a lovely little window through

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which we can observe the rest of our

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elements you can see them hanging out in

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behind there and they're respecting that

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track Mount window let's go ahead and

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add a little background in here I'm

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going to just add a new solid let's make

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it a white solid okey-doke put that

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under everything and let's go ahead and

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make that 3D have it do the same little

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track matte game push that far enough

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into the background here maybe 300 there

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we go so then we come back to here you

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can see yep there is our background

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element hanging out I'm going to go

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ahead and animate this now I'm going to

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speed through this process I'm just

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putting keyframes on on rotation and

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position just so you can see how this

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would operate practically and then we'll

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start addressing some of the problems

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that come with this technique and how we

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can get around them so we have the

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element coming on it's turning coming

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closer to the camera tilting or preening

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and then kind of snapping back down to

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some kind of ground plane and we can see

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a lot of problems already when this

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thing turns around we probably don't

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want to see these elements extruding out

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of the back of it we want to see just a

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nice flat card back and then when we

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tilt these more extreme degrees we can

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see around the background so for the

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background a few Solutions present

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themselves

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number one would be just grabbing this

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element and scaling it up making it so

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large that no matter what angle we are

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still going to be able to see it

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extending kind of beyond the situation

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unfortunately there will always be

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angles where that is not true so maybe

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this isn't the best way forward one

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thing that you can do that's fairly

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interesting is let's just make it not

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three-dimensional so there we go it's no

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longer 3D we come back to seeing this in

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use it looks like that background is

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pretty much locked in there there is

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kind of an uncanny effect to it in that

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it is being two-dimensional where

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everything else is three-dimensional but

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if we mix in some other 3D things some

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other effects maybe we can kind of hide

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that for example I'll drop a bit of a

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ramp on here let's give that some colors

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something like that and you can see that

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no matter where this thing is moving yes

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indeed those 2D things those effects

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that we've stuck onto this layer those

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are still holding true let's come in

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here and let's add some other layers

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maybe let's go new too solid let's make

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it the comp size let's add some fractal

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noise into the mix let's go ahead and

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add some directional blur onto this

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let's really blur this out in a big way

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creating some light streaks out of this

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and now let's go ahead and make that

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three-dimensional push that kind of

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behind everything and maybe scale that

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up quite a bit maybe set it to add of

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course make sure anything that you want

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to be locked behind that window you are

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indeed using the track matte of that

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card mat so that it remains behind the

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window you can see how this is adding a

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little layer of complexity in behind

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things maybe a combination of 2D and 3D

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type backgrounds is what you need to

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fill in the space back there to make

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this a little bit more believable

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another solution that you might attempt

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is placing walls behind it so what I

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mean by that is let's go ahead and sort

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of remove these two attempts here let's

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make a new solid let's call this wall

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we're going to make it three-dimensional

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push that back a little bit I'm going to

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duplicate it that's command or control D

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to duplicate tip it on its side and I'm

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just going to try to move that over

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we're going to move that over holding

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down command to get that snap going and

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I want to align basically I want to

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align the edge

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so that it sort of meets with the edge

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of our frame here and we're going to go

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ahead make that respect to the track

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Matt come back here and you can see you

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could assemble a little wall that kind

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of goes in behind if you filled in walls

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for the rest of the area you would

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indeed be creating like a tiny little

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room that lives in there so that might

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be a solution for you as well these

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walls don't have to live right here we

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could push them out further in either

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direction but they can create that stop

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Gap that you require so that you don't

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end up seeing kind of the balance of

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your illusion now whichever method you

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choose we still have the problem of what

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is on the back of this card how do we

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make this 2D from the back but 3D from

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the front well what I'm going to do is

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actually take this element and

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pre-compose it and we're going to leave

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all the attributes in here and let's

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call this cards you know plural with an

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s

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so inside cards here we just have that

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one layer we might as well call this say

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card deep so this is going to be the

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version that has depth make sure you put

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on collapse Transformations and make it

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three-dimensional that means that

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everything is going to still behave

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exactly the same so far so good so what

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I want is another layer that is going to

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be 3D but does not have depth so let's

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go ahead and construct one of those

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maybe I'll just take these two elements

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here let's just copy those background

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elements and let's see we're going to

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come out here maybe paste those again

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make them not three-dimensional let's

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pre-compose them and call this card back

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and let's see we want it to kind of have

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that same shape so let's come back in

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here let's bring the card mat with us

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going back into the card matte area here

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and we'll ask these here to use that as

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a track Mac maybe we scale these down

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kind of like this

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think I want it to be a little bit

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distinct let's go ahead and snap my

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initials on it nothing wrong with that

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it's looking good

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now we've got back here we've got the

09:56 - 10:01

card back and we've got the Deep version

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of the card I'm making this little layer

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3D but not collapsing as Transformations

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because it's meant to just be a flat

10:05 - 10:10

paper thin card back not a rich deep 3D

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diorama so if we're able to toggle

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between them so if sometimes this is the

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layer that's visible and sometimes this

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is the layer that's visible

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like that then we're going to be in good

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shape so let's create a way to toggle

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between them I'm going to use the drop

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down menu so bring that drop down menu

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control onto cards plural node here

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remember we're in the in-use comp so

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this is the thing that contains all the

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other things and in the menu here we're

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going to come into edit and let's call

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this back let's call this one deep we

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don't really need a third one so I'll

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remove it we'll hit OK and I'm going to

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lock up here in the effects I'm going to

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lock that so that we can return to it or

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it just stays there as we come back into

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here option clicking on the stopwatch to

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open the expression editor and I'm going

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to use a little expression to tie the

10:58 - 11:04

opacity of this to that drop down menu

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so we're going to point to the menu dot

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value which would return a value of one

11:06 - 11:10

or two whether it's selected number one

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or number two and we're going to make a

11:10 - 11:16

simple if else conditional so we're

11:13 - 11:19

going to say if m is exactly equal to

11:16 - 11:21

one or maybe I'll just say if m is

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exactly equal to the index value the

11:21 - 11:26

index of this layer which is 1 you can

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see over here a little one then the

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result should be 100 else make your

11:29 - 11:32

opacity zero sure if my braces going in

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the right direction and then we'll come

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into the opacity of this and copy and

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pasting the expression into the property

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so now we could look at the back or we

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could look at the Deep version and we

11:39 - 11:44

can toggle between them let's return to

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in use so at this point in time we want

11:44 - 11:50

this to be on the Deep version around

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here we would want it to be the back

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version like this and of course one

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thing you're going to notice right away

11:53 - 11:57

while that is backwards Evan so just

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make sure you come in here and we're

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going to go transform flip horizontally

11:59 - 12:04

problem solved so we're going to set

12:02 - 12:07

keyframes on that particular controller

12:04 - 12:10

so that it is going to look correct and

12:07 - 12:13

then at this point we are looking at the

12:10 - 12:16

front so we go like this and we can kind

12:13 - 12:19

of toggle through and see how that is

12:16 - 12:22

working for us go ahead and copy and

12:19 - 12:24

paste so this is going to slide into

12:22 - 12:26

frame looking correct does a little

12:24 - 12:28

switch over now we're looking at this

12:26 - 12:30

now it's going to go back there's the

12:28 - 12:33

switch copy paste

12:30 - 12:35

like that and we play it back looks like

12:33 - 12:37

it has a card back to it it's flopping

12:35 - 12:39

around even if it's only up for a couple

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of frames it helps to sell the illusion

12:39 - 12:44

now what if we wanted to extend this

12:42 - 12:46

what if we wanted this to feel more

12:44 - 12:48

three-dimensional well if we call up the

12:46 - 12:50

scale of this object and we'll just

12:48 - 12:52

unlink them if you scale the Z depth

12:50 - 12:55

you're actually scaling this entire

12:52 - 12:58

thing back in space so if you wanted

12:55 - 13:00

this to say go from something that looks

12:58 - 13:02

pretty flat we could actually scale this

13:00 - 13:05

down to not be zero because that's going

13:02 - 13:07

to cause problems but something like .01

13:05 - 13:11

and then at a certain point you could

13:07 - 13:14

keyframe this to have some depth to it

13:11 - 13:16

so making use of the scale here can take

13:14 - 13:19

us from a three-dimensional version to a

13:16 - 13:21

flat version another way you might do

13:19 - 13:23

that is by adding another option to our

13:21 - 13:25

drop down menu control so let's go to

13:23 - 13:27

edit let us add another one of these

13:25 - 13:30

call this one flat so I'm going to come

13:27 - 13:32

in here I'm going to first set this to

13:30 - 13:35

flat at so now we're looking at nothing

13:32 - 13:37

I'm going to duplicate card deep and set

13:35 - 13:39

one at the bottom and let's call this

13:37 - 13:41

flat and all we have to do is uncheck

13:39 - 13:43

the collapse Transformations now this

13:41 - 13:46

will not have that kind of depth when we

13:43 - 13:49

come back into the in use Zone you can

13:46 - 13:52

see that this is now flat version so we

13:49 - 13:54

can toggle flatness or we can scale to

13:52 - 13:56

and from flatness another thing that I

13:54 - 13:59

want to point out one final note on this

13:56 - 14:01

is what if you wanted elements that

13:59 - 14:03

protrude out of the front of the object

14:01 - 14:06

so what if we wanted to have say our

14:03 - 14:08

hero object instead of being sort of at

14:06 - 14:10

the back let's push this towards the

14:08 - 14:11

front right at the frame and it's going

14:10 - 14:14

to be pushing forward if you come back

14:11 - 14:15

into here to in use you're going to see

14:14 - 14:17

that of course it's going to have

14:15 - 14:19

elements that get cut off as it flips

14:17 - 14:21

through all we need to do is to come

14:19 - 14:23

into this element and make sure that

14:21 - 14:26

these are not looking at this as a track

14:23 - 14:27

mat so we set that to be none and

14:26 - 14:29

anything that's set to none as long as

14:27 - 14:33

it's near the front of this object will

14:29 - 14:34

seem to protrude out of that element so

14:33 - 14:37

I'm just going like this so you can see

14:34 - 14:39

indeed that does appear to be poking out

14:37 - 14:41

of the frame so if you want things that

14:39 - 14:44

are inside the shadow box and outside

14:41 - 14:47

the shadow box the big differentiator is

14:44 - 14:49

that track matte situation in here all

14:47 - 14:51

right that's it for me I hope this

14:49 - 14:52

technique is helpful and useful for you

14:51 - 14:55

and that you make something interesting

14:52 - 14:57

with it if you do please share it with

14:55 - 14:59

me I'm at EC Abrams on all social media

14:57 - 15:00

platforms and I love to see what people

14:59 - 15:02

make from what they learn around here

15:00 - 15:04

the project files for this particular

15:02 - 15:06

piece are available at the links in the

15:04 - 15:08

description so please Avail yourself of

15:06 - 15:10

those and if you want more tutorials

15:08 - 15:12

like this in your life make sure you

15:10 - 15:13

subscribe right here on YouTube so you

15:12 - 15:15

don't miss out and you'll likely want to

15:13 - 15:18

follow me on Instagram or Twitter or

15:15 - 15:19

behance or all those other places around

15:18 - 15:21

the internet for announcements live

15:19 - 15:23

streams I'm up to all kinds of things

15:21 - 15:25

out there but thank you so much for

15:23 - 15:27

watching until next time stay creative

15:25 - 15:30

be kind to each other and I'll see you

15:27 - 15:30

around the internet

Exploring Shadow Box Technique in Adobe After Effects

This tutorial by Evan Abrams delves into the shadow box technique in Adobe After Effects, creating a window into a 3D space without external walls hindering the view. The tutorial makes specific use of the updated track matte system in After Effects 2023. By following along, viewers can learn to manipulate layers, create depth, and utilize track mattes to enhance their projects.

Creating the Shadow Box: An Overview

The tutorial begins by designing the object in Illustrator, separating layers for different parts. Importing the object into After Effects, Evan makes each layer 3D and continuously rasterized to retain vector quality. By adjusting positions in 3D space, a sense of depth is added to the object. Utilizing the track matte column, the layers are confined within the visible space, creating the shadow box effect.

Enhancing the Technique

To address issues that arise, Evan explores various solutions. One option involves adding a background layer and effects to create a more immersive scene. Another method includes introducing walls behind the object to conceal unwanted elements. Additionally, Evan demonstrates how to toggle between 3D and 2D versions of the object using expressions and drop-down menus.

Adding Depth and Dimension

To further refine the technique, Evan shows how to scale layers to add depth perception. By scaling the Z-depth, the object transitions from a flat appearance to a three-dimensional view. Incorporating a "flat" option in the drop-down menu allows easy switching between different perspectives.

Conclusion and Further Exploration

As the tutorial concludes, Evan encourages viewers to experiment with protruding elements and share their creations on social media. The project files are available for download, enabling users to practice and expand their skills. By subscribing to the YouTube channel and following Evan on various platforms, viewers can stay updated on future tutorials and creative endeavors.

Embrace the shadow box technique in After Effects to unlock new dimensions in your projects. Let your creativity soar and master the art of creating captivating 3D spaces. Dive deeper into the world of motion graphics and stay inspired on your creative journey!

By following Evan's techniques, you can master the art of creating captivating 3D spaces in After Effects. Take your motion graphics to the next level and immerse yourself in the world of shadow box techniques. Let your creativity shine as you craft intricate visual experiences, opening windows into boundless artistic possibilities.