What is the main update in DaVinci Resolve 21 for proximity animation?

The main update simplifies the process of evenly distributing icons and elements, which was previously a long and confusing task. DaVinci Resolve 21 introduces new alignment tools that allow for one-click distribution.

Why did the old distribution method become confusing?

The previous method for even distribution relied on a complex process using vector modifiers, which was lengthy and difficult to manage, especially with a large number of elements.

What is the difference in PX node settings for icons vs. text?

For icons, a controller is often used for size to ensure it doesn't go below 1. For text, the modifier is applied directly to the 'Size' parameter on the PX node, allowing the text to shrink to zero or less when inactive, without a separate controller.

How do I prevent text from falling off the screen in proximity animation?

To prevent text from falling too far or abruptly disappearing, connect your text elements to a Merge node and apply a mask. The mask will contain the text within a defined area and can add soft, faded edges for a smoother effect.

Which node should be used for even distribution of elements?

It is crucial to perform the even distribution process on the PX nodes of your elements (icons or text), not on the Transform nodes. This applies to the PX nodes where the offset modifier has been used for the proximity effect.

DaVinci Resolve

Create Proximity Animation 10x Faster in DaVinci Resolve 21

07:52 Minutes

Intermediate

Kabeer Khan

Certified Instructor

Overview

Learn how to significantly speed up your proximity animation workflow in DaVinci Resolve 21. This tutorial focuses on the new updates that simplify icon and text distribution, pivot point adjustments, and masking techniques to create professional-looking interactive animations with ease, especially addressing the previously complex 'even distribution' part of the process.

Software & Tools

DaVinci Resolve 21

Step-by-Step Guide

5 Steps

Introduction to DaVinci Resolve 21 Proximity Update

Understand the context of this tutorial as an update to a previous DaVinci Resolve proximity animation video. The focus is on simplifying the previously complex 'even distribution' part of the animation process using new DaVinci Resolve 21 features.

It's recommended to watch the previous tutorial on creating proximity animation if you are unfamiliar with the basic setup.

Refine Icon Animation with PX Node Pivot Point

Adjust the pivot point of your icon's PX (Proximity) node. Set the 'Y' value of the pivot point to 0.1. This moves the pivot to the bottom, causing icons to lift upward when interacted with, creating a dynamic proximity effect.

Apply this pivot point adjustment to all your icon PX nodes for consistent animation. This technique leverages the default proximity setup from the previous tutorial.

Setup Text Animation with Custom PX Node Settings

Create a separate PX node for your text elements. Unlike icons, apply the modifier directly to the 'Size' parameter of the text, rather than a size controller. This allows the text size to go below 1 or 0 when not active. Position the text's PX node center relative to its corresponding icon and adjust the anchor point as needed for your specific layout.

Copy and paste this customized PX node setup for all text elements. The anchor point value will vary based on your text and icon arrangement.

Implement Masking for Text Fall-off Correction

Address the issue of text falling too far down or appearing abruptly. Connect your animated text to a Merge node, then apply a mask to the merged output. Position the mask to contain the text's visible area, preventing it from dropping out of view and adding soft, faded edges for a more professional look.

Experiment with mask shape and softness to achieve the desired fade effect. The mask ensures the text only appears within a defined zone.

Evenly Distribute Elements with DaVinci Resolve 21 Update

Utilize DaVinci Resolve 21's new 'Combine Selected Tool' for one-click even distribution. Add your elements (icons or text) to a Merge node. Position the first and last elements manually. Select all their respective PX nodes, click 'Combine Selected Tool', then right-click on 'Center' (or 'Set X Value') and choose 'Spread' to distribute them evenly.

Crucially, always perform the distribution on the PX nodes, not Transform nodes, especially those where the offset modifier is used. This method replaces the old, complex vector modifier technique.

Transcript

So guys, today's video is an update to proximity animation. Before this, I made a video explaining how to create proximity animation in DaVinci Resolve. That video is very useful. If you haven't seen it yet, you'll find the link in the I button above and in the description below. You can watch it. That video was basically in two parts. The video was one, but it had two parts. In the first half, you create proximity animation. In the second part, you evenly distribute your icons and elements. The second part was quite confusing and a very long process. But after the DaVinci Resolve 21 update, performing that part has become much easier. So, this video is basically an update video. In this video, I'm going to tell you how to do that lengthy second part in one click. Besides that, how you can further improve your proximity animation. If you've watched my previous video, you'll basically know what I've done on this node or what I've done on that node. So if you don't know, please watch the previous video and then you can continue with this because this is an update to it. So, basically, the concept here is that the proximity animation is this, meaning our icon system, you can see this whole thing, and I've used the same method here that I basically told you about in the previous video. Nothing special has been done here. The only special thing that happened is in this PX node, i.e., inside everyone's PX node. Right now, you're seeing that the upward movement is happening because I've set the Y value of the pivot point inside the PX node to 0.1. So you'll see its pivot point is now here, which was earlier in the center. Now I've moved it to the bottom. Because of this, as soon as it interacts with it, it directly lifts it upwards. So, I've basically done all these things with everyone. You can see 0.1 will be in all of them. So, that was simple enough. You just have to change the value, and you'll instantly get an output like this. Okay? After that, the question arises, how is the text appearing? So, what I've done is, you can see, we'll remove this second one for now because it has nothing to do with it, as it's not even connected. So, let's talk about this one, which is basically connected. Okay? So, in this too, you can see the same PX node. Its pivot point is slightly different because we need to adjust the text according to this icon. Okay? But here, I've changed one more system. In the previous PX point, we created a controller for size so that the size of this icon never goes below one. But we don't want that for text. In the setting we've done for text, we haven't created a controller. We want its size to go below one, become zero, or anything, but appear large when growing. So, we've directly applied the modifier here directly to the size. And in the other one, we applied it to the controller's size. You can see. For the text, you need to apply it directly to the size. There's no need to add a controller. So, in a way, you'll have to create this node again with the same settings and copy-paste it. Okay? Then, after that, what I've done is, this PX node, you can see, its center, its position, basically I've set it according to the text. If I show you this, this is my PayPal text. Okay? And its position, I've set it here. Okay? Just here, near PayPal. Then after that, you can see the value of its anchor point. The anchor point value for all of them will be the same. You'll have to see for yourself what your anchor point value is, what you are creating, so your anchor point value for this text might change accordingly. Okay? Now you'll see, as soon as I basically go here, sorry, there's no animation here. I'll have to show it through this. If I go to PayPal, you see this text comes up. As soon as I move away, this text goes down because of its anchor point. Plus, its size also gets smaller because we haven't applied any controller to the size. A problem arose here: when this text was going down, it was going too far. So, what I'll do now is, I'll remove this mask that I applied to the merge node on the text. So now you'll see, if I play it here, these texts are falling directly downwards from the top. If I make it full screen, you'll be able to see that these texts go up and then fall downwards. Okay? To fix this, what I basically did was, I did some masking here. I connected all of them together with a merge node. Then after that, I applied a mask here. You can see the mask is applied in this way. If I do it like this here, they will always be visible inside the mask. And then after that, as they go down, they won't be visible due to the mask. Then, their edges will also become a bit soft. You can see. They look a bit faded, which looks quite good. So, in this way, you can also do masking. Let's talk about the second part of that video. In the second part of that video, we evenly distributed our icons or elements. For that, we used a long process through modifiers. But in this video, I want to tell you a simple method. So, to explain that method, I'll take a background node. Then after that, I'll add a merge node. Okay? It's simple. Then here, I'll bring in my three icons. Okay? We'll select all three of these and connect them to this and load it onto viewer one. Okay? So now you see, we're getting an output like this. Okay? Just as you would see after your proximity animation if you've watched the first video. Now I want to distribute them evenly. The first method was quite difficult and quite long. But this one is quite easy. I'll add a transform node for now. Okay? Then after that, I'll move my first icon to this side and the last icon to that side. There can be many icons in between, five, six. That doesn't matter. I moved this one here, and those there. Now what I'll do is, I'll select all three of my transform nodes. After that, you'll find a new button here: 'Combine Selected Tool'. You have to click on this. So all three tools will be selected together. I've already made a video on this as well, where I explained in detail how to use Fusion's new alignment system. You can watch that video and understand it properly. Here, I'm basically going to show you how to do it. So I've selected all three. Then I'll go to the center. Right-click 'Set X Value' and 'Spread'. So you'll see they are evenly distributed, which was quite difficult to do before. If you have many elements or many icons. If there are two or three, you can do it manually. But when you have many, it used to be quite difficult to do it manually. So we had to do it via a vector modifier. But now you can see, you can do it with one click. Now, this thing that you have to do should always be done on the PX node. You should never do it on the transform node. If you want to evenly distribute text, you'll also have to distribute it on the text's PX node. If you want to distribute icons, you have to distribute them on the PX node itself. The one where we basically used the offset modifier here. So guys, this video was basically the updated version of proximity animation, which has become much easier to create after DaVinci Resolve 21. If you liked this video, please give it a like. If you're on my channel for the first time, please subscribe to my channel. Until then, take care, bye-bye, Jai.