Hot After Effects How-Tos
How To: Create a peel-away vortex transition in After Effects
In this clip, Aharon Rabinowitz shows you how to create a fun peel-away vortex transition for text and other elements. Whether you're new to Adobe's popular motion graphics and compositing software or a seasoned video professional just looking to better acquaint yourself with the program and its various features and filters, you're sure to be well served by this video tutorial. For more information, including detailed, step-by-step instructions, watch this free video guide. Create a peel-away...
How To: Create a twinkling star effect in Adobe After Effects
This is a great background for Christmas plays, holiday pageants or any other video you want to add a little twinkle! You can add a twinkling star quite easily in Adobe After Effects, and this tutorial shows you exactly how!
How To: Make a pulse or pulsating wave effect in After Effects
Making really attractive titles for your films is just one of the way that you can dramatically improve them using After Effects. This video will help you make them by showing you how to create a pulse or pulsating wave effect from whence your titles can emerge. They look great, and will make your movie (especially horror or sci-fi movie) look much more professional right from the beginning.
How To: Motion track using a variety of software programs
Most of the 3D modeling tutorial videos out there work within one program or at most two, often Photoshop in conjunction with a 3D modeling program like Maya. This video will walk you through a complete project using four program: 3DS MAX for modeling, Boujou for 3D tracking, Photoshop for texture editing, and finally After Effects for compositing. If you have all of those programs and want to create a seriously good-looking image, look no further.
How To: Create a "running lights" effect in After Effects
This tutorial shows you how to make a vegas style sign where lightbulbs turn on and off in sequence around the outside of a shape. Using simple photoshop files, create an animated billboard of a T. Create a "running lights" effect in After Effects.
How To: Make abstract waves in After Effects with the Trapcode Form plug-in
Creating an abstract wave effect in After Effects will allow you to make graphics like those in the thumbnail, basically clouds of particles with that smokey / silky effect like they used in James Bond titles. This video will show you how to make this effect yourself in After Effects in two parts. Apply this technique to your titles and they should be much, much sexier.
How To: Use FreeForm to simulate flowing cloth or ribbon in After Effects
You can use the FreeForm plugin to create the look of cloth blowing in the wind - like an animated ribbon, or a banner waving in the wind. The key is in designing the displacement map to get a truly realistic effect.
How To: Give your architectural renderings a film look in After Effects
This tutorial shows you how to take your architectural renderings in Adobe After Effects and give them a 35mm film look. Even better, this tutorial uses only the basic program - no plugins or extra add ons to worry about.
How To: Loop particles with Trapcode Particular & Starglow in Adobe After Effects
In this video tutorial, you'll learn how to create a seamlessly looping particle system within Adobe After Effects with Trapcode Particular and Starglow. For all of the specifics, and to get started using this effect in your own projects, take a look! Loop particles with Trapcode Particular & Starglow in Adobe After Effects.
How To: Create a Star Trek-style transporter effect in Adobe After Effects
In this clip, you'll learn how to use the Key Correct Pro, Knoll Light Factory Pro, Magic Bullet Looks and Trapcode Particular plug-ins in Adobe After Effects to create a sci-fi transformer effect. Whether you're new to Adobe's popular motion graphics and compositing software or a seasoned video professional just looking to better acquaint yourself with the program and its various features and filters, you're sure to be well served by this video tutorial. For more information, including detai...
How To: Create a simple scrolling LED display in After Effects
This simple After Effects tutorial from Laurence Grayson will show you how to use CC Ball Action effect in AE to create a realistic scrolling LED signboard effect, like the ones you see at conference centers and football stadiums. Then end result can be altered to suit your project, and corner-pinned into a scene. There are no plug-ins required, and this method uses the standard toolset in CS3, CS4, and CS5.
How To: Create and use blur effects in Adobe After Effects
This clip presents quick introduction to using blurs in After Effects and Fusion 5. Whether you're new to Adobe's popular motion graphics and compositing software or a seasoned video professional just looking to better acquaint yourself with the program and its various features and filters, you're sure to be well served by this video tutorial. For more information, including detailed, step-by-step instructions, watch this free video guide.
How To: Create light wrapping and edge blurs in After Effects
This quick AE user's guide presents a lesson in light wrapping and edge blurs in After Effects. Whether you're new to Adobe's popular motion graphics and compositing software or a seasoned video professional just looking to better acquaint yourself with the program and its various features and filters, you're sure to be well served by this video tutorial. For more information, including detailed, step-by-step instructions, watch this free video guide.
How To: Work with 32-bit floating images in After Effects
In this tutorial, you'll learn how to work with 32 bit float images in 32 bpc mode in After Effects. Whether you're new to Adobe's popular motion graphics and compositing software or a seasoned video professional just looking to better acquaint yourself with the program and its various features and filters, you're sure to be well served by this video tutorial. For more information, including detailed, step-by-step instructions, watch this free video guide.
How To: Animate 3D text from Cinema 4D in Adobe After Effects
This clip covers how to use Adobe After Effects to animate 3D text generated in MAXON C4D. Whether you're new to MAXON's popular 3D modeling application or are just looking to get better acquainted with Cinema 4D and its various features and functions, you're sure to enjoy this free video software tutorial. For more information, and to get started using this trick in your own Cinema 4D projects, watch this 3D modeler's guide.
How To: Stroke keylights in Adobe After Effects CS4 or CS5
This quick After Effects video tip will show you how to stroke a bitmap using Keylight and Solid Composite. Whether you're new to Adobe's popular vector editor or a seasoned graphic arts professional just looking to better acquaint yourself with the program and its various features and filters, you're sure to be well served by this video tutorial. For more information, including detailed, step-by-step instructions, watch this free video guide.
How To: Make an eye glowing effect in Adobe After Effects
What every indie filmmaker needs is a little program called After Effects. After effects does wonders for any film requiring a little special effects that would normally be too expensive to make "real". Like this glowing eye effect. See how to make an eye glowing effect in Adobe After Effects.
How To: Use the RG Warp Corner Pin in Adobe After Affects
In this video tutorial, Eran Stern shows you a technique to enhance your tracking and compositing results by using Mocha AE and RG Warp Corner Pin plug-in.
How To: Create a 3D RG warp shadow with Adobe After Effects
In this video tutorial, Eran Stern demonstrate the creation of 3D shadows with After Effects built-in filters and compares it to the functions of RG shadow plug-in.
How To: Use the Adobe After Effects shattering effect
Using After Effects’ Shatter Effect to simulate a baseball going through a glass pane. For more Adobe software tutorials from Layers Magazine, search Layers Magazine on WonderHowTo. WonderHowTo indexes all Layers Magazine tutorials for Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop, Acrobat, After Effects, Premiere Pro, Dreamweaver and Flash.
How To: Animate scale in Adobe After Effects
Get started using Adobe After Effects with the help of The New Boston! This beginner's tutorial is bound to answer the many questions you have about the popular digital motion graphics and compositing software. The main purpose of After Effects is for film and video post-production.
How To: Use Radium Glow plugin in After Effects
This software tutorial shows you how to use the Radium Glow plug-in for After Effects. Radium Glow is also available for Final Cut Pro, Premiere Pro and more. Don't settle for glow effects that are just a blur. Radium Glow simulates the way real light behaves, giving you ultra-realistic glimmers and glows. If you've never used Radium Glow, get started with this tutorial.
How To: Get started with Trapcode Lux After Effects plugin
Lux is an After Effects plug-in that simulates the "visible light" phenomenon of light in a dark or foggy environment. Use Lux to create incredibly realistic visible light sources for spotlights, flashlights, headlights, or stage lighting of all kinds within After Effects. This tutorial will show you how to get started with Trapcode Lux in After Effects. Get started with Trapcode Lux After Effects plugin.
How To: Import images with transparency into After Effects
In this software tutorial you will learn how to manipulate images in Photoshop to remove the background and then bring that transparent background image into After Effects without loosing the transparency. The Photoshop section covers the use of the Magnetic Lasso tool and Quick Mask to remove a background. With the image adjusted, you will learn how to import your new image into After Effects with preserved transparency.
How To: Use the remove color matting effect in After Effects
In this After Effects tutorial, Creative Cow leader Aharon Rabinowitz adds to the concepts he covered in his tutorial Straight Vs. Premultiplied and explains how to use the remove color matting effect to fix a bad composite in After Effects. Use the remove color matting effect in After Effects.
How To: Use Show Audio Waveform in After Effects
CreativeCow leader Aharon Rabinowitz returns to the subject of "Audio in After Effects" and shares a quick tip for working with audio waveforms. Use Show Audio Waveform in After Effects.
How To: Create a shotgun blast using 3ds Max and After Effects
In this 2 part tutorial, Michael Park will demonstrate how to create a shotgun blast at the camera using 3D rendered particles and distortion trails along with some 2D footage to create a convincing effect. In part 1 of this tutorial, we will use 3ds Max to create the 3D shotgun pellet geometry and material, as well as the distortion trails to be later used in the After Effects composition. In part two Michael will add the 3D footage together with 2D footage in After effects and use different...
How To: Convert video to cartoon in After Effects
In this three part tutorial Creative Cow leader Aharon Rabinowitz explains the process of converting video to cartoon by using only After Effects and Adobe Illustrator CS2. Even if you don't want to create this exact effect, this tutorial covers a TON of basics and is a worthwile learning experience. Topics discussed: Dealing with interlaced footage, Basic Color and Image Correction, Creative Outlines, rendering an image sequence, using layer blending/transfer modes, Motion Tracking, Hold Key...
How To: Create multi-color gradient ramps in After Effects
In this tutorial, Creative Cow Leader Aharon Rabinowitz shows you how to create simple and complex multicolored gradient ramps in After Effects. No need to open Photoshop just to do your ramps ever again! Create multi-color gradient ramps in After Effects.
How To: Control the camera point of interest in After Effects
Expressing the camera: animating along a path. Rick Gerard presents a five minute tutorial movie as the second in a series that teaches basic After Effects Camera animation. In this example you'll learn how to simplify animating a camera over a still image and how to orient the camera along a path using expressions to gain complete control. Control the camera point of interest in After Effects.
How To: Turn A Flat 2D Image into 3D
In this short tutorial i will show you how you can turn a flat 2D image of a room or hallway into a 3D Room using Vanishing points in Photoshop and After Effects.
How To: Smash Someone into a Million Pieces in After Effects and 3ds Max
Ever wanted to freeze someone, then smash them into a million pieces? Here is your chance! If you've got Adobe After Effects and Autodesk 3ds Max, it's pretty easy. Check out the tutorial video below to see how it's done.
How To: Create Your Own Portals (Like in the Game) Using Adobe After Effects
We've already seen how to levitate a Companion Cube using a Portal gun—now we're going to show you how to shoot your own portals! The guys at MobiusLOL give you an overview of how they created their Portal-inspired short film, "Experimental Portal Device".
How To: Create a Walking Dead Like Post-Apocalyptic World Using Time-Lapse Footage
Zombies. That's the first thing that comes to mind when I see footage of a once heavily populated area turned completely desolate. Either that or you stumbled across a Ke$ha concert...BURN.
How To: Use After Effects to stabilize a shaky video recording
We don't always have a tripod handy when we need to grab some footage for our latest video project, but shaky footage can ruin an otherwise great video. Thankfully, After Effects has a 'stabilize motion' tool that you can apply to your recording to prevent headaches brought on by a shaky camera.
How To: Create a lightning bolt effect using After Effects and the Trapcode Suite
The Trapcode suite is a set of plug-ins for After Effects that allow video artists to create a variety of effects for inclusion in video and film productions. This particular guide demonstrates the power of Trapcode Particular and Trapcode 3D Stroke. Specifically, Wes Ball from OddBall Animation reveals how Trapcode was used in the creation of 'Eye of the Storm' - a music video by Lovett which can be seen here.
How To: Use Magic Bullet Looks for color correction in After Effects
This is your video guide to the Magic Bullet Looks plugin in for Adobe After Effects. If you are looking for a color correction tool, check out this video to see what Magic Bullet Looks has to offer. Learn how to use this color correction tool.
How To: Use green screen in After Effects
Into special FX? Check out this video for a lesson in green screen. Watch and learn how to use green screen in After Effects. You can use green screen to make incredible visual effects for your videos and short films.
How To: Create your own Presets in Adobe After Effects
Make your job a little easier by setting presets in After Effects. This will allow you to save time while you add visual effects to your film. Having custom presets makes it much simpler to achieve consistency is your VFX.
How To: Change the language to English in After Effects
Have you got a copy of After Effects installed with the language set to another language? Check out this helpful video to learn how to set the language English, whatever the current language is. Maybe your film is in French, but that doesn't mean your visual effects software has to be.