The idea was to have an animated logo that utilized 3D space in After Effects.
Having used Flash, Motion and 3D modeling tools for years, I was very familiar with keyframes and animation but had not done so in After Effects (Really hadn’t worked in After Effects at all). How After Effects 3D tools manipulated 3D space and how to mask a line took time to master. I had to import the logo Illustrator file and, once imported convert the layers into shapes. The Illustrator file couldn’t have any sublayers so all sub items had to be put in their own layer (AI layer panel option “Release to layers”). Also, it was noted that all AI strokes must have the stroke aligned to center. Otherwise, the converted stroke couldn’t be used as a path. Once converted to a shape, the path could have the Trim Path (add dropdown menu next to shape name) applied and the path and visibility animated.
Once a composition had the logo animated, the main composition’s 3D animation was challenging. Unlike 3D tools, After Effects’ 3D tools and views don’t work the same as standard 3D software. Most notably was the missing “perspective” view. Although there were custom views, they were not as functional as a perspective view. Having the camera track on a path was also difficult. I had to make a stroke, manipulate it in 3D space, copy the shape’s path and then past that path on the camera’s path.