2.5D parallax animation
Flat layers, real depth, one camera move
Parallax is what sells depth in a flat illustration or a cut-up photograph: near things move faster than far ones as the camera travels. In Premation that is the Classic 3D model working as intended, with flat layers placed at different distances and a real camera moving past them.
Free · AGPL-3.0-only · macOS & Windows
The panel that does it
The editor’s own panel, rebuilt on its chrome. It works: drag, toggle, queue.
How to do it
- 01
Split the artwork into layers
Foreground, subject, background, sky: each on its own layer. Import each as its own image, or as an SVG with the parts as separate paths.
- 02
Turn them 3D and space them in Z
The 3D switch in the Transform panel adds Position Z. Give each layer a different Position Z so the background sits farthest from the camera, and scale the far layers up to cover the frame again.
- 03
Add a camera
New Layer ▸ Camera and choose a lens preset. A wide lens exaggerates the parallax; a long lens compresses it.
- 04
Move the camera, not the layers
Keyframe the camera's position for a slide or a push, or apply Depth Push In or Cinematic Pan 3D from the Animate menu. Turn on depth of field and keyframe focus distance for a rack focus.
Questions
- Why do my layers draw in a different order once they are 3D?
- 3D layers sort by depth, not by stack order. A layer at the bottom of the stack with a nearer Z will cover one at the top.
- Can I do a dolly zoom?
- Yes. Focal length and camera position are both keyframeable, so animating them in opposite directions gives the effect.
- Does it separate a photograph into layers for me?
- No. You cut the layers yourself, in an image editor or with masks. Object Matte and the Roto Brush can help cut out a subject.