Building the Background
To create the backgrounds, we randomly placed 80×80 solids in four different shades of one color family and then pre-comped the individual colors. If you wish, you can do the same until you're happy with the checkerboard design. Otherwise, we've provided you with a chart of the colors and the solids' positions.
Here are the steps:
- Create a new composition named Orange Squares BG, with dimensions 720×540, Frame Rate 29.97, and Duration 10;00 seconds.
- To arrange the square pattern more easily, turn on the composition grid (View > Show Grid) and the Snap To Grid option in the same menu.
- The quickest way to reproduce our pattern is to start with an 80×80 solid and duplicate it as many times as specified for that particular color in the table. Then select all the layers of that color, press the P key to display their Position properties, and enter the Position values specified in the table.
- When you're done positioning solids of a particular color, pre-comp (Layer > Pre-compose) those layers, and name them according
to their color: Pale Orange Squares, Light Orange Squares, Mid Orange Squares, and Dark Orange Squares.
Pre-comping the pale orange solids
Pre-comping the light orange solids
The Orange Squares BG Timeline
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Save your work.
Mixing it up
Now you'll add a little variety by making the squares fade in and out at different times. By subdividing and animating the different colors, you can create a gradual transition to your checkerboard background:
- Open the Pale Orange Squares comp, and select the first 10 layers.
- Pre-comp these layers (Layer > Pre-compose) into a new composition named XL Phase 1.
Dividing the layers into two comps
- Pre-comp the remaining pale orange layers into a new composition named XL Phase 2.
- Select both comp layers, and add 0% Opacity keyframes to them.
- Go to time 1;00, and change the Opacity for both layers to 100%.
- Go to time 0;10, select only XL Phase 2, and press the [ key to move the layer's In point to the current time.
Offsetting the strart time of the checkerboard phases
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Repeat this process with the remaining comps:
- Open the Light Orange Squares composition, and pre-comp the first 11 layers into a new composition named L Phase 1.
- Select the remaining layers, and pre-comp them (Layer > Pre-compose) into a new composition named L Phase 2.
- Select both layers, and add 0% Opacity keyframes to them.
- Go to time 1;00, and change the Opacity of both layers to 100%.
- Go to time 0;10, select only the L Phase 2 layer, and press the [ key to move the In point to the current time.
Adding a fade-in to the checkerboard phases
- Open the Mid Orange Squares composition, and pre-comp the first six layers into a new composition named M Phase 1.
- Select the remaining layers, and pre-comp them into a new composition named M Phase 2.
- Select both layers, and add 0% Opacity keyframes to them.
- Go to time 1;00, and change the Opacity for both layers to 100%.
- Go to time 0;10, select M Phase 2, and press [ to move the layer's In point.
What the fade-in will look like
- Open the Dark Orange Squares composition, and pre-comp the first seven layers into a new comp named D Phase 1.
- Pre-comp the remaining layers into a comp named D Phase 2.
- Select both layers, and add 0 % Opacity keyframes to them.
- Go to time 1;00, and change both layers' Opacity to 100%.
- Go to time 0;10, select only the D Phase 2 layer, and press the [ key to move the layer's In point.
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Save your work.
Adding a little more spice
Now you'll double the effect of the fade-ins by staggering the In points of the comp layers:
- Select all the layers, and add a 0% Opacity keyframe to each one.
- Go to time 1;00, and change the Opacity of all layers to 100%.
- Go to time 0;05, select the Pale Orange Squares layer, and press [ to move the In point.
- Go to time 0;10, select the Dark Orange Squares layer, and press [.
- Go to time 0;15, select the Mid Orange Squares layer, and press [.
Offsetting the start time of the different color squares
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Save and preview your work: The squares should fade in at various times. Now, close all the compositions.