Need help blending stop frame - Showing Short to crew on Sunday evening!

[Oceanzen]

I have Final cut Pro 6.06 & After effects cs3 (mac pro 8 core 8 gb ram os x 10.5.8) -

1)
I need to find a way to dissolve or soften the transitions between the frames. Can anyone help me out? -I have a screening to all the cast and crew on Sunday evening - Luckily this is only 3 seconds of the whole film and i have the rest done but this bit comes right at the end and is important

It's meant to look like the guy is floating in the sea and we're seeing it from below
(I added a little blur in after effects, but nothing else)
Im working with png files from an artist friend and the background is clear, so defaults to black.

2)
The second thing i want to do is create a background that looks like sea surface with the full moon in the background, so i need to learn how to use the wave effect in after effects and then succesfully put this animation on top.

I havent used after effects for about 3 years since my last short film and am obviously very rusty but quick learner with good instructions.
I hope you guys and girls can help :-)

Thanks a lot
Here's the vid
https://vimeo.com/43710480
and the password is thanks4help

[cgbier]

As you have FCS, did you ever try to load your stuff into Motion and use Optical Flow for blending?

[cgbier]

I knew there was something about this topic in MacBreak Studio's treasure chest:


This tutorial was made for Motion 4, but it works the same in 3.

Optical flow is normally used for retiming, but it's also a great tool for morphing and blending images. Give it a try.

There is a tool in AE, but I only have very limited, if any at all, knowledge of AE.