How to wrap a video onto a 3D shape

Wrapping a clip onto a 3D shape takes one group of settings in Video by Zaweba. Select the clip, open its 3D group in the Inspector and choose a card, cube, sphere, cylinder, cone or torus, or load a model as an OBJ, an STL or a 3D by Zaweba project (.z3d). Tilt, turn, roll and distance can all be animated, and there are settings for spin, lighting, lens, repeats and showing the picture on both sides.

It is a quick way to make a clip feel like an object. Holiday footage can play on a spinning globe, a product video can sit on a turning card, and a title sequence can tumble across the screen on a cube.

Choosing a shape

A card is the simplest: a flat sheet that can tilt and turn in space. It is good for picture-in-picture that swings into view, or for a photo that flips over. With both-sides switched on the picture shows on the back too.

A cube wraps the clip round six faces, the classic spinning box. A sphere turns it into a globe or a ball. A cylinder suits labels and drums, a cone makes party hats and spotlights, and a torus is a ring.

A model lets you use any shape. OBJ and STL files from most 3D software will do, as will a 3D by Zaweba project. Modifiers inside a .z3d file are not applied, so if the model relies on them, export an OBJ from 3D by Zaweba first and load that instead.

Wrapping and animating a clip

Place the clip on the timeline and select it.

In the Inspector, open the 3D group and pick the shape. The clip wraps onto it in the preview.

Set the starting position. Tilt, turn and roll set the angle; distance moves it nearer or further away. Turn on lighting if you want the shape to look solid rather than flat, and set the lens to change the sense of perspective.

Animate. Each of tilt, turn, roll and distance has a stopwatch, so you can add keys at the start and end and let the shape move between them. Spin gives continuous rotation without keyframing every turn. Eases such as ease in and ease out make starts and stops feel physical.

Use repeats if the picture should tile round the shape rather than stretch across it, which helps on long shapes such as cylinders.

Making 3D moves look polished

Pick footage that reads at small sizes. On a cube or sphere only part of the picture faces the viewer at any moment, so bold, simple footage works better than fine detail.

Give it a background. A 3D shape on black can look unfinished. Put a gradient, a colour matte or blurred footage on the track underneath.

Slow down. Fast spins blur and can be hard to follow. A slower turn, with motion blur added to animated movement if you want it, usually looks more polished.

Mind the edges. Where the picture wraps round to meet itself on a sphere or cylinder, a join may show. Repeats, or footage that looks similar at its left and right edges, help hide it.

Related tools

For flat moves in space, the ordinary position, scale and rotation settings, with a motion path drawn on the preview, may be all you need. Distort effects such as corner pin can place a clip onto a flat surface in footage, such as a screen or a sign. The 3D transitions, including cube spin, flip over and doorway, give a similar feel between two clips without building it yourself.

Video by Zaweba is free software that runs offline on Windows with no account, so 3D effects are made on your own PC.