Hot After Effects How-Tos
How To: Create a demon face warp effect in After Effects
To bring demons back from the dead is tricky business, and what you need to do is get some candles, a blanket, and a book of spells. Also, possibly some snacks in case you do bring those demons into the living world, because they're going to be hungry, and you don't want them to eat you, do you? And where you need to go is a graveyard, and you have to go at night. Also, bring a friend, because dying alone is horrible, if it comes to that.
How To: Avoid the wobbly keyframe in After Effects
Nick Campbell shows us how to avoid the wobbly keyframe in After Effects. When you are animating logos and want them to come onto the screen, stop for a few seconds, and then continue off the screen. To fix it, highlight your key frames and then right click on "keyframe interpolation". Now, where it says "temporal interpolation" click to make it say "linear" next to it. Save this change and now the wobbly effect should have gone away. This can come up in a number of different moves, no matter...
How To: Create a smoldering text effect in Adobe After Effects
Looking for something dynamic and new for your After Effects work? In this clip, you'll see how to have elements come together in smokey bits again with no third party 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 ins...
How To: Create fog and clouds in After Effects CS4 or CS5
This clip covers an easy method for creating semi-realistic fog inside of After Effects with nothing but a Photoshop document! 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 a gradient wipe effect in Premiere Pro CS4/CS5
Learn how to create an eye-catching gradient wipe transition effect within Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 or CS5. Whether you're new to Adobe's popular non-linear editor 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 a 1980s retro video game look in After Effects
In this clip, Aharon Rabinowitz walks you through the process of creating the look of a vector style arcade game from the early 1980's. He'll use PlaneSpace, Particular, & Text Anarchy, as well as expressions and other techniques. 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 ...
How To: Create a retro sci-fi title animation in After Effects
In this 2 part video tutorial, Eran Stern shows you the first step to create a retro design title animation for a fictional sci-fi movie.
How To: Animate growing vines in After Effects CS5
Learn how to use After Effects CS5 to create a simple growing vine animation. 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 CS5's new features, you're sure to be well served by this video tutorial. For more information, and to get started using this neat effect in your own AE projects, watch this free video guide.
How To: Use 3D Stroke in Adobe After Effects
After Effects is one of the best digital motion graphics software programs out there. Learn it. Now.
How To: Warp, deform, & explode 3D text in After Affects
In this Boris FX video tutorial we show you how to employ the power of vertex shaders to warp, deform and even explode 3D extruded text using Adobe After Effects and the new 3D Objects from Boris Continuum Complete 6 AE.
How To: Create masks w/ find edges & auto-trace After Effects
In this video tutorial, CreativeCOW contributing editor, Nelson Fernandes demonstrates a method to obtain a quick and dirty mask using the find edges effect combined with the auto-trace feature.
How To: Create the Droste Effect with Adobe After Effects
In this tutorial, Creative Cow contributing editor Carl Larsen shows you how to use the Pixel Bender Toolkit to create a recursive image set in Adobe After Effects CS4.
How To: Edit the animation path 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 Trapcode Echospace After Effects plugin
This software tutorial shows you how to use Trapcode Echospace, an After Effects plug-in. Trapcode Echospace speeds and automates the creation of sophisticated 3D layer effects in Adobe After Effects. Layer iterations can be controlled as a group or individually for sophisticated 'house-of-cards' or 'Cover Flow'-style animations. If you are unfamiliar with Echospace, this After Effects tutorial will get you started. Use Trapcode Echospace After Effects plugin.
How To: Create custom particles in Particular in After Effects
This software tutorial shows you how to create custom particles in Trapcode Particular plug-in for After Effects. Learn how any object can be used to create particles with the Particular plug-in in this After Effects tutorial. Create custom particles in Particular in After Effects.
How To: Use the XML project file format in After Effects CS4
After Effects CS4 allows you to save any After Effects project in an editable text format known as XML. This tutorial will show you how to use the XML file format to modify and dynamically update an After Effects project without having to run the After Effects CS4 application. Using XML format After Effects files is a great way to save time and maintain flexibility by using a simple text editor to make changes. Use the XML project file format in After Effects CS4.
How To: Animate highlights in After Effects
Sometimes you don't always get perfect lighting when shooting an object or scene. If you need more highlights to define your objects, this After Effects tutorial can help. Learn how to create animated highlights to position over an image, logo, or entire video clip in After Effects CS3. This tutorial is best viewed full screen.
How To: Create realistic animated smoke in After Effects
This video editing software tutorial shows you how to create animated smoke in After Effects. You will learn how to create authentic smoke for any special effects purpose such as fires and action sequences. See how you can use After Effects CS3 filters to create animated smoke. The tutorial is best viewed full screen and you will need Particle Playground plug-in.
How To: Create snow, rain and weather effects in After Effects
It doesn't matter what type of weather it is outside when you shoot your film footage. Why not? Because you have After Effects! In this After Effects tutorial you will learn how to add precipitation and raindrop effects to your footage. Make it snow, rain and more with this After Effects CS3 tutorial.
How To: Create the Matrix raining code effect in After Effects
This Adobe After Effects tutorial shows you how to create the Matrix raining code text effect. Learn how to use this motion graphics and 2D effects compositing software and the automation options available to easily create a Matrix raining code effect in After Effects.
How To: Scrub audio in After Effects & more
Take a look at this instructional video and learn how to scrub the audio with the program After Effects. You can go about performing this by simply holding the command key and scrubbing the timeline, then that will scrub the audio and render the video. If you hold the option key and scrub nothing will be rendered. But if you hold both the command and the option keys, no video will be rendered but you can scrub through the audio without waiting for the video to render.
How To: Create the Smallville effect in After Effects
This video will show you how to create the Smallville effect in After Effects. He doesn't talk, so if you see new items show up on the timeline, it's him hitting CTRL-D and duplicating the selected item. Also, some areas where it's repetitive are sped up.
How To: Create a custom wave form in After Effects
In the first part of this After Effects tutorial, Aharon Rabinowitz shows you how to create a customized, sound-reactive waveform using a stroke, a distortion effect and an expression. One reason you may want to do this is if you need a rounded wave (ie: a sine wave). Once you have your rounded wave, part two shows you how to improve the look of the customized waveform by changing it's amplitude Create a custom wave form in After Effects - Part 1 of 2.
How To: Make extruded shapes emit from Particular
Here is a simple way to make an extruded shape emit from Trapcode Particular. Particular is a particle plug-in for After Effects and this two video tutorial will show you how to create and then use 3D stars with Particular. It's a simple example, but the creative possibilities are great.
How To: Fix videos imported with the wrong frame rate into AE
Aharon Rabinowitz discusses one of the most common After Effects mistakes: importing image sequences at the wrong frame rate. Of course, he tells you the effects and solutions to fix the problem. Fix videos imported with the wrong frame rate into AE.
How To: Make a first-person binocular effect in After Effects
In this quirky tutorial you'll learn how to make it appear that a person is looking through a pair of binoculars or through a rifle scope using After Effects 7.0. Make a first-person binocular effect in After Effects.
How To: Animate the camera with expressions in After Effects
Animating a Camera: Tracking to a Null Object. Rick Gerard presents a five minute tutorial movie as the first in a series that teaches basic After Effects Camera animation. In this first example you'll learn how to simplify animating a camera over a still image and how to control where the camera is looking by tracking the movement of a null with a simple expression. Animate the camera with expressions in 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: 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.
How To: Disintegrate Objects at Super Speed (You Will Need: Sandpaper & After Effects)
Largely self-taught, Ryan John Kothe is an animator working out of Auckland, New Zealand. After picking up some rudimentary After Effects skills, he went on to create an impressive portfolio of beautifully rendered stop-motion animations with a distinctly tactile feel. Curious about the process behind Worn Out—Ryan's depiction of objects disintegrating in fast-forward (shown below)—we contacted him for a brief Q&A on the techniques behind his work.
How To: Create the Death Eater effect from the Harry Potter movies
You can create the magical world of Harry Potter yourself, using After Effects software. Watch these videos and learn how to make the "Death Eater" effect from the Harry Potter movies. Using After Effects, you can have the same incredible SFX as these Hollywood blockbusters.
How To: Use the Twixtor Pro plug-in to create slow motion in After Effects
This tutorial demonstrates how Twixtor Pro can be used to create slow motion special effects when editing video in After Effects. Learn beginner to intermediate VFX, specifically slowing down footage shot at a very high shutter speed. Twixtor allows the user to manage blur and warping when creating a slow motion effect.
How To: Make a 3D holographic iPhone in After Effects
Learn how to create a video of holographic images appearing from an iPhone, using video footage and After Effects software. The basic elements used here are the built-in motion tracker (although you can also use the Mocha tracker bundled with CS4) and creating icons within After Effects with simple partially-transparent solids.
How To: Loop still images to fake a 3-dimensional movement over a surface
In this tutorial, After Effects is used in actual realtime to create a video comp that simulates a forward three-dimensional movement. Several images are arranged into a layered, three-dimensional composition, and a single image is tiled into a surface pattern that is offset tilted and scrolled forward indefinitely. Several additional elements are also mentioned to add realism and depth to the forward scrolling movement, including foreground elements, background images, camera shake, camera p...