Hey you guys!
So I'm doing a theater production, for which I wanted an accomplaniment to play on screen. I wanted the accompaniment to be these shadow puppets, and I figured my limited knowledge of after effects could possibly suffice to create something simple. However I'm doing something wrong, or maybe my concepts are a little limited, and I figured if I explained what I was doing, maybe someone could point out where I was going wrong.
I used a jpeg of stretched fabric, which I took into photoshop and color graded it. I imported that .psd into after effects, to use as the screen for the projection of the shadows. I turned its opacity to around 45% thinking it'd mean the shadows would be visible from both sides.
I then created a simple square object in front of the screen, and enabled shadow casting on it. Then i put a light over it (spot), and enabled casting shadows for that too. So the shadow fell on the screen when viewed from the front. I could now see the object, and the shadow it was casting on the screen.
What I had figured was that if I would like at the thing from the back rather than the front, I'd see just the shadows, as seen on the screen, just horizontally flipped over. However, it was all dark. I couldn't even see the screen.
I thought it was perhaps the lack of light on the back, so I added some ambient light to the whole comp. That made the screen visible, but not the shadows.
I know that's a load of chatter, so I'd be happy to answer any questions about any details you guys might need, or if I was too convoluted in that description (i fear I might have been). I just want the screen to show the shadows, not the objects casting them. Why don't the shadows appear on the screen, as seen from the back, when its opacity is set at 45%? I'd really appreciate any help.
So I'm doing a theater production, for which I wanted an accomplaniment to play on screen. I wanted the accompaniment to be these shadow puppets, and I figured my limited knowledge of after effects could possibly suffice to create something simple. However I'm doing something wrong, or maybe my concepts are a little limited, and I figured if I explained what I was doing, maybe someone could point out where I was going wrong.
I used a jpeg of stretched fabric, which I took into photoshop and color graded it. I imported that .psd into after effects, to use as the screen for the projection of the shadows. I turned its opacity to around 45% thinking it'd mean the shadows would be visible from both sides.
I then created a simple square object in front of the screen, and enabled shadow casting on it. Then i put a light over it (spot), and enabled casting shadows for that too. So the shadow fell on the screen when viewed from the front. I could now see the object, and the shadow it was casting on the screen.
What I had figured was that if I would like at the thing from the back rather than the front, I'd see just the shadows, as seen on the screen, just horizontally flipped over. However, it was all dark. I couldn't even see the screen.
I thought it was perhaps the lack of light on the back, so I added some ambient light to the whole comp. That made the screen visible, but not the shadows.
I know that's a load of chatter, so I'd be happy to answer any questions about any details you guys might need, or if I was too convoluted in that description (i fear I might have been). I just want the screen to show the shadows, not the objects casting them. Why don't the shadows appear on the screen, as seen from the back, when its opacity is set at 45%? I'd really appreciate any help.
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