hi,
is compositing easier in blender or after effects… is blender is higher end compositing tool ??? :eyebrowlift:
Ease of use: I dunno, didn’t try yet.
Higher end - After effects.
Blender compositor will become really awesome after then next open project by the BF.
Compositing is much faster in after effects, due to the layered workflow approach. But for complex projects where layers are needed to be re-used again and again, then I would recommend a nodal or tree workflow like Blender’s.
we can’t set a workflow like afterfx in blender ???
Just like mr_projects said:
Blender is great if you want to setup a composite of renderlayers. It is better integrated and has “real” 3d. But if you want to do fast and professional color-correction, work with pre-keyed footage placed in a “fake” 3d, have a fast workflow, some nifty effects, hundreds of plugins etc. then go for AfterEffects.
I’d say if you’re just after compositing 3d elements, renderlayers, adjusting lighting etc, blender is great, if not superior to AE. If you are more working with film, keying, VFX etc, then currently it’s AfterEffects.
Depends on what you want to do. But overall I’d say: no.
Although there are a lot of things that you can emulate, sometimes easier, sometimes more difficult. But AfterEffects has just a completely different approach and a different focus. The Blender compositor is more geared towards 3d.
Blender doesn’t have a tracker built in, so there AE scores. The next open movie should sort things out, though.
AE does have a very easy and versatile handling of masks while all the masking techniques I found in Blender compositor are more like workarounds -> AE scores again.
Sebastian_k already told the rest…
AE wins when tracking, blender lacks that. AE wins when doing masking work. AE is also better for “easier” typography animation. they got a ton of presets there.
but blender wins if you want real 3d typography animation, and if you spend more time w/ blenders compositor you can achive better more higher quality looking compositions than with AE and it’s more fun.
So for me I say blender wins due to it’s tight 3d renderer + compositing nodes , if you have the time to spend on your compositing work.
What do you want to do exactly? What workflow are you looking for?
And why do people from India use so many question marks???
Blender is not a compositing system like after effects at all.
Blenders compositor is more in the concept of touching up
what you render.
After effects can do the same plus animate it.
After effects is to make animations out of 2d or 3d material.
How? as far as I know Blender lacks in type tools…
You can animate real 3d fonts - or maybe use the particle system.
That is the nice part, but that is it.
You do not have any other automated text functions like credits and text flow.
No text effects or anything else.
Well you could write and format the text so it looks like flow text.
What, like this?
Wrongo! I’ve rarely used the Compositor for post “touch-ups” or grading, CC or the like. But I have hundreds (maybe thousands) of hours into special effects work using the nodes, none of which really strain the Compositor’s extensive capabilities (though they do strain mine at times :eek:).
The second part of Kata uses a noodle with hundreds of nodes to achieve a rendered look that simply could not be done with post-rendering only, at least not without generating thousands more frames of intermediate and masking passes. The real strength of Blender’s Compositor is that all the effects capabilities are truly integrated into the 3D environment by a number of methods and options, Render Layers being a principle workhorse in this regard.
I’ve not used AE so I can’t comment on the comparison, But do not make the mistake of dismissing the Compositor as has been done in the quoted post – it’s just not true, and you’d be missing out on a lot of excellent capability.
chipsmasque wrongo on your own.
no offense but when you do not know AE and never used it how could you compare it to Blender.
Plus what you describe is what the compositor is made for.
Of course are there few overlaps with AE in that regards. Blender can color grade material so can AE.
Blenders has nodes to set up effects - so does AE have plug-ins you can add in a sequential order.
But Blendes main focus is touch-up and mixing render material.
That is not what AE is made for. AE is made to make animations. It also follows a different approach to material manipulation.
Plus in contrast to BE you can simply motion path keyframe material in AE and that 2d and 3d.
Technically speaking you can do similar things in BE but not with the same workflow.
Blender is a 3d modeler with a compositor addition.
AE is a composition and animation tool because you can also animate the footage material.
Maybe you should D/L a trial and check it out to see how it works to see the overlap but strong difference.
In an essence both are good in what they do and are intended for but they are not the same.
BWT could U show a screenshot of the complex node setup for Kata?
It is hard to imagine what you did.
Uncle Entity
You know you just committed a typographical sin? 
Well, all I can say about the After Effects workflow is that many people being ignorant of what 3D packages and NLE can do assume compositing must be done in an external program. And you find out what they are doing in AE you realize it would be just as well to do that in the 3D program or even in a NLE for that matter with masks. For most of these things the most basic functions of compositing - which by the way by definition IS mixing and layering of render material - Blender does this quite well, with the addition of being able to use 3D material and render output directly which is powerful. Not to mention nodes.
After Effects of course gives you so many more powerful tools they did not call it after mixing or compositing for a reason. It is far more powerful than that but it can also be used for basic mixing of material as well.
So before you can answer these questions you have to first assess whether or not the OP even understands the difference between mixing render material and adding more advanced effects to that material which is something that AE shines on above mixing material.
Richard
I find the compositor in Blender pretty decent for what it is intended.
Render, touch-up, write to file (still or movie) and use that as a preset.
It would be nice incase Blender would have a plug-in architecture where you
could install add plug-ins similar to AE or Photoshop.
A dream would be incase the compositor and sequencer would work together better.
This would make Blender a tick closer to the way how AE works.
Glad we agree on that.
Good to hear you’ve changed your tune on that and included “mixing render material.”
Technically speaking workflow is superfluous – capabilities aren’t. Glad to hear you think the Compositor has capabilities similar to AE. I wouldn’t know… as I said (but you didn’t comprehend), I have no comment on a comparison, only on your statement expressing limitations on the Compositor’s use.
That’s a big 10-“Duh” good buddy! 
Can’t attach in this forum, which you likely know, or should. If you need to look it over, it’s here.
Doesn’t surprise me. Lack of imagination is not an uncommon trait among common folk.
Mea culpa, mea culpa. mea maxima who gives a frack culpa :rolleyes:
I don’t think composting can not be so simplified to mixing and touch up. And to say that Blender’s compositor is intended for that is limited. I don’t think that is true at all.
Composting by definition has many facets. Some of which are:
- Mixing and matching live footage and CG content.
a) mapping video to 3D objects surfaces etc
b) composting live footage behind or over - or both - with 3D material
-
Breaking down renders into “passes” such as spec, shadow, bump, AO etc. that are then used to composite back together to get finer control of the final output.
-
Adding special effects to material and mixing those effects back into the final output.
There are many ways to accomplish these things. 1a for example can be done as a material. Or it can be done as a mask.
But Blender does fine with most of these things and more. And basically all I am saying is that there is more to compositing and Blender is well equipped and intended for many more things than just mixing and touchup. Compositing as is far more involved and powerful than that. And Blender does very well with this as a workflow.
I base this on all of my years experience doing this in production.
If I had the need and the money I’d just go out and get AE assuming I wanted another workfkow and some cool effects and basically a lot more power under the hood.
But for most things you are doing. The day to day grind of composting, I think Blender and a good NLE is sufficient.