In a great little quick tip, Harry Frank shows how to get “in between” the Particles of a Trapcode Particulars Emitter, and have them overlap in 3D space with After Effects 3D layers. Check out the New QuickTip on Getting After Effects 3D Layers in Between Particles here.
One of the drawbacks of having so many 3rd party plugin developers, is that they often are “on-top” of the After Effects platform and rarely totally integrated, as an example by having a particle system as a plugin, there is little interaction between the particles themselves and global After Effects parameters. (You can have Trapcode Particular work with lights in After Effects, but on a plugin level… same with gravity as there is no global gravity setting in After Effects.)
Harry Frank Notes: “Ever wonder why you can’t put After Effects 3D layers in the middle of your Trapcode Particular particle system? They both use 3D space and react to the camera, yet the layers are either behind or in front of ALL the particle. It can be really frustrating, and can make a convincing composite impossible.”
