Ocean glitter effect

Adobe After Effects

Ocean glitter effect

Posted by Steven Probets on October 23, 2012 at 11:22 am

Hi All,

I have a still image of a ship on water. I want to make the ocean glitter and shimmer as if it was moving. But not so much it is obvious (as the ship will always be still).

Any advice what effects to use?

Thanks

Hannes Seth replied 2 weeks, 4 days ago 6 Members · 6 Replies
6 Replies

Tudor “ted” jelescu
October 23, 2012 at 11:55 am

You could use a Fractal Noise (animated) layer as a displacement map to displace just the water area. You can use the same layer (duplicated) with the Levels crushed (to see highlights only) and Glow applied to it, comped on top with a Add or Screen transfer mode.
Another way would be to use FreeForm Pro to generate water using the AquaPack:
https://www.mettle.com/aqua-pack/

Tudor “Ted” Jelescu
Senior VFX Artist
Vishesh Arora
October 23, 2012 at 12:40 pm

Steven

Using Fractal noise as Displacement Map is a good and easy way to do this effect.

here are some tutorials which will help you:

https://www.videocopilot.net/tutorials/3d_ocean/

https://www.videocopilot.net/tutorials/3d_reflections_with_refractions/

Vishesh Arora
3D and Motion Graphics Artist
Films Rajendra

Blog:
https://digieffects.wordpress.com

Demo Reel(3D):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHPgIJU_BR8
Erik Waluska
October 23, 2012 at 3:48 pm

Here’s a free template that I put together that simulates water using the standard built in effects in AE and is great for still images. It simulates waves, not the glitter from the sunlight but you may still find it useful.
PseudoNami Water Simulation Template

-E
Stuart Paciej
October 24, 2012 at 9:06 am

[Tudor "Ted" Jelescu] “You can use the same layer (duplicated) with the Levels crushed (to see highlights only) and Glow applied to it,”

Agree with everything people are saying here, my 2 cents would be to do the fractal noise and if you have the ‘Optical Flares’ plugin you can set this to luminance mode and play with the threshold, this will flare wherever the ‘water’ is brightest. With a subtle scaled down flare to give a shimmer this should look cool.
Steven Probets
October 25, 2012 at 7:38 pm

Thanks everyone, I think I’ll explore all the options mentioned. Thanks again 🙂
Hannes Seth
May 19, 2026 at 8:17 pm

I’m a little bit late to the party, but I just released a free Water Sparkle Preset for After Effects, that gives you a sparkling ocean: https://hannesseth.gumroad.com/l/zeyecg

hannesseth.gumroad.com
free Water Sparkles Preset v0.7 for After Effects
It's finally here: The Water Sparkles Preset v0.7 for After Effects.To install, simply drag the preset onto your Effects and Presets panel.Or copy it to:(WIN) Your App FolderAdobeAdobe After Effects 20XXSupport FilesPresets(MAC) ApplicationsAdobe After Effects 20XXPresets

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