After Effects Tutorials

This is a video tutorial for Adobe After Effects I found on StumbleUpon that teaches you how to create a video like that used in the iPod Nano commercial.

http://ayrshire.creativecow.net/articles/kramer_andrew/nano/index.htm

Hi All,

If anyone is familiar with After Effects and believes they can write quality tutorials for other visitors, please contact me at “admin (at) animation-software-tutorials.com”

Thanks,
Admin

A Displacement Map effect changes the position (displaces) of pixels either horizontally or vertically or both, based upon the grey-scale or luma values in a separate reference layer.

Original (left), Displacement Map (background) applied (right)

Using a displacement map

- Create a new Composition and place a still image or your movie footage onto a layer. (I created a new white solid with a circle mask applied. I then added Effect/ Generate/ Ramp to the white solid and made the start color red and the end color yellow)

- On another layer place footage or image that will act as the displacement map. It would be good to make it grey-scale so you can see how it is effecting your main footage when the effect is applied. (I created a new white solid the size of the composition, then added an Animation Preset to the white solid. Find the Effects & Presets window and click in the arrow in the top right corner of the window and choose Browse Presets. This will open up Adobe Bridge (which could take a second or two) Now just find an animation that you like, I chose Smoke Rising ffx. I then double clicked the effect to add it to my solid)
Continue reading ‘Displacement Map Effect Tutorial (After Effects 7)’

Usually when you’re keying blue or green screen you really only want one particular subject or object on screen and the rest of the background is redundant. So you usually create a rough matte or mask around that subject restricting the area to only where the action that you want is taking place. We call this a garbage matte. This garbage matte also limits the area of background key color (blue/ green) and allows for a more precise key.

You can do this manually, but a really quick and precise way to achieve a great garbage matte is using Auto Trace function.
Continue reading ‘Quick & Easy Garbage Matte Tutorial with Auto Trace (After Effects 7)’

The Difference Matte effect creates a transparency a mask or a matte by comparing the pixels in a source layer with the pixel in a defined difference layer, and then keying out (eliminating) pixels in the source layer that match both the position and color in the difference layer. It is usually used to key out a static background behind a moving object, which is then placed on a different background. So this effect works the difference layer is simply a frame of background footage (a still plate before any action or person is in the scene). For this reason, the Difference Matte Key is best used for scenes that have been shot with a stationary camera and lighting conditions that do not change. Because of the nature of this effect, and the inherent motion blur of moving objects, the end result can often look quite trashy.

Original (left), Matte Only view of keyed-out subject (center), and composite of subject with new background (right)

Using the difference matte

- Create a new Composition and place you movie footage onto a layer.
- Select that movie footage and find a frame that consists only of the background. Save/ export that background as a still image file and re-import it back into the composition. Alternatively use After Effect 7’s new freeze frame feature Time/Freeze Frame as a separate layer. Make sure the duration is at least as long as you original source movie file where you want the effects to take place.
Continue reading ‘Difference Matte Effect Tutorial (After Effects 7)’

So using Animate a stroke path tutorial as our starting point. We will now look at adding echo effects.

- Create New Composition and create a new solid.
- Add a bezier path to the solid (this is the path that your stroke will follow) and add Stroke Effect to the solid.
Continue reading ‘Using Echo on animated stroke path tutorial’

After you get the hang of this technique, it can be used for all types of write-on and playful effects.

- Create a new composition to your desired dimensions and duration (Composition/New Composition)
- Create a new solid the same as comp size, color is not important (Layer/New/Solid)
- Select the pen tool from the toolbar menu at top.
Continue reading ‘Animate a stroke path tutorial’

Great walkthrough of the new interface of AE7 by John Dickinson:

After Effects 7 has introduced us to a brand new unified interface. In this video tutorial, CreativeCOW leader, John Dickinson demonstrates how to navigate that interface.

Click here to launch the videoÂ

Use Tilda - this symbol “~” right next to the number 1 keystroke to the left. When you have your mouse cursor over a panel in After Effects and hit “~” it will maximaize that panel to fullscreen, perfect to get the space you need to make any adjustments. Then if you just hit “~” again you will jump back to the panel layout you were working on previously. Try it.

When you open After Effects 7.0 right up, there’s no need to search for what’s new because it will be very apparent. The interface has changed
dramatically so we’ll start there.

New Interface

Overall a more cohesive interface. Window panels are scalable relative to other panels. Much more similar to professional editing software interface. Consistent toolbar runs along the top. Multiple view for when working in 3D. Easy drag and drop panel management.

Continue reading ‘New in After Effects 7.0′