Cube Dance is an After Effects custom effect that allows you to create a 3D cube without having to manually rotate and align individual layers.
I created it because I was getting tired of laboriously tweaking 6 different layers every time I wanted a 3D cube. It also allows you to manipulate the rotation, offset, and scale of the different axis as well as the centre point of the cube. By simply animating a few keyframes in a null layer you can choreograph quite intricate movements.
How it works
You have to create separate layers for the front, back, left, right, top and bottom of the cube but thereafter you simply need to parent them to a null and apply a preset to each layer. The cube is then created automatically and you can control it using the custom effects applied to the null layer.
“Originally designed just to create a cube, Cube Dance allows you to create complex choreographed animations easily and quickly.”
There a few layer naming conventions you have to follow but this is so you can duplicate the layers and create more cubes without the expressions breaking. This was the most tricky part to script, but it means creating multiple cubes within a comp is now just a matter of copy and pasting a few layers with no need to reapply the custom effect.
Download ‘Cube Dance’ custom effect
Please let me know if you like it by leaving a comment and I’ll make it downloadable once I have finished testing it.
Related videos
Combining several cubes to create complex 3D geometric shapes:
Complex 3D geometric shapes created with ‘Cube Dance’
Linking Cube Dance to a particle generator:
Trapcode Particular linked to the ‘Cube Dance’ custom effect
Posted on: February 16, 2010
Posted in: All videos, Custom effects, Featured, Video
March 1st, 2010 at 11:14 pm
I liked so much this dance cube effect. Could I download it} Thanks
March 2nd, 2010 at 9:39 am
AE Tuts+ have expressed interest in making the custom preset available via their website (with an accompanying tutorial). It’s a cool opportunity to get ‘Cube Dance’ out there, so I will probably go for it. I’ll let you know when it’s released. Thanks for the interest, Scott.
March 9th, 2010 at 10:48 pm
Thank you! I will wait – anxiously – for it!
April 5th, 2010 at 7:49 pm
Scott this is pretty awesome, hope you will release it soon!
April 6th, 2010 at 8:01 am
Thanks James. I just need to get organised and create a tutorial for it – will try and do it soon. Thanks for the comment.
April 19th, 2010 at 12:10 pm
Hi there
THis is a great effect, could I have a download link please?
Kind Regards,
May 18th, 2010 at 12:40 am
hey I would really love to play around with this awesome effect you have created..
when will it be available?
May 27th, 2010 at 11:59 pm
I’m busy finishing a video tutorial then I’ll make it available via the AETuts+ website. Thanks for the comment.