Ribbons

From Mographwiki.net

A popular effect in the early 00s. It can be done a handful of ways. In a 3D program you can create a long thin cube and have it deform and move along a path (or spline). Or in the case of Cinema 4D, it's easist to create the complete ribbon using the "Sweepnurbs" object. This object has a parameter called "Grow" which when animated gives the illusion that the object is growing along the path. As of C4D 9.5, the Sweepnurbs object allows tapering and twisting control as well. In AE, you can use Trapcode's 3D stroke although it won't give the appearence of a flat ribbon with specular highlights like a 3D app would. You can also create the illusion of a 3D ribbon using classic 2D methods then animate the AE masks to reveal it over time. You can also blend 3D and 2D, by creating the ribbons as complete objects in 3D then bring those renders into AE where you unmask them over time with the AE masks.