• Adobe After Effects

  How to do this cool edge effect

  Posted by Spencer Watson on May 27, 2011 at 9:55 pm

  I’m struggling to find a good name or even description for this effect, but I’ve seen it in several movies and shows. The last place I saw it was in “Advantage” (AKA Advantage Satan), a horror short currently playing on IFC. Towards the end when they show these creepy kids in white, you can see their shoulders and hair are wavy and distorted, but moving in an upwards directing, almost like white fire, or like they’re steaming or evaporating slightly. And I don’t think it’s just an overlayed animation, since it distorts their fabric and hair as it moves/ripples/whatever.

  I’ve seen this effect applied to glowing eyes as well in cheap sci-fi shows.

  Does anyone know what this is called, or how I might go about figuring it out?

  Thanks!

  Spencer Watson replied 15 years, 4 months ago 61,654 Members · 1 Reply
• 1 Reply

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  Spencer Watson

  May 27, 2011 at 10:20 pm

  Thanks for the links. From those I guess I’m looking at needing animated displacement maps key framed to the edges of my subject. This would give me the motion I need, but would it be able to warp and distort the edges enough to give the shape of fire or steam?

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