Which effects to learn in After Effects and what plug-ins?

[Aharon Rabinowitz]

Happy Holidays.

That question so loaded, it’s impossible to answer.

If you want to learn to do specific effects you’ve seen in commercials or tv or movies, you can ask about those effects here, and maybe we can help you figure out what effects YOU need to learn to recreate the look and feel of what you saw. In the process, hopefully you’ll learn how to do more than just that effect.

If you already have an AE foundation (that is, you know the interface and have a basic idea about animation) the best thing I can tell you is to take a look at the tons of written tutorials and hours and hours of video training available here at the cow.

Aharon Rabinowitz
Email: arabinowitz (AT) yahoo (DOT) com
All Bets Are Off Productions, Inc.
Creative Cow After Effect Podcast
Internet Killed the Video Star: A Guide to Creating Video for the Web

[Joe Moya]

Well… for starters… AE is not a software that you can easily say what you should learn and what you should not learn.

AE is a software that is difficult to learn and impossible to master only because it has so many options and powerful aspects.

The only way to begin learning AE is to start using AE… looking at the many hours of available free tutorials is a good place to start once you have learned the basics. For learning the basics, I would suggest you buy any of the many tutorials you can find with a simple google search.

Upgrading may be a good decision, but learning with 6.5 will be a good place to start. And, after you got a good handle on the basic use of AE you might consider upgrading. On the otherhand, starting with CS3 will provide you with the capacity to learn the basics with the most current application and the additional capabilities that CS3 provides.
Either direction, you will only begin to understand what is the important aspects about AE when you start to experiment and make many frustrating mistakes.

Good luck.

Joe

[Edward Glasheen]

Aharon,

I am a big fan of your tutorials. Any chance on a podcast or demo movie on the integration of Wondertouch Particle system and After Effects? I am at a crossroad between Motion and After Effects and would like to just go with one software. I find Trapcode Particular limited, and it’s a hassle always going back and forth with Motion and After Effects. I herd that Wondertouch was working on a plugin for After Effects, so I am curious about the integration with After Effects and Wondertouch.

Thanks, Ed

[Tim Wilson]

Aharon made a wonderful DVD on the integration of particleIllusion and After Effects, called particleIllusionFusion, as part of the Creative Cow Master Series. As you’d expect, it’s fast, thorough, and very funny along the way.

Tim

[Edward Glasheen]

Yeah I saw that. Wish there was a demo movie? I am curious about how well the integration is between Wondertouch and After Effects. I read that you can pass off tracking data?
Ed

[Tyler Paul]

It is a very loaded question but I’ll run through and tell you my favorites and most used.

Blur and Sharpen
——————–

CC radial fast blur – great for volumetric lights.

fast blur – generic blur

unsharp mask – great for sharpening footage

Channel
———-
Set Matte – It sets a matte based on a certain layer and it’s properties (ie luminance, it’s alpha, its red channel, etc) There are other ways to set mattes (track matte) but I prefer using the same way every time. I also often use this effect with alpha levels for a much nicer luma key.

Color Correction
———————-

Levels – straight forward levels control with Histogram

Curves – color correction using curves (you can make your darks lighter without touching the lighter tones or make your light tones lighter and your dark tones darker using simple curves on a graph)

Displacement
————–

bulge – a bulge

displacement map – displaces pixels based on color channel, luminance, alpha channel, etc. Can create a face in a puff of smoke or the invisible man.

turbulent displace – random warping

Generate
———

grid – produces a grid

lens flare – lens flare

ramp/four color gradient – create simple gradients

stroke – generate a stroke based on your masks. I use it most often for revealing elements like growing vines.

Keying
——-
I’m just gonna skip this one on account that they all sucks. (well not really but there’s no real advice I can give on it)

Noise and Grain
—————–
Fractal Noise – Most used. Learn it. Use it. Have fun.

Perspective
————–

Bevel Alpha – By stacking layers on top of each other you can create 3D text. I usually apply bevel alpha to each layer to produce shading around the edges.

CC Sphere – generates a ‘3D’ sphere.

CC Radial Shadow – a realistic drop shadow. Not always the better than the regular drop shadow for graphics but it’s always the first effect I try

Simulation
———–

Caustics – MY FAVORITE! Designed for water reflections/refractions but can be used to make 2D layers react to light as if they were actually 3D. (find the depth map of a brain in Google images and apply caustics and some coloring and it looks like a REAL brain that reacts correctly with light) Make solid glass objects. Have objects reflect their surroundings. Give objects a more realistic shine. Very powerful. USE CAUSTICS WITH THE SET MATTE EFFECT! Caustics doesn’t incorporate the alpha channel into the final result.

Stylize
———

CC Glass – Gives your element a smooth 3D look with simulated spectral lighting. Fractal noise looks like a thick goo.

Glow – Glow effect

time
——–

CC Force Motion Blur – AE’s built in motion blur doesn’t always seem to to work. Maybe I forget to turn it on in the comp, maybe it’s another setting problem. Whatever, I just jump to CC Force Motion Blur and all is good.

Echo – creates trails

Timewarp – Again, AE has built in Pixel Motion and Frame blending but I immediately go to Timewarp for my speeding up and slowing down of footage.

They’re not the only effects I use but seem to come up most often. The beauty of After Effects is thinking of clever ways of making the effects work together.