A little animation I've been working on. I'm still smoothing out the kinks for the camera movement, but you guys get the idea. Has anybody else attempted a shot at Parallax like this? If you have, do you have any advice?

The original picture was taken from the net, and each plane was removed.(In this case, the background, the skater and rail, and the cameraman). The backgrounds behind each element were digitaly added in photshop using the clone stamp tool. After which, they were brought in 3d space in After Effects, and staggered along the Z axis. A camera movement was added and that's it!

To playback at the right resolution click 320, then refresh.
http://media.putfile.com/jpegamediumq

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Diego,

Very nice!
yeah, I've don't those kind of things before (normally called "two and a half 'D'") It's a great way to animate corporate logos and whatnot.

So, if you want advice/criticism, I think you open on a problematic area: the rail. The rail pictured is reflective, so the reflection in the rail would change with the parallax. You may want to take a little creative license and clone the surface of the rail that is in the shadow of the skater for the rest of the rail. It's not reflective and is more contrasty to the background. Also, the photographer doesn't really move much. If you want to emphasize the parallax, go to a wider lens and get closer or change the camera move. Finally, do you know about floating keyframes in after effects? Using them may help you smooth your motion out. Just a reminder because I know many people overlook them. But I figured you want it that way.

Thanks Joren!

I'm reading a book on After Effects right now, I'll have to check into those floating keyframes your talking about.