Andrew Devis takes a look at creating parallax in After Effects with a single item in this tutorial covering the use of Camera Mapping in After EFfects. Check out the Basic Camera Mapping in After Effects tutorial here.
“In this tutorial, Andrew Devis shows how to create parallax with a single item. Parallax is when items in a image appear to move in different ways to other parts of the same image. For example, the foreground items in view appear to move at a different speed or perspective to the background items in that same view. This can also be used to create the illusion of depth as different parts of an image can be projected to appear in different planes to other items. By using camera mapping we can project the image or footage onto screens we have set up which are at angles such that some items in our image or shot are at a different perspective to other items. This means that when we add a camera move into our scene parallax is achieved as the screens move in a different perspective to each other. Although a little tricky to set up at first, once used a few times this effect can really bring flat images to life and give a real sense of depth to your work.”