Moving to Combustion 2 from After Effects, Part 5

Shockingly enough, it didn't take me three months between installments this time, so we can pretty much pick up right where we left off without me apologizing or otherwise stammering through some sort of excuse. We're going to take one more peek at where some of the main interface elements you're used to from After Effects can be found in Combustion, finishing up with a extended look at the centerpiece of the Combustion workflow: the Operator Controls. Yes, I'm sure you have goose bumps the size of golf balls right now just thinking about the excitement that promises to ensue, so let's get right down to business.

Importing footage

The subject of importing footage came up back in parts one and two of this series (when I was dealing with Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop files, respectively), but as is usually the case with someone who is blessed with an appalling lack of thoroughness like myself, I glossed over this seemingly important aspect of Combustion's interface. While the respective After Effects and Combustion Import Footage dialog boxes couldn't look more dissimilar (fig. 1), they both do provide the same necessities.

Figure 1: AE's and C2's Import boxes: not exactly separated at birth.

Where is it?

We're not in real radical territory here. After Effects offers two options: import file or import multiple files, both of which are accessed through the File->Import menu (fig. 2, left). Combustion gives you a single option to import footage, found under the File->Import Footage command (fig. 2, right).

Figure 2: Exciting stuff here: Import menu items!

Main Differences

Ignoring the elephant in the room for the moment (the elephant being that AE's and C2's Import dialogs look nothing alike), After Effects has two options for importing, but Combustion "pretty much" only has one. In After Effects, you can do basic multiple importing through the File->Import->File command, but if you want to import files with the various options After Effects gives you on a file-by-file basis, you have to use the File->Import->Multiple Files command. No real biggee there. In Combustion, importing one or many files is handled in the same interface, utilizing a bin at the bottom of the dialog to indicate your chain of selections (fig. 3). However, you can't import other Combustion Workspace (.cws) files this way—you have to use a separate menu command to import other projects (which is why I put "pretty much" in quotations earlier). Somewhat curious, but again, no real biggee there either.

Figure 3: Combustion integrates a selection bin so you can choose multiple footage items at the same time.

Ultimately, though, C2's funny-looking interface gives you several more options than AE's. Of course, "funny looking" is a relative term, applicable to those that have exclusively worked on either Mac or Windows workstations. What you see in the Import panel is also more or less what you see in the open and save dialogs as well, so once you get used to it, you'll feel at home no matter what you're doing to get files in and out of C2. At the risk of rambling on more than I already have, here's a quick list of the extras you get in C2's Import panel:

• You can generate thumbnails of various sizes for supported clip types.
• You can choose to view image sequences as single files in collapsed mode, of flick a switch and see each individual frame in expanded mode.
• File searching is built right in.
• There's an import list for multiple file import, which also serves to tell Combustion the order in which your clips will be imported.
• Click on a clip's thumbnail, hold the mouse button down, drag it left or right, and you can scrub through your clip right there.
• A Windows Explorer-like file browser is integrated right into the panel.

Sure, some of these things aren't exactly unique to Combustion, but the way that everything and the kitchen sink is all right there in the Import panel is pretty nice, and ultimately affords a pretty high level of control over the entire import process. However, I do realize that some fear change, so if you don't like this freaky panel and just want something bare bones, you can turn it off and invoke the host OS's native dialog boxes (fig. 4).

Figure 4: This seemingly innocuous Preference checkbox is all that stands between normal dialog boxes and Combustion's superfly dialog boxes.

Oh, and one more thing on the topic of the import process: AE has drag and drop importing directly into its Project window. C2 doesn't. Nothin' more to say 'bout that, other than it's a serious omission on C2's part (not to mention that this is about the thousandth time I've mentioned it in this series alone).

Project management

I've combined a couple of things here under the generic banner of project management: clip organization and individual comp management. Both programs do pretty much the same thing here, but as usual (and get used to a variation on this phrase, if you haven't already), they do what they do a tad differently.

Where is it?

Both programs have a bin where you can see a project's imported clips. AE's is known as the Project window while C2 calls its bin the Workspace. In the default view, both are located on the left-hand portion of the screen (fig. 5). On the comp management side of the coin, both programs also have schematic views (discussed in part 3 of this series) to manage individual comps as a graphical flowchart (fig. 6). Both AE and C2 overlay the schematic view over the main comp window or Viewport, and is accessed through a button (AE) or a menubar or contextual menu command (C2). The non-graphical method of comp management is accomplished through the timeline in After Effects, and either in the timeline in Combustion or the Workspace.

Figure 5: As Mr. Miyagi once said, "different, but same." To which Daniel-san replied, "No, different, but different."

Figure 6: The schematic view in either program is a pretty addicting way to manage your comps.

Main Differences

That last, seemingly throwaway sentence in the previous paragraph hints at the major difference in comp management between After Effects and Combustion. While you can use C2's timeline to rearrange a comp's layers and do the other things you may be used to from AE's timeline, the main method of seeing the various aspects of your comp (and project in general, for that matter) is through the Workspace panel (fig. 7). So, in After Effects terms, the Workspace combines parts of the Project and Timeline windows in the same space, with the added benefit of seeing your entire project at once, not just the assets of whatever individual comp you may be focused on.

Figure 7: Combustion's Workspace combines a footage bin with composite management in one space.

Another quick Combustion-only item in this category is the Footage Library (fig. 8), which uses the Viewport to show thumbnails of whatever clips you've imported in your Workspace.

Figure 8: NLE users might be familiar with the thumbnail clip view, shown here in Combustion's Footage Library.

Footage Interpretation

These days especially, footage can come in all shapes, sizes, frame rates, field dominances (is that even a word?), aspect ratios, and on and on, so more often than not you need a way to tweak how your program "sees" all of these files. Luckily, both AE and C2 let you do just that.

Where is it?

In After Effects, the footage interpretation options are accessible through the Project window via the Interpret Footage->Main contextual menu (fig. 9). In Combustion, clicking on an asset in the footage library portion of the Workspace yields similar options in the Footage Controls panel (fig. 10).

Figure 9: In the words of Ian Woosnam, "simple, beautiful, classic." The After Effects Interpret Footage interface, not Smell The Glove.

Figure 10: Combustion's version: more options than you can shake a stick at.

Main Differences

There are a couple differences here that lead to this category ultimately being a wash as to which program has the upper hand. Combustion's Footage Controls offer a ton of options from a single interface. After Effects, on the other hand, offers the essentials (which is just fine the vast majority of the time), but also gives you a huge timesaving feature by allowing you to copy (or "remember" in the AE lexicon) interpretation settings, which can be transferred to multiple clips in the Project window at the same time. AE also seems to be better than Combustion at guessing the field dominance and aspect ratio of clips you import, but this is an area where individual mileage varies widely. In a nutshell, AE is better at working with multiple clips, but Combustion seems to offer finer control over how your footage is interpreted.

Working in the various D's (2 and 3)

Both programs give you the option of working with comps in either "traditional" 2D space or that newfangled 3D space all the kids seem to be excited about nowadays. When all is said and done, though, neither one can magically turn your flat 2D assets into true 3D objects; instead, they give you a 3D scene complete with lights, cameras and the extra Z axis to place your assets into, but your footage stays flat as a pancake. There are still some very cool effects to be had this way, so it's definitely a welcome addition.

Where is it?

In After Effects, 3D mode is activated for any 3D-capable layer through a switch located in the Timeline (fig. 11). Once 3D mode is active, any light or camera you may have added to your scene (through the Layer->New menu command) will actually do something, which is always good. In Combustion, 3D mode is activated either upon creation of your comp (fig. 12, left) or under the composite's Output tab under Composite Controls (fig. 12, right). You can switch from 2D to 3D mode and back again at any point, regardless of the program you're using.

Figure 11: This eensie-weensie box activates 3D in AE's individual layers.

Figure 12: These eensie-weensie boxes activate 3D in Combustion's composites.

Main Differences

Two main differences of note here—one philosophical, and one performance-related. The philosophical difference is in the way each program approaches 3D mode. After Effects handles 3D on a layer-by-layer basis, meaning that you have to activate 3D mode on each layer you want to be 3D. This has the benefit of letting you mix 2D and 3D assets within a single comp, which is a very nice way to do things. Combustion's 3D space has to be chosen at the composite level, meaning that your comp has to be either all 2D or all 3D, but not a mixture of both. While there's technically no commingling of 2D and 3D in C2, there is enough control over how the 3D objects behave and react to other 3D objects that functionally, you can cheat a little and keep some layers largely 2D in appearance.

On the performance side, C2 is the clear winner in the 3D space, using hardware-based OpenGL to help render 3D previews. This is a huge advantage over After Effects, but it's a temporary one. After Effects 6, which is due out shortly (or may have already arrived by the time you get to reading this) is supposed to use OpenGL very liberally during comp previewing and playback, so there won't be much of a discrepancy here before long.

Adjusting properties

If this were an episode of Sanford and Son, Fred Sanford might be clutching his chest and telling Elizabeth that he's comin' home right about now. In other words, THIS IS THE BIG ONE. Property adjustment, combined with time, is what differentiates "motion graphics" from just "graphics"." This is also the aforementioned "big one" because this is the main area where Combustion's unusual interface really begins to shine. Yet again, After Effects and Combustion do many of the same things here, but vary wildly in the practical execution.

Where is it?

Whether you're specifically animating or not, both programs act as you would expect by letting you manipulate assets directly in the comp/Viewport windows. Select a tool, do your stuff, and you're set. Many times, however, you're tweaking numbers and dragging sliders in some other window to set properties. In After Effects, you can do this through the (in)famous "twirlies" in the timeline (fig. 13, left), or through the various menubar commands (fig. 13, right). In Combustion, this sort of manipulation is done exclusively through the Operator Controls panel (fig. 14), which is prominently located in the bottom right-hand part of the interface.

Figure 13: Menu or twirlie? So many ways to set properties in AE.

Figure 14: The Transform Tab of Combustion's Operator Controls panel.

Main Differences

There's a huge philosophical difference here, one which affects how you fundamentally work in Combustion. As you may have noticed by now, After Effects is a very timeline-centric program. A lot of important things are integrated directly into the timeline, from the overall property adjustment we're discussing now to mask adjustment to applying things like motion blur or frame blending. Combustion is a completely different animal. The timeline, while important, isn't the central element of the workflow as it is in After Effects. This distinction belongs to the Operator Controls panel, which we'll take a closer look at now.

Operator Controls—Lord of the Manor, King of the Castle

If you're new to Combustion, it might be a bit disconcerting to open it up and have it look, at times, more like a 3D program than an effects and compositing program. I know I was a little thrown at first, and it's pretty much because the Timeline isn't right there up front like I was used to from all those years in After Effects. Once I started to work with Combustion, I found that I was drawing more on my experience in using LightWave with respect to animating and keyframes than my experience with After Effects, in that I only switched over to the Timeline when I needed to tweak a specific keyframe—everything else I was doing with the time slider, Animate button, and the Operator Controls panel. This was directly due (at least for me) to the very smooth workflow of the Operator Control panel—I found myself spending less time messing around with the timeline and all the various keyframes and more time looking directly at the Viewport. The interface is so powerful because it's so tightly integrated, and reconfigures itself as you work based on what you're doing.

For example, I've imported a Targa sequence into my Workspace. Clicking on the open001 object in the composite gives me controls that look like the ones you saw in figure 14. Scrub to a frame in the time slider, click the Animate button, and then use the Transform controls to your heart's content. Or, you can click on the Layer, Surface, Camera, Settings or Output tab and have direct access to every conceivable control you would want to have over this particular piece of footage from the same panel (fig. 15). Next I'll click the footage node for the open001 object, and the Composite Controls tab turns into the Footage Controls tab (fig. 16). This is a huge aspect of what makes Combustion's interface so tight—C2 displays context-sensitive panels depending on what you've selected in the Workspace. So if I click on the Light object, it switches back to Composite Controls, except now I have a Light tab available (fig. 17). You get the idea by now. Seriously, once you've used this for a little while, it's soooooooo nice to have everything centered in the same place. Plus, to expand the usability of this space, you have access to the Timeline, Operators, Audio and Trackers tabs in addition to the specific controls for the selected item (fig. 18). It's quite possible to never have your mouse leave a single, relatively small rectangular region during a Combustion session with the way everything is situated and accessible.

Figure 15: The various Operator Controls sub-tabs in all their glory.

Figure 16: What was once the Composite Controls is now the Footage Controls, depending on what's selected in the Workspace.

Figure 17: Again, it has transformed, almost as if by some sort of black magic or sorcerer's spell.

Figure 18: All the important stuff is right there in a row.

Finally, we wrap up

Hopefully, this three-part "subjourney" through the main Combustion interface has, if nothing else, hopefully shown that while things may look mighty funky to AE users at first glance, all the tools you're used to are right at your fingertips. Ideally, you've also gotten an idea of just how streamlined and well thought out Combustion's interface is—the more you work in it, the more you come to appreciate it. Next time...well, you'll just have to see what I've got in store for next time, so stay tuned!

Filed under: Tutorial on July 25th, 2003

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