Setting up the project

As you start After Effects, restore the default application settings for After Effects. See “Restoring default preferences” on page 3.

1. Start After Effects, and then immediately hold down Ctrl+Alt+Shift (Windows) or Command+Option+Shift (macOS) to restore default preferences settings. When prompted, click OK to delete your preferences.

2. Click New Project in the Home window.

After Effects opens to display a new, untitled project.

3. Choose File > Save As > Save As.

4. In the Save As dialog box, navigate to the Lessons/Lesson14/Finished_ Projects folder.

5. Name the project Lesson14_Stabilize.aep, and then click Save.

Creating the composition

You’ll start by importing footage and creating the composition.

1. Click New Composition From Footage in the Composition panel.

2. Navigate to the Lessons/Lesson14/Assets folder. Select the bee swarm.mov file, and click Import or Open.

After Effects creates a new composition named bee swarm with the same pixel size, aspect ratio, frame rate, and duration of the source clip.

3. Click the Play button in the Preview panel to preview the footage. Press the spacebar to stop the preview when you’ve seen the whole clip.

This clip was shot with a smartphone camera. Bees fly in and out of the swarm, a breeze rustles the vegetation, and the camera moves unsteadily.

Applying Warp Stabilizer VFX

Warp Stabilizer VFX starts analyzing footage as soon as you apply it. Stabilization is a background process, so you can work on other compositions while it finishes. How long it takes depends on your system. After Effects displays a blue banner while it analyzes the footage and an orange banner while it applies stabilization.

1. Select the bee swarm.mov layer in the Timeline panel, and choose Animation > Warp Stabilizer VFX. The blue banner appears immediately.

2. When Warp Stabilizer VFX has finished stabilizing and the orange banner has disappeared, press the spacebar to preview the changes.

   

3. Press the spacebar to stop the preview.

The clip is still shaky, but it’s smoother than it was initially. Warp Stabilizer VFX moved and repositioned the footage. To see how it applied changes, view the effects in the Effect Controls panel. For example, the clip’s borders were scaled up (to about 103%) to hide black gaps that occur when the image is repositioned in the stabilization process. You’ll adjust the settings that Warp Stabilizer VFX uses.

Adjusting the Warp Stabilizer VFX settings

You’ll change the settings in the Effect Controls panel to make the shot smoother.

1. In the Effect Controls panel, increase the Smoothness amount to 75%.

   

Warp Stabilizer VFX immediately begins stabilizing again. It doesn’t need to analyze the footage, because the initial analysis data is stored in memory.

2. When Warp Stabilizer VFX has finished, preview the changes.

3. Press the spacebar to stop playback when you’re done.

It’s better, but still a little rough. Rather than change the amount Warp Stabilizer VFX smooths the footage, now you’ll change its goal.

4. In the Effect Controls panel, choose No Motion from the Result menu.

With this setting, Warp Stabilizer VFX attempts to lock the camera in position. This requires even more scaling. When No Motion is selected, the Smoothness option is dimmed.

5. When the orange banner disappears, preview the changes again. Press the spacebar to stop the playback.

Now the camera stays in position, so that the movement you notice is the rustling of the leaves in the wind, not the shakiness of the camera. In order to achieve this effect, Warp Stabilizer VFX had to scale the clip considerably.

Fine-tuning the results

The default analysis works well most of the time, but sometimes you may need to massage the end results even further. In this project, the clip skews subtly in a few places. Casual viewers may not notice the problem, but a keen producer will. You’ll change the method that Warp Stabilizer VFX uses to remove the skew.

1. In the Effect Controls panel, choose Perspective from the Method menu.

2. Choose Stabilize Only from the Framing menu.

   Note

   Scaling a video layer up degrades the image. A good rule of thumb is to increase the layer to no more than 115% the size of the original source.

3. Increase the Additional Scale to 114%.

   

4. Preview the changes.

Now the shot looks steady. The only noticeable movement is that caused by the wind and the swarming bees.

5. Press the spacebar to stop the playback when you’re done.

6. Choose File > Save to save your work, and then choose File > Close Project.

As you have discovered, stabilizing a shot can have drawbacks. To compensate for the movement or rotation data applied to the layer, the frames must be scaled, which could ultimately degrade the footage. However, if you must use a shaky shot in your production, this may be the best compromise.

Setting up the project

If you’ve just completed the first project, and After Effects is open, skip to step 3. Otherwise, restore the default application settings for After Effects. See “Restoring default preferences” on page 3.

1. Start After Effects, and then immediately hold down Ctrl+Alt+Shift (Windows) or Command+Option+Shift (macOS) to restore default preferences settings. When prompted, click OK to delete your preferences.

2. Click New Project in the Home window.

After Effects opens to display a new, untitled project.

3. Choose File > Save As > Save As.

4. In the Save As dialog box, navigate to the Lessons/Lesson14/Finished_ Projects folder.

5. Name the project Lesson14_Tracking.aep, and then click Save.

Creating the composition

You need to import one footage item to start this project. You’ll use it to create the composition.

1. Click New Composition From Footage in the Composition panel.

2. Navigate to the Lessons/Lesson14/Assets folder. Select the metronome.mov file, and then click Import or Open.

After Effects creates a new composition named metronome, with the same pixel size, aspect ratio, frame rate, and duration as the source clip.

3. Drag the current-time indicator across the time ruler to manually preview the footage.

Creating a shape layer

You’re going to attach a star to the end of the metronome. First, you need to create the star. You’ll use a shape layer.

1. Press the Home key or move the current-time indicator to the beginning of the time ruler.

2. Click an empty area of the Timeline panel to deselect the layer.

3. Select the Star tool (), hidden behind the Rectangle tool () in the Tools panel.

   

   Note

   If you don’t see the Fill Color swatch, make sure you don’t have a layer selected. When a layer is selected, shape tools draw masks.

4. Click the Fill Color swatch, and select a light yellow (such as R=220, G=250, B=90). Click the word Stroke, select None in the Stroke Options dialog box, and click OK.

   

5. In the Composition panel, draw a small star.

6. Use the Selection tool () to position the star over the weighted end of the pendulum arm.

   Tip

   You can change the preferences to automatically place the anchor point in the center of a new layer shape. Choose Edit > Preferences > General (Windows) or After Effects > Preferences > General (macOS). Select Center Anchor Point In New Shape Layers, and click OK.

7. Select Shape Layer 1 to see the layer’s anchor point. Use the Pan Behind tool () to move the anchor point to the center of the star shape, if it isn’t already there.

   

Positioning the track point

After Effects tracks motion by matching pixels from a selected area in a frame to pixels in each succeeding frame. You create tracking points to specify the area to track. A track point contains a feature region, a search region, and an attach point. After Effects displays the track point in the Layer panel as it tracks.

You will track the metronome weight (the rhombus at the end of its arm) by placing tracking regions around the area that you’ll track another layer to. With the star shape added to the Tracking composition, you are ready to position the track point.

1. Select the metronome.mov layer in the Timeline panel.

2. Choose Animation > Track Motion. The Tracker panel opens; increase its size if you can’t see all the options.

After Effects opens the selected layer in the Layer panel. The Track Point 1 indicator is in the center of the image.

Notice the settings in the Tracker panel: Metronome.mov is selected in the Motion Source menu. The Current Track is Tracker 1, and the Motion Target is Shape Layer 1, because After Effects automatically sets the Motion Target to the layer immediately above the source layer.

Now, you’ll position your track point.

3. Using the Selection tool (), move the Track Point 1 indicator (drag the empty portion of the inner box) in the Layer panel over the metronome weight.

4. Enlarge the search region (the outer box) to encompass the area around the pendulum. Then adjust the feature region (the inner box) within the weight.

   

Moving and resizing the track points

In setting up motion tracking, it’s often necessary to refine a track point by adjusting its feature region, search region, and attach point. You can resize or move these items independently or in groups by dragging with the Selection tool. The pointer icon changes to reflect one of many different activities.

1. To turn feature region magnification on or off, choose Magnify Feature When Dragging from the Tracker panel menu. A check mark appears next to the option when it’s on.

2. To move only the search region, using the Selection tool, drag the edge of the search region; the Move Search Region pointer () appears (D, above).

3. To move just the feature and search regions together, Alt-drag (Windows) or Option-drag (macOS) with the Selection tool inside the feature or search region; the Move Both Regions pointer () appears (E, above).

4. To move only the attach point, using the Selection tool, drag the attach point; the Move Attach Point pointer () appears (G, above).

5. To resize the feature or search region, drag a corner handle (I, above).

6. To move the feature region, search region, and attach point together, drag with the Selection tool inside the track point area (avoiding the region edges and the attach point); the Move Track Point pointer () appears.

For more information about track points, see After Effects Help.

Analyzing and applying tracking

Now that the search and feature regions are defined, you can apply the tracker.

1. Click the Analyze Forward button () in the Tracker panel. Watch the analysis to ensure the track point stays with the metronome weight. If it doesn’t, press the spacebar to stop the analysis, and reposition the feature region. (See the sidebar “Checking for drift.”)

2. When the analysis is complete, click the Apply button.

3. In the Motion Tracker Apply Options dialog box, click OK to apply the tracking to the x and y dimensions.

   

The motion-tracking data is added to the Timeline panel, where you can see that the track data is in the metronome layer, but the results are applied to the Position property of the Shape Layer 1 layer.

4. Press the spacebar to preview the movie. The star not only follows the pendulum; it moves with the camera’s movement.

   

5. When you’re ready, press the spacebar to stop playback.

6. Hide the properties for both layers in the Timeline panel, choose File > Save, and then choose File > Close Project.

Motion tracking an element onto background footage can be fun. As long as you have a stable feature to track, single-point motion tracking can be quite easy.

Setting up the project

Start by launching After Effects and creating a new project.

1. If it’s not already open, start After Effects, and then immediately hold down Ctrl+Alt+Shift (Windows) or Command+Option+Shift (macOS) to restore default preferences settings. When prompted, click OK to delete your preferences, and click New Project in the Home window.

After Effects opens to display an empty, untitled project.

2. Choose File > Save As > Save As.

3. In the Save As dialog box, navigate to the Lessons/Lesson14/Finished_Projects folder.

4. Name the project Lesson14_Content-Aware.aep, and then click Save.

5. Double-click an empty area of the Project panel to open the Import File dialog box, and then navigate to the Lessons/Lesson14/Assets folder.

6. Select the koala.mov file, and then click Import or Open.

7. In the Project panel, drag the koala.mov file onto the New Composition button in the Composition panel.

   

8. In the Timeline panel, manually preview the footage. Notice the bolt in the tree.

9. Press the Home key or move the current-time indicator to the beginning of the time ruler.

Creating a mask

You’ll start by identifying the area to be filled. You can use any technique you like to create a transparent area, but for this clip, it’s easiest to create and track a mask.

1. Zoom in to see the bolt clearly.

2. Select the koala.mov layer in the Timeline panel. Selecting the layer ensures you’ll draw a mask instead of creating a new shape layer.

   

3. Select the Ellipse tool (), hidden behind the Star tool () or the Rectangle tool () in the Tools panel.

4. Drag an ellipse so that it completely covers and is slightly larger than the bolt.

   

5. Choose Subtract from the Mask Mode menu in the Timeline panel.

   

6. Right-click or Control-click Mask 1, and choose Track Mask.

After Effects opens the Tracker panel.

7. In the Tracker panel, select Position from the Method menu. Click the Track Selected Masks Forward button.

   

8. Go to the beginning of the time ruler. Press the spacebar to preview the mask. Press the spacebar again to stop preview. If the mask slips from the bolt, adjust it as needed.

9. Choose File > Save to save your work so far.

Applying Content-Aware Fill

You’re ready to replace the masked area with content-aware fill.

1. Select the koala.mov layer in the Timeline panel.

2. Choose Window > Content-Aware Fill. After Effects open the Content-Aware Fill panel in the panel dock.

3. In the Content-Aware Fill panel, do the following:

   • Set Alpha Expansion to 10.

   • Choose Object from the Fill Method menu.

   • Choose Entire Duration from the Range menu.

The Alpha Expansion setting increases the size of the area to fill. Content-Aware Fill often performs better when the selected area includes pixels outside the object you’re removing. The Fill Method determines how the feature samples pixels and accommodates motion in the video. Range determines whether the fill layer is rendered for only the work area or for the entire composition.

4. Click Generate Fill Layer.

After Effects analyzes each frame and fills the transparent area. It places the sequence of images it analyzed in a Fill layer in the Timeline panel, with the name including the number of images in that sequence.

5. Deselect all layers, and choose Fit from the Magnification Ratio menu so you can see the full video.

6. Move the current-time indicator to the beginning of the timeline, and preview the movie to see the results of the fill.

   

7. When you’re done watching the preview, press the spacebar to stop playback.

8. Hide the layer properties to keep the Timeline panel neat, and choose File > Save to save your work.

9. Choose File > Close Project.

Setting up the project

Start by launching After Effects and creating a new composition.

1. If it’s not already open, start After Effects, and then immediately hold down Ctrl+Alt+Shift (Windows) or Command+Option+Shift (macOS) to restore default preferences settings. When prompted, click OK to delete your preferences, and click New Project in the Home window.

After Effects opens to display an empty, untitled project.

2. Choose File > Save As > Save As.

3. In the Save As dialog box, navigate to the Lessons/Lesson14/Finished_Projects folder.

4. Name the project Lesson14_Particles.aep, and then click Save.

You don’t need to import any footage items for this exercise. However, you do need to create the composition.

5. Click New Composition in the Composition panel.

6. In the Composition Settings dialog box, do the following, and then click OK:

   • Type Supernova in the Composition Name field.

   • Choose HDTV 1080 29.97 from the Preset pop-up menu.

   • Set the Duration to 10:00.

     

Creating a particle system

You will build the particle system from a solid layer, so you’ll create that next.

1. Choose Layer > New > Solid to create a new solid layer.

2. In the Solid Settings dialog box, type Particles in the Name box.

3. Click Make Comp Size to make the layer the same size as the composition. Then click OK.

   

4. With the Particles layer selected in the Timeline panel, choose Effect > Simulation > CC Particle Systems II.

5. Go to 4:00 to see the particle system.

   

A large stream of yellow particles appears in the Composition panel.

Customizing the particle effect

You will turn this stream of particles into a supernova by customizing the settings in the Effect Controls panel.

1. Expand the Physics property group in the Effect Controls panel. The Explosive Animation setting works fine for this project, but instead of the particles falling down, you want them to flow out in all directions, so change the Gravity value to 0.0.

   

2. Hide the Physics property group, and expand the Particle property group. Then choose Faded Sphere from the Particle Type menu.

Now the particles look intergalactic. Don’t stop there, though.

3. Change the Death Size to 1.50, and increase the Size Variation to 100%.

This allows the particles to change birth size randomly.

4. Reduce the Max Opacity to 55% to make the particles semitransparent.

   

5. Click the Birth Color swatch, and change the color to R=255, G=200, B=50 to give the particles a yellow hue at birth.

6. Click the Death Color swatch, and change the color to R=180, G=180, B=180 to give the particles a light gray hue as they fade out.

   

   Note

   Even though they’re at the top of the Effect Controls panel, it is often easier to adjust the Longevity and Birth Rate settings after you have set the other particle properties.

7. To keep the particles from staying onscreen too long, decrease the Longevity value to 0.8 seconds.

   

The Faded Sphere particle type softens the look, but the particle shapes are still too sharply defined. You will fix that by blurring the layer to blend the particles with one another.

8. Hide the CC Particle Systems II effect properties.

9. Choose Effect > Blur & Sharpen > Gaussian Blur.

10. In the Gaussian Blur area of the Effect Controls panel, increase the Blurriness value to 10. Then select Repeat Edge Pixels to keep the particles from being cropped at the edge of the frame.

    

Creating the sun

You will now create a bright halo of light that will go behind the particles.

1. Go to 7:00.

2. Press Ctrl+Y (Windows) or Command+Y (macOS) to create a new solid layer.

3. In the Solid Settings dialog box, do the following:

   • Type Sun in the Name box.

   • Click Make Comp Size to make the layer the same size as the composition.

   • Click the color swatch, and make the layer the same yellow as the Birth Color of the particles (R=255, G=200, B=50).

   • Click OK to close the Solid Settings dialog box.

   

4. Drag the Sun layer below the Particles layer in the Timeline panel.

5. Select the Ellipse tool (), which may be hidden behind the Rectangle tool () or the Star tool () in the Tools panel, and Shift-drag in the Composition panel to draw a circle with a radius of roughly 100 pixels, or one-fourth the width of the composition. You’ve created a mask.

6. Using the Selection tool (), drag the mask shape to the center of the Composition panel.

   

7. With the Sun layer selected in the Timeline panel, press the F key to reveal its Mask Feather property. Increase the Mask Feather amount to 100, 100 pixels.

   

8. Press Alt+[ (Windows) or Option+[ (macOS) to set the In point of the layer to the current time.

   

9. Hide the properties for the Sun layer.

Lighting the darkness

Since the sun is bright, it should illuminate the surrounding darkness.

1. Make sure the current-time indicator is still at 7:00.

2. Press Ctrl+Y (Windows) or Command+Y (macOS) to create a new solid layer.

3. In the Solid Settings dialog box, name the layer Background, click the Make Comp Size button to make the layer the same size as the composition, and then click OK to create the layer.

4. In the Timeline panel, drag the Background layer to the bottom position in the layer stack.

5. With the Background layer selected in the Timeline panel, choose Effect > Generate > Gradient Ramp.

   

The Gradient Ramp effect creates a color gradient, blending it with the original image. You can create linear ramps or radial ramps, and vary the position and colors of the ramp over time. Use the Start Of Ramp and End Of Ramp settings to specify the start and end positions. Use the Ramp Scatter setting to disperse the ramp colors and eliminate banding.

6. In the Gradient Ramp area of the Effect Controls panel, do the following:

   • Change Start Of Ramp to 960, 538 and End Of Ramp to 360, 525.

   • Choose Radial Ramp from the Ramp Shape menu.

   • Click the Start Color swatch, and set the start color to dark blue (R=0, G=25, B=135).

   • Set the End Color to black (R=0, G=0, B=0).

   

7. Press Alt+[ (Windows) or Option+[ (macOS) to set the In point of the layer to the current time.

Adding a lens flare

To tie all the elements together, you’ll add a lens flare to simulate an explosion.

1. Press the Home key or move the current-time indicator to the beginning of the time ruler.

2. Press Ctrl+Y (Windows) or Command+Y (macOS) to create a new solid layer.

3. In the Solid Settings dialog box, name the layer Nova, click the Make Comp Size button to make the layer the same size as the composition, set the Color to black (R=0, G=0, B=0), and then click OK.

4. Drag the Nova layer to the top of the layer stack in the Timeline panel. Then, with the Nova layer selected, choose Effect > Generate > Lens Flare.

   

5. In the Lens Flare area of the Effect Controls panel, do the following:

   • Change Flare Center to 960, 538.

   • Make sure 50–300mm Zoom is selected in the Lens Type menu.

   • Decrease Flare Brightness to 0%, and then click the Flare Brightness stopwatch icon () to create an initial keyframe.

6. Go to 0:10.

7. Increase the Flare Brightness to 240%.

8. Go to 1:04, and decrease the Flare Brightness to 100%.

   

9. With the Nova layer selected in the Timeline panel, press the U key to see the animated Lens Flare property.

10. Right-click or Control-click the ending Flare Brightness keyframe, and choose Keyframe Assistant > Easy Ease In.

11. Right-click or Control-click the beginning Flare Brightness keyframe, and choose Keyframe Assistant > Easy Ease Out.

    

Finally, you need to make the layers under the Nova layer visible in the composition.

12. Press F2 to deselect all layers, and choose Columns > Modes from the Timeline panel menu. Then choose Screen from the Mode menu for the Nova layer.

    

13. Preview the movie. When you’re done, press the spacebar to stop the preview.

14. Choose File > Save, and then choose File > Close Project.

Setting up the project

Start by launching After Effects and creating a new project.

1. If After Effects isn’t open, start it, and then immediately hold down Ctrl+Alt+Shift (Windows) or Command+Option+Shift (macOS) to restore default preferences settings. When prompted, click OK to delete your preferences, and click New Project in the Home window.

After Effects opens to display an empty, untitled project.

2. Choose File > Save As > Save As.

3. In the Save As dialog box, navigate to the Lessons/Lesson14/Finished_Projects folder.

4. Name the project Lesson14_Timewarp.aep, and then click Save.

5. Click New Composition From Footage in the Composition panel. Then navigate to the Lessons/Lesson14/Assets folder on your hard disk, select the spinning_dog.mov file, and click Import or Open.

After Effects creates a new composition named for the source file, and displays it in the Composition and Timeline panels.

6. Choose File > Save to save your work.

Using Timewarp

In the source footage, a dog spins as she moves from room to room. At around 4 seconds, you’ll slow the motion down to 10%, and then ramp up to twice the original speed before slowing back to full speed at the end of the clip.

1. With the spinning_dog.mov layer selected in the Timeline panel, choose Effect > Time > Timewarp.

2. In the Timewarp area of the Effect Controls panel, make sure Pixel Motion is selected in the Method menu and Speed is selected in the Adjust Time By menu.

   

With Pixel Motion selected, Timewarp creates new frames by analyzing the pixel movement in nearby frames and creating motion vectors. The Speed option controls the time adjustment by percentage rather than by a specific frame.

3. Go to 2:00.

4. In the Effect Controls panel, set the Speed to 100, and click the stopwatch icon () to set a keyframe.

   

The Timewarp effect will keep the speed of the clip at 100% until the 2-second mark.

5. With the spinning_dog.mov layer selected in the Timeline panel, press the U key to see the animated Timewarp Speed property.

6. Go to 5:00, and set the Speed to 10. After Effects adds a keyframe.

   

7. Go to 7:00, and set the Speed to 100. After Effects adds a keyframe.

   

8. Go to 9:00, and set the Speed to 200. After Effects adds a keyframe.

   

9. Go to 11:00, and set the Speed to 100. After Effects adds a keyframe.

   

   Note

   Be patient. The first time through, After Effects is caching information in RAM. The second time it plays, playback will be more accurate.

10. Press the Home key or move the current-time indicator to the beginning of the time ruler, and then press the spacebar to watch a preview of the effect.

The speed adjustments are rather abrupt—not the smooth, slow-motion curve you would expect to see in a professional effect. This is because the keyframes are linear instead of curved. You’ll fix that next.

11. Press the spacebar to stop playback when you’re ready.

12. Click the Graph Editor button in the Timeline panel to display the Graph Editor instead of the layer bars. Make sure the Speed property name for the spinning_dog layer is selected. The Graph Editor displays its graph.

    

13. Click to select the first Speed keyframe (at 2:00), and then click the Easy Ease icon () at the bottom of the Graph Editor.

    

    Tip

    Close columns in the Timeline panel to see more icons in the Graph Editor. You can also apply an Easy Ease adjustment by pressing the F9 key.

    Note

    If you click the Speed property a second time, all the keyframes are selected and changes you make to one affect all of them.

This adjusts the influence into and out of the keyframe to smooth out sudden changes.

14. Repeat step 13 for the other Speed keyframes in the motion graph, at 5:00, 7:00, 9:00, and 11:00.

    

15. Preview the movie again. This time, the slow-motion Timewarp effect looks professional.

    

16. Choose File > Save to save the project, and then choose File > Close Project.

You’ve now experimented with some of the advanced features in After Effects, including motion stabilization, motion tracking, particle systems, and the Timewarp effect. To render and export any or all of the projects you completed in this lesson, see Lesson 15, “Rendering and Outputting,” for instructions.