Birgitta Hosea, a London based digital artist and animator, will be demonstrating the powerful new Ray-traced 3D engine in After Effects. She’ll show you how vector shapes and text can quickly be extruded in 3-dimensions as well as new materials options for translucency, refraction and reflection.

Get an introduction to Ray-traced 3D, how to activate it, the 3D layers it adds, and the many options that are available in those layers. Vector layers for text and shapes have greatly expanded options in this version of AE, and most useful for non vector layers are the new "Material" options which include the ability to create after-effects-native reflections for the first time.

Take an in-depth look at extruded vector layers in this continued lesson on Ray-traced 3D. Review the new properties including the extrusion parameter, the bevel settings, the material options including reflections, also explore the animate pop-up and environment maps.

Take a look at the new 3D Material properties and get an understanding of how they work to make your scenes look their best by creating realistic sharp or diffuse reflections. Learn to adjust the refraction properties of transparent layers to get a nice looking final composition.

In the first part I'll demonstarte how to work with Adobe Illustrator in order to prepare vector graphics so it can be extruded to multiple 3D objects using the BCC EPS Extrude plug-in. Then inside Adobe After Effects I'll show how to dress your logo, work with the various Extrusion options, Materials and Render settings. I'll create a fancy camera moves using the built in camera and lights, and end up rendering 4 different scene.