Everything Else

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.

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: Create cartoon animation with After Effects

A lot of people use Flash for 2D cartoon animation, but Adobe After Effects is another great tool to create some very cool cartoon animation. This how to gives you a clear idea of the steps to take to use AE as a cartoon creation device. This short video tutorial will demonstrate how to properly export character animation from Flash and import it into After Effects to combine with background and foreground elements. It also gives a handy trick of how to duplicate a character animation clip to...

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...

How To: Add Kato-Vision to Your Movies with After Effects (As Seen in "The Green Hornet")

Pulp heroism rules! And everyone's favorite masked vigilante hits the big screen tomorrow night, thanks to fantastical filmmaker Michel Gondry and his new superhero movie, The Green Hornet.

How To: Recreate the Kick Ass title in Adobe After Effects

This tutorial uses a title screen from the Kick Ass trailer as its inspiration. Learn how many of the tools, functions and processes work within Adobe After Effects by completing this tutorial. You'll be an AE master by the time you're done.

How To: Use displacement mapping to create a stereoscopic animation in After Effects

This tutorial covers one of the basic attributes of Adobe After Effects - displacement mapping. You can use a displacement map to create a stereoscopic effect for your next animation. It's quite easy, and only requires a basic familiarity with the program.

How To: Create a 3-D stereoscopic rig entirely in Adobe After Effects

This tutorial shows you a great rigging tutorial you can use with Adobe After Effects. Create an animation or clip that looks like you've got stereoscoping rigging. This is an easy tutorial anyone familiar with the basics of Adobe After Effects will be able to do.

How To: Create a 3-D text effect in Adobe After Effects

This is an easy technique that even beginners can master. Start with some basic text, like a logo or a title, and then use a few simple techniques in Adobe After Effects to give it the look of 3-D animated text. Create a 3-D text effect in Adobe After Effects.

How To: Create a complex animation quickly in After Effects by using precomping

Start a complex animation that only has a few keyframes by using precomping! This is a simple yet powerful technique that can really open up your ability to get the most out of creating fun animations using Adobe After Effects.

How To: Composit realistic and effective shadows in Adobe After Effects

This is a quick and easy tutorial that shows you how to add better looking shadows to your projects in After Effects. The video takes two basic spheres and shows you how to alter Drop Shadow to make it look exactly how you want it.

How To: Use the Puppet Tool and DuIK Tools in After Effects

This is a quick little tutorial for someone who wants to learn how to do better puppetry or puppet effects in Adobe After Effects. Use the Puppet Tool and the DuIK Tools on your next animation project using inverse kinematics.

How To: Use the Falloff Lighting tutorial in After Effects to illuminate a corner

So you've mastered the basics of using the Falloff Lighting plugin for Adobe After Effects, and now you're ready for some of the more advanced concepts. This tutorial shows you how to illuminate an object in a corner using this plugin.

How To: Use the Camera Mapper function in After Effects

Camera mapper is a function in Adobe After Effects that lets you take a static, 2-D image and turn into a dynamic 3-D shot. Create a zoom feature and make it look like you have a camera panning through the picture!

How To: Use the Aged Film plugin for After Effects to give an antique feel to film

You can take a piece of completely modern digital footage and give it an aged, antique feel! You will need the Aged Film plugin for Adobe After Effects, which lets you create the sepia tone and flickering, variable speed look of antique film clips.

How To: Use the Depth Cue in Adobe After Effects

Upload your footage to Adobe After Effects (make sure it has been set to 3-D), and then apply the effects you want, such as fog. Then, you can use the Depth Cue setting to change the depth of your picture to really make it look 3-D.

How To: Make your film look like it was taken using a Super 8 in After Effects

Take a thoroughly modern clip of digital film, and then send it back in time! This tutorial shows you how to use the Aged Film plugin for Adobe After Effects to make your clip look like it comes stright from the 1970s.

How To: Create a dynamic, 3-D moving filmstrip in Adobe After Effects

Love the look of animated 35mm film? It can be tricky to really replicate this effect, but it's nevertheless possible. This tutorial shows you how to use Adobe After Effects to create your own clip of 3-D animated film footage.

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: Use the FreeForm plugin for Adobe After Effects to create a liquid pour effect

You can simulate the look of fluids using the FreeForm plugin for Adobe After Effects. Play around with the color, viscosity and opacity of your liquid, and animate a container filling up as well. This tutorial covers everything you'll need to know!

How To: Use displacement maps to create a staircase in Adobe After Effecs

This tutorial shows you how to take a 2-D image of a Persian rug and turn it into a fully 3-D staircase using the displacement mapper in Adobe After Effects. Displacement mapping is a versatile, helpful tool for any 3-D animator.

How To: Create a freeform terrain to fly over in Adobe After Effects

This tutorial shows you first how to create some basic outdoor terrain in Adobe After Effects. Then, create a camera effect which makes it look like your camera is slowly flying over the terrain using the FreeForm plugin for After Effects.

How To: Create retro-style motion graphics for a sweet 1960's look with After Effects

Yeah baby! That's right, 1960's, retro style motion graphics. You want em, you need em and this tutorial with Angie Taylor of Red Giant TV shows YOU how to get them by using PlaneSpace, Text Anarchy, Trapcode Echospace and Warp! Shagadelic baby! Create retro-style motion graphics for a sweet 1960's look with After Effects.

How To: Simulate handwriting in After Effects

Learn to animate text in Adobe After Effects CS3 with this video tutorial so that it looks like it is being handwritten. This video tutorial from Matthew Butler shows three different methods of animating in After Effects CS3, the techniques can also be used in CS4 and CS5.

How To: Track a simple object in After Effects

Learn the fundamentals of position tracking in After Effects in this informative 5 minute tutorial from Patrick Carter. This video lesson involves attaching a text object to a moving cowboy on screen to demonstrate the basic transform tracking function.

How To: Take B&W snapshots with the Hold & Resume Spy Photo preset in After Effects

Create an effect in your video where the video footage is converted to black & white, pauses, and resumes playback in regular color. This effect is demonstrated by Aharon Rabinowitz with Spy Photo, a brand new set of free presets for Adobe After Effects.

How To: Simulate snapshots in After Effects with free Spy Photo presets

Simulate the look of snapshots in your After Effects video footage with Spy Photo, a free set of presets that dynamically automate and generate the effect. This 17-minute tutorial from Aharon Rabinowitz of All Bets Are Off demonstrates the features of this cool new addition, which includes camera sound effects and viewfinder overlays.

How To: Create slick floor reflections for crowds of people in After Effects

Create simple reflections in Adobe After Effects with keyed footage. In this video tutorial, Aharon Rabinowitz of All Bets Are Off demonstrates its use with video footage of both crowd and individuals. In addition, some potential issues with Collapse Transformations are also addressed.