The Geometry group defines the size, shape, and position of the polygon mesh or object you'll be manipulating. Upon first applying Geo to a layer, you'll be greeted by a procedurally created sphere, meaning that Geo creates the form in the background rather than loading something like an OBJ file.
When working with Geo, we recommend setting up a composition camera (in After Effects: Layer > New > Camera...) and using this (via holding down Alt and dragging the mouse) together with Geo's Position and Rotation controls for the easiest manipulation of your shapes and cloned shape groups.
Choose whether you want your mesh to start off as a Plane, Sphere (the default), or a Custom model. Note that if you select a 3D model via the Choose Model button, the Base Geometry field will automatically change to Custom.
You can bring a model into Geo by importing any model directly into AE and then dropping it manually into your comp. Alternatively, Geo lets you either pick a 3D model from the plugin’s preset gallery or import one of your own. To go the import route, click the Choose Model button in the ECP to bring up the 3D models gallery. Maxon bundles over 100 models with Geo, spanning Cinema 4D and a host of primitives, all accessible via the integrated browser (shown below). More broadly, Geo supports model importing across seven formats: C4D, OBJ, FBX, DAE, GLB, GLTF, and 3DS.
To import your own model, click the import icon in the gallery’s top-left corner. When you do, the imported file will spawn a new Custom entry in the browser, with a thumbnail for the new item, like so:
When exporting C4D files for use in Geo, here are some helpful tips:
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Position controls begin with a position target button. This appears in the comp window as a cross-hair overlay. Click the button, then click in the comp window to shift the model’s position to your desired location.
Following the target button are controls for model position along the x, y, and z axes. Click-drag on these values or manually enter new values to adjust the model’s location within the composition.
This feature creates a null within the composition that automatically maps to the Position, Rotation, and Scale parameters of your Geo layer, meaning you can adjust and animate those attributes of the null more intuitively within the comp window via on-screen handles rather than manipulating individual Geo parameters in the ECP.
After creating the null layer and applying it to your object's layer, you can then click the Unlink Null button at any time. If you click Create Null again, it will create a new null layer rather than continue working with the prior one.
Use the circular angle controls or manual/click-draggable value fields to rotate the mesh in 3D around the x, y, and z axes. Note that Geo imposes no limit on the number of rotation degrees. If you spin through a complete 360-degree revolution, you’ll see the rotation multiplier change from 0x to 1x (and so on as you continue rotating). This is helpful for establishing the amount of rotation an object will move through in a given animation period. For example, here's our Wooly Mammoth performing two rotations around the y axis, then another two around the z axis.
Use the X, Y, and Z controls for individual control over the model scale along those axes. (To be accurate, it’s the polygon size within the object mesh being scaled. This is different than Extend Mesh, which adds polygons rather than scaling them.) Values can range from 1% to 2000% percent. In the following example, we compressed the y axis and extended the z axis, turning our Wooly Mammoth into more of a Wooly Wiener Dog.
Alternatively, if you wish to maintain the model’s original scale ratios, use the Uniform Scale control to shift all three model axes (from 1% to 2000%) in unison.
Tesselation controls polygon density along the x and y axes within a mesh. Higher polygon counts can yield greater levels of detail and realism. Used excessively, though, high polygon counts can also yield no benefit to the naked eye save for higher system resource consumption, which, in turn, can increase render times. In the comparison below, the default value of 150 for Tesselation X/Y appears like a smooth sphere. Dropping these values to 5 reveals much more noticeable surface angles.
Tesselation X/Y values can extend from 1 to essentially unlimited amounts, but diminishing returns and CPU/GPU resources use will enforce practical upper boundaries.
You might also use very low Tesselation X/Y values to your advantage. In the following example, we started with a Plane form, then dropped Tesselation X from 150 to 3, meaning our form has just three equal polygons across its x axis. Then, when we increase Bend Y (see below), the form appears to fold along two vertical lines, like a tri-fold presentation board for a school science project. Animate your Bend Y and Position values, and you could make your science project fly away. (Don't tell us you haven't dreamed about that at least once.)
Extend Mesh extends object geometry along the x and y axes. Unlike Size X/Y, Extend Mesh creates new geometry rather than affecting the size of existing geometry. Note that this is only available when you select Plane for Base Geometry. Along with Scale, Extend Mesh offers more precise control over how you can change an object’s size characteristics. Extend X/Y values can span from 1% to essentially unlimited amounts.
To make this clear, see the comparison below. We start with a plane and a Tesselation Y value of 4 (left). Increasing Size Y (center) simply enlarges the existing polygons. Increasing Extend Y, though, actually generates new geometry (right).
Extend Mesh controls are only enabled for Plane models, not Sphere or Custom.
Bend Mesh offers sub-controls for the x, y, and z axes, allowing you to bend your object along all three dimensions. (Results may be harder to discern with a sphere.)
Interestingly, values can extend as far as you please beyond -360 and 360, resulting in tight rolling and/or twisting effects. Turning up a Bend to its highest possible values will cause a form to bend in upon itself, sometimes with very interesting geometric results. You might even reverse this (for example, from Bend Z: 1500 down to 0, as shown below) for a rather psychedelic experience.
These controls activate when you use a Custom Base Geometry. They are primarily meant to help with animated models, which you will need to import from outside of Geo.
Face Visibility
Naturally, objects have two faces — a front and a back, or perhaps an exterior and an interior. (Since objects are made of pieces, often shaped planes, you might call an interior a “back” face.) Geo allows you to view these with three possible settings in Face Visibility: Front Face, Back Face, or Both Faces.
In many cases, Front Face may be indistinguishable from Both Faces, as the back face could be hidden inside the object. In one interesting example, we've seen models such as a flying dragon that would occasionally have one wing disappear. It turned out that the underside of the wing had been defined as a back face, so when only the wing's underside was visible to the camera, the entire wing would seem to blink out of existence. (Tip: Do not attempt to ride one-winged dragons above minimal altitudes.)