Heat Vapors

[Todd Kopriva]

I’d use the Caustics effect and the Turbulent Noise effect. Basically, the Caustics effect’s result is to distort a layer (the Bottom layer) according to refractions through a fluid, with the characteristics of that fluid determined by the Surface layer. It’s usually used for water, but it also works for atmospheric distortions like heat haze.

I’d create a composition-sized solid-color layer and apply the Caustics effect to it.

I’d apply the Turbulent Noise effect to a different solid-color layer and then precompose that. Then I’d set the Caustics effect to use that precomposition layer as the Water Surface layer. To make the Turbulent Noise effect generate something like heat haze, I’d set the vertical scaling to something pretty high.

I’d set my footage layer (the footage that I was trying to distort with heat haze) as the Bottom layer.

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Todd Kopriva, Adobe Systems Incorporated
putting the ‘T’ back in ‘RTFM’ : After Effects Help on the Web
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[David Cervenka]

Thanks Todd! That definitely got me pointed in the right direction.

I ended up using the “CC Particle World” effect using the “Fire” animation preset and was able to achieve the effect I was looking for.

[David Bogie]

Great. And thanks for closing your thread with a workable solution, hardly anyone ever does that around here and it really gets on our nerves.

I would add, for the benefit of those searching for “heat distortion” that the topic comes up often and there have been many solutions offered.

I usually point toward additional research to distinguish between what most folks incorrectly assume is a blur effect and the reality which is that heat distortion is a light refraction effect caused by atmospheric discontinuities often caused by severe temperature gradients between adjacent air molecules.

And that natural phenomenon are sometimes difficult to simulate in AE.

bogiesan