3D Widgets Demo Video This script has a dockable UI, click for an installation video tutorial

3D Widgets is a collection of scripts to make navigating the After Effects 3D space more intuitive.

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3D Widgets Compatible with After Effects CS3Compatible with After Effects CS4Compatible with After Effects CS5Compatible with After Effects CS5.5

Version: 1.01   Sign up to be notified by email when a new version is posted

3D Widgets is a collection of 3 scripts that help you navigate the After Effects 3D space:

  • BR_Grid
  • BR_Horizon
  • BR_Widget

If you are familiar with 3D Animation software these widgets should be very familiar to you. They allow you to quickly orient yourself while animating your 3D comps.

BR_Widget

BR_Widget


BR_Widget
This script renders this “widget” in the corner of your comp and will quickly let you see your camera pitch, heading and horizon.  It will also warn you when the camera goes below the horizon or floor or is upside down.

BR_Grid

BR_Grid

BR_Grid
This script renders a grid that moves and reacts with the 3D camera. It utilizes a very clever procedural method that will add very little rendering overhead to your workspace.

BR_Horizon

BR_Horizon


BR_Horizon
This script draws a triangle, base line and ground fill to further help you in navigating the 3D space. It also utilizes a very clever procedural method that will add very little rendering overhead to your workspace.

Widget 3D UI

Widget 3D UI

Grid 3D UI

Grid 3D UI

Horizon 3D UI

Horizon 3D UI


Last updated June 7th, 2010
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About the author

Ben Rollason is a director of live action, motion graphics and visual effects work. You can find him online at www.benrollason.com

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20 Comments

  • My only concern with this is that it renders kinda slow, especially since all of the footage I deal with is 720p and up. If you could find a way to make this render much faster, I would use this a hell of a lot more, because it is awesome!

    • Hi MRF,

      The grid is very quick, but the horizon and the main widget are a little slower.

      Unfortunately that’s just After Effects… it costs a little energy to evaluate expressions and draw shapes. I may try to build the horizon in the same way as the grid in the future.

      -Ben.

  • Hi Dustin,

    That’s something to do with the aescripts.com site. So I can’t really answer that question. Perhaps you could try getting in touch via the feedback form.

    -Ben.

  • Why am I getting the following message: “Free Checkout blocked for your IP address”

    • Our merchant processor has a limit on how many free checkouts occur per IP to prevent fraud. Instead of checking out after adding each script, add all the scripts you want to the cart then checkout once and you won’t have any issues. The block on your IP will be reset the following day.

  • Is there a way to force the Grid 3D to render out as it appears in the comp? Simply turning off the guide layer makes it all black and loses the transparency it looks like?

    Just wondering. I’m loving this new script!

    • Hi Jordan,

      If you want to use the grid as a visible element, then you’d need to RAM preview and use a screen capture tool. That’s what I did for the preview. The grid isn’t really designed to be rendered out.

      -Ben.

  • Make it work for french !! please
    I don’t know how to translate it !!

  • By the way: I translated this to work on German AE.

  • I baffled!

    I like when software is open enough to give 3rd party developers a chance to create their own implementations but i REALLY baffled about on how small engineers who aren’t in the Adobe engineering team create program “features” that users are begging and requesting since years!?

    I’ll never understand this software business.

    However, great to have you on planet earth.

    T.

  • WOOHOO! This is by far THE one feature I was missing for too long. And never mind that you put in one or two rather useless features (as you mentioned in the demo ;) . Most of the time I get annoyed by software is when it doesn’t offer me enough options. And using green and yellow as the default colors makes this piece even more likeable (

  • Hi Ben – Does this script work with camera’s which are part of a rig (eg. a chain of parented nulls) and so display position and rotation keyframes which are not taken from 0,0,0? And does it work equally for one and two node camera’s (eg. with and without POI)? Thanks.

    • Hi Steve,

      Yes it does. The scripts respond to the global position and rotation of the active camera, regardless of what method is used to get it there.

      In other words, It works just as well with cameras that are at the end of a chain of nulls as it does with cameras that are all on their lonesome. And the scripts are just as effective for cameras with a point of interest as those without one too.

      Best,

      -Ben.

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