After Efffects swing (real world physics)

Make sure the "center" of the object, or where you want it to swing from, is the 0,0 (or whatever) anchor point.

ADD to rotation:

// Inertial Bounce (moves settle into place after bouncing around a little)
n = 0;
if (numKeys > 0) {
n = nearestKey(time).index;
if (key(n).time > time){
n--;
}
}
if (n == 0) {
t = 0;
} else {
t = time - key(n).time;
}
if (n > 0){
v = velocityAtTime(key(n).time - thisComp.frameDuration/10);
amp = 8;
freq = 2.0;
decay = 6.0;
value + (v/100)*amp*Math.sin(freq*t*2*Math.PI)/Math.exp(decay*t);
}else{
value;
}

After Effects Number Rolling

Alt + Shift + "=" to open the expression panel with the "text" transform effect open.

numDecimals = 0;

commas = true;

dollarSign = true;

millSuff = true;

beginCount = 10;

endCount = 110;

dur = .85;

t = time - inPoint;

s = linear (t, 0, dur, beginCount, endCount).toFixed(numDecimals);

prefix = "";

suffix = "";

if (s[0] == "-") { prefix = "-"; s = s.substr(1); }

if (dollarSign) prefix += "$";

if (millSuff) suffix += " MILLION";

if (commas) {

decimals = "";

if (numDecimals > 0){

decimals = s.substr(-(numDecimals + 1));

s = s.substr(0,s.length - (numDecimals + 1));

}

outStr = s.substr(-s.length, (s.length-1)%3 +1);

for (i = Math.floor((s.length-1)/3); i > 0; i--) {

outStr += "," + s.substr(-i*3,3);

}

prefix + outStr + decimals + suffix;

}

else

{

prefix + s + suffix;

}

Flash Image smoothing

Sometime we have to resize JPGs in Flash on a "loadMovie" script by making the target scale - just because. However, this usually makes the image jagged and pixelated - hate it!

So let's fix it. I found this here:

import flash.display.*;

function loadBitmapSmoothed(url:String, target:MovieClip) {
  // Create a movie clip which will contain our
  // unsmoothed bitmap
  var bmc:MovieClip = target.createEmptyMovieClip(
      "bmc",
      target.getNextHighestDepth());

  // Create a listener which will notify us when
  // the bitmap loaded successfully
  var listener:Object = new Object();

  // Track the target
  listener.tmc = target;

  // If the bitmap loaded successfully we redraw the
  // movie into a BitmapData object and then attach
  // that BitmapData to the target movie clip with
  // the smoothing flag turned on.
  listener.onLoadInit = function(mc:MovieClip) {
      mc._visible = false;

      var bitmap:BitmapData = new BitmapData(
          mc._width,
          mc._height,
          true);

       this.tmc.attachBitmap(
          bitmap,
          this.tmc.getNextHighestDepth(),
          "auto",
          true);

       bitmap.draw(mc);
  };

  // Do it, load the bitmap now
  var loader:MovieClipLoader = new MovieClipLoader();
  loader.addListener(listener);
  loader.loadClip(url, bmc);
}


Then all that is left to do is add:

createEmptyMovieClip("myMC",getNextHighestDepth());
loadBitmapSmoothed("mypic.jpg",myMC);

More Wiggle

Just moves on the Y-axis

With the object selected, choose the parameter you want to effect (e.g. position, scale, anchor point, etc.)

w = wiggle(.2,100);
// Above is my variable "w" that will hold my wiggle (home many times per second, how much)
[value[0],w[1],value[2]]
// 0 = x-axis, 1 = y-axis, 2 = z-axis
// "value" says just hold the normal value

H.264 Codec settings

I've been struggling to get my Adobe Media Encoder to make H.264 videos right for the iPhone 3. It was working on the iPhone 4. Just learned some "default" settings are incorrect. Found this:

"When encoding, please make sure you are using H.264 Baseline Profile Level 3.0 or lower with no more than three reference frames, AAC Low Complexity Profile, and an MP4 container if you want to support older iProducts."

AfterEffects MotionScript - "random" position

Wiggle is a cool little function in AfterEffects.

Clicking on the "transform parameter" select SHIFT+ALT "=", Animation > Add Expression. Then past this:

wiggle(.2,25)

The first value is the frequency, the second is the amount/change.

AfterEffect MotionScript - Random Scale

segMin = .75; //minimum segment duration
segMax = 1.25; //maximum segment duration
minVal = 5;
maxVal = 10;

end = 0;
j = 0;
while ( time >= end){
j += 1;
seedRandom(j,true);
start = end;
end += random(segMin,segMax);
}
s = random(minVal,maxVal);
endVal = [s,s];
seedRandom(j-1,true);
dummy=random(); //this is a throw-away value
s = random(minVal,maxVal);
startVal = [s,s]
ease(time,start,end,startVal,endVal)