3D MESH WARPING TOOL After Effects has had z-space for what seems like forever and you can do a lot with it, but it’s limited to the point that many people refer to it as 2.5D instead of real 3D. Digieffects has brought us closer to true 3D than ever before with their new plug-in, FreeForm AE. Digieffects calls FreeForm AE a 3D mesh warping tool “that allows users to manipulate a flat object into almost any shape using a mesh in 3D space.” In other words, it’s a displacement map on steroids. You can take an image or solid and manipulate it with points on a scalable grid or, better yet, create a displacement map by using another layer and applying fractal noise. To jump in and create a flag blowing, mountainous terrain, or a liquid effect is easy. Unfortunately, it’s going to take a lot more experimentation, patience, and processing power to build really advanced shapes. Also worth mentioning is that FreeForm functions in its own 3D world, not global 3D

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