Created with Adobe Firefly

There are many more things we can do with this project before we finish up our animation. Changing out the background for something you made yourself is not as hard as you might think. The best results are achieved by changing the background from black to green, but you can also try just removing the black with Premiere too.  

Option 1 - Black Background and Color Key

You could just take a Photoshop Difference background and put it on a track underneath your model animation with a key effect removing it's background, whether black or green. It's a good idea to have several backgrounds to try out to see which combination of colors gives the best result. Adding a a Layers effect in Premiere to lighten or darken the background is often helpful.  Of course, an animated background is a lot more fun!

BG Replacement Part 1

In which we turn 10 seconds of non-looping video into a longer clip that can be manipulated easily.

BG Replacement Part 2

In which we remove the black background using the Color Key effect. Not as effective as true Greenscreen removal with Ultra Key, but works with what you already rendered.

BG Replacement Part 3

In which we replace a Color Matte in Premiere with an After Effects composition, first of two different ways of creating that dynamically linked background.

Option 2 - Green Background and Ultra-Key

2300223 Blender Greenscreen Render.mp4

Blender Greenscreen

Transparency in video is tough with the MP4 format unless you have Blender replace the background with a color NOT used in your model (such as bright green in this case). It doesn't have to be green, just a color that is not otherwise used in your model.

EXAMPLE VIDEO

This render makes use features from several tutorials: the green background, a slower spin, a camera view that zooms in on the doorknob, which looks like glass thanks to the Cycles render engine options.

Don't stop there! Add a title to your video at the beginning with your name! List 4 programs you used as well (Sketchup, Blender, Premiere Pro and After Effects) to communicate just how much effort went in to creating your final Multimedia masterpiece.

Another major improvement is, of course, a Cycles rendered version - better shadows and the option of reflections and glowing colors. Replacing the video with an improved one is super easy - no need to redo all the work in Premiere and After Effects that went into this project. We just tell Premiere to swap out the old model video with the new one!

230224 Compositing Greenscreen Footage.mp4

Compositing Two Videos

Deleting the green from our Greenscreen version makes it possible to then see the Starfield background we made with After Effects. We end up using several of the model clips and shortening the 1 minute background, adding some Cross Dissolve transitions and even keyframe a little Turbulent Displacement just for fun.

Fractal noise is just one of the other backgrounds you can create with After Effects, and it doesn't take much more effort than the starfield (which just about everyone else is going to use). Make your video stand out by making an even more interesting background. Experiment with some of the other effects too - some kids are in love with bubbles and Mr. Mercury, but you might find something even better! Surf the different menu options and you can easily come up with effects that you'll need to teach me so I can pass them on in the years to come!

230227 After Effects Fractal Noise.mp4

Animating Fractal Noise

Fractal Noise is a kind of mathematically generated randomness that has tons of settings to tinker with to make totally unique animated backgrounds. There are some "colorize" effects you can use to try and brighten things up, but it's hard to get any exact results you may have in mind. 

Approach this from a "let's see what happens" point of view and have fun playing with a creative "nuclear reactor"! Just know that a meltdown is likely at some point - save frequently and if you end up at a dead end, you just have to back up and try another path. If you want to make looping backgrounds like the ones below, there's an extra option under Evolution called "Cycle" that allows that.

230221 After Effects - Starfield BG plus.mp4

After Effects Star Simulation

After Effects is an incredible piece of software. One of the hundreds of things it can easily do is generate moving stars that give the illusion of flying through space. Each simulation has various controls you use to customize the look, in this case, the spacing, speed and size of the stars.