AE.TUTSPLUS.COM - Video Tutorials for Adobe After Effects (Vol.3)

Satya has done it again. He's managed to re-wire and re-invent tools that we've had for a long time to create what would normally only be possible with third party plugins. For all of you that ask for tutorials that only use built-in plugins, this one is for you. Satya has even created a free preset so you don't have to re-create the effect from scratch every time.

Wikipedia defines Bullet Time as a digitally enhanced simulation of variable speed (i.e. slow motion, time-lapse…) photography used in films, broadcast advertisements and computer games. It is characterized both by its extreme transformation of time (slow enough to show normally imperceptible and un-filmable events, such as flying bullets) and space (by way of the ability of the camera angle—the audience's point-of-view—to move around the scene at a normal speed while events are slowed). The first movie credited with this effect is Blade, but it was the Matrix that really made it famous.
In this tutorial, Wes shows us how to use the built-in Shatter plugin to achieve "Bullet Time" with type or a logo.

Adam brings back his charm in this tutorial that is all about the rarely used Wave World plugin. You will learn all the ins and outs about this plugin that can even do 3D!

This tutorial gives a different twist on how to use the powerful form plugin. Learn how to use it to create a mysterious and electric type reveal.

We get a lot of requests for tutorials that don't require 3rd party plugins, and since we like to make our readers happy whenever possible, Adam is back breaking down the rarely used "CC Ball Action" built-in plugin to make some very cool type transitions.

Good horror isn't about over the top effects. Its about using effects and colour correction to create a constant and un-nerving sense of fear, suspense and terror as part of an imaginative and horrifyingly well directed film. In this first part James will teach how to create 2 scenes. First how to take a shot of a mansion and give it an intense and scary look through sky replacement and colour correction. Second we will take a shot of a stone gargoyle face and create a subtle yet creepy effect in which it frowns evilly at an oncoming victim. Be afraid...be very afraid.

The secret to making motion graphics look sexy and less digital is to borrow some tips from the cinematic production world. Simon breaks down a bunch of tips including how to build your own light leaks and film scratches! The tricks learned in this tutorial can be applied to any motion graphics piece.

Wes Kandel is back to show us how to combine geometric shapes made in Illustrator and then imported and animated in After Effects to create his very cool Geometrika piece.

We are very happy to welcome AE legend Maltaanon to the Aetuts+ family. Maltaanon kicks things off with this tutorial that makes very clever use of Trapcode's Form plugin to create something that would normally require a 3D application, but is accomplished entirely within After Effects.

A custom effects is special kind of preset that looks and behaves like a plugin. It allows you to save a special recipe of plugins and keyframes into something that you can reuse with ease. Jorrit Schulte has been producing a bunch of these very useful custom effects and providing them for free at aenhancers.com. In this tutorial he breaks down how to create the incredibly popular light rays effect and how to package it all into a custom effect.
We're going to break down how you create a light ray effect, like shine, and then we're gonna learn how to create a preset so you can use it again any time you like inside of the preset. Finally we are going to make that preset into a custom effect using a script from nabscripts.com.

Adam keeps digging through the good ol' built in CC plugins and continues to come up with very clever and visually awesome solutions. In this tutorial Adam uses CC Smear as the basis to create text that appears in as if a spirit whisped into it.

Split-Flap-What? It's the term used for displays that are found in train stations and airports, where they typically display departure and/or arrival information and do that cool flipping of letters to display the new information.
This tutorial does not show how to create the effect from scratch but instead it is a tutorial to explain how to use the project file created by Mattias Peresini who runs the totally awesome mattrunks website which has incredible tutorials for After Effects in French. We are very happy to have Mattias doing his first English tutorial for us here at Aetuts+.

It's amazing how much pseudo-3D you can do in After Effects today. This tutorial will focus on using a new plugin that brings 3D bicubic deformations to layers that allows you to truly bend and twist layers in 3D space. If you are familiar with 3D packages, this is true displacement as opposed to just bump mapping.

This tutorial covers the creation of a space-like si-fi title sequence from scratch. Michael shows us how you can easily create a visually interesting and impressive title animation with some simple title cards and text animation. The tutorial uses the Twitch plugin from Video Copilot, though a similar effect could be obtained by manual keyframing.

We try to provide tutorials for users at all levels of After Effects. In this tutorial you will learn some good fundamentals on how to create a type reveal with an interesting background and environment. You will learn how to use all built-in tools and plugins to create a faux underwater scene complete with a bubbly type reveal. Simple.

Wes comes back with another adrenalin fueled piece that is sure to become an Aetuts+ favorite. Using Trapcode Form as the basis to display video, he shows how to use the audio reactors built in to form to achieve something very very cool.

Inspired by the work of Mark Coleran. Satya shows us how to use iterations of simple shape layers to create some beautiful procedural art.

In this tutorial, regular Aetuts+ author Markus Gustafsson shows us how to use adjustment layers and expressions to create some edgy graphic design.

Starting with nothing more than a few still photographs, learn how to create this dynamic burning building VFX shot.

In a very clever use of Trapcode Particular, this tutorial shows us how to create an effect that is inspired by the Bourne Ultimatum end credits sequence.

Using only built in plugins, learn how to create a radar screen which then reveals a logo. You will learn how to use 32-bit mode and few other tricks to simulate a real screen glow.

In this massive 2 part tutorial you will learn how to rig and animate a character using a combination of Illustrator, Photoshop and After Effects and create an incredible, cinematic odyssey piece.
Part 1 covers pre-production techniques, workflow overview and creating and rigging the character. It also covers creating the star field background and creating the eye close-up.

This is part 2 of this very comprehensive tutorial where you will learn how to rig and animate a character using a combination of Illustrator, Photoshop and After Effects and create an incredible, cinematic odyssey piece.
Part 2 breaks down the compositing techniques used in all the shots.

In this tutorial you will learn how to animate a handwritten text sequence with ink bleeding through the paper to create an elegant old-world style title reveal.

In this massive 2 part tutorial inspired by the work of Pierre Michel, Alex Verlan shows us how to create the dramatic slow motion rain drops falling scene entirely within After Effects.

In this massive 2 part tutorial inspired by the work of Pierre Michel, Alex Verlan shows us how to create the dramatic slow motion rain drops falling scene entirely within After Effects.

In this tutorial you will learn how to create and animate a beautiful and fully animatable 3D flower that can be the star or simply a design element of any motion graphics piece.

In honor of Oscar's week we have another movie VFX shot inspired tutorial. A frequently requested theme is the effect of something being frozen very quickly. This tutorial will explain how to achieve this effect as well as a cool camera lens frost over and crack.

In this tutorial we learn how to harness the shatter plugin along with some expressions and color correction to simulate a dramatic underground explosion that ripples and dislodges the ground.

The effect that we will be creating in After Effects is called a parallax. The basic idea behind a parallax is that 3 dimensional elements appear to move differently depending on their position relative to the observer. (Image driving in a car, objects closer to you move faster than those that are far away). We will take a sample image (seen below), and turn it into a pseudo-3D scene using
After Effects. As you see in the sample video, this gives us the impression that elements in the foreground are moving seperately from those in the background. This effect is often used in documentary films when they do not have film of an event, but only still-frames. Using the effect makes the image more interesting, and makes it seems like someone was there with a video camera and was panning back and forth.

This tutorial will teach you how to create a VFX naval battle scene similar to those seen in period war movies. You'll learn how to take ordinary footage shot with a DV camera and transform it into a realistic looking old film war battle scene

When we launched we asked you to tell us what content you wanted and quite a few of you told us you wanted the basics. Well we are listening and this is the first installment of a 3 part series for after effects beginners. Each section lists at the top the topics that are covered in that section. Even though this series focuses on the latest CS4 release, most of the concepts apply to all the versions of After Effects.This first part of the Essential Training series will teach you how to get started in After Effects. You will learn all the basics you need to be able to use After Effects and understand the cool tutorials posted here on AETUTS.

When we launched we asked you to tell us what content you wanted and quite a few of you told us you wanted the basics. This is the second installment of our 3 part series for after effects beginners. Each section lists at the top the topics that are covered in that section. Even though this series focuses on the latest CS4 release, most of the concepts apply to all the versions of After Effects.
This second part of the Essential Training series will teach you how to get started using effects and creating basic animation in After Effects. You will learn all the basics you need to be able to use After Effects and understand the cool tutorials posted here.

When we launched we asked you to tell us what content you wanted and quite a few of you told us you wanted the basics. This is the second installment of our 3 part series for after effects beginners. Each section lists at the top the topics that are covered in that section. Even though this series focuses on the latest CS4 release, most of the concepts apply to all the versions of After Effects.
This third part of the Essential Training series will teach you some advanced techniques in After Effects. You will learn all the basics you need to be able to use After Effects and understand the cool tutorials out here.

In this tutorial you'll learn how to create a written title that appears to be written in smoke with the use of Trapcode Particular. The final effect can be used for many purposes, particularly to create a very unique personal signature for your work.

This tutorial will teach you how to generate a magnifying effect with the use of an animated track matte. The final effect can be used for many purposes, particularly to create a sophisticated background for other elements, such as logos and text.
This tutorial is ideal for beginners or experienced After Effects users who want to quickly learn an attractive and simple technique.