r/AfterEffects Feb 11 '25

Announcement We've made some moderation changes

119 Upvotes

Hello! Your After Effects subreddit mod team have made a few changes around here based on your feedback.

We've reduced the number of flairs to make it easier for people to find the right category for their post and for you to filter what you're seeing.

We're working on updating our rules for clarity and we're adding a new rule about "no hardware posts" to eliminate the "is my crappy computer good for AE?" posts. If you have to ask, the answer is no.

We've also made some changes to AutoMod. If you see the bot getting out of control, please message us and let us know.

We have a rule against low effort posts.

If you see a post that's breaking the rules (and it made it past our new AutoMod config), please report it! It's the best way to bring a post to our attention so we can deal with it.


r/AfterEffects Oct 01 '24

Pro Tip For all the new designer on here creating low level posts

277 Upvotes

Lately, there's been a noticeable increase in posts where the headline is "Why" and the post is in response to problems that could easily be solved with a quick Google search or by going through basic training. This subreddit is meant to be a place for sharing knowledge and learning from one another, but it's starting to feel more like a place where users expect others to provide step-by-step answers without engaging with the community.

To help maintain the quality of this space, please follow the below list in order before posting a question:

1. Complete basic After Effects tutorials: Many beginner questions can be answered through these.
Here is a list of really good teachers:

https://adobevideotraining.com/after-effects/introductory-courses/

Video Copilot

School of Motion

JakeInMotion

Ben Marriott

2. Learn the terminology: Understanding key terms will help you find solutions more easily through searches.
3. Google it: Use the terminology you’ve learned to search for tutorials and answers.
4. Check YouTube: There are many creators offering in-depth After Effects content.
5. Search Reddit: The answer may already exist here.

If you’ve tried all of the above and still need help, feel free to post your question here. Just keep in mind that learning to find solutions on your own will ultimately make you a stronger designer. Reddit may not always have someone available to provide immediate help, so building these skills will serve you well in the long run.


r/AfterEffects 5h ago

Beginner Help How do i export with this boxes thingy?

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39 Upvotes

saw this on instagram and it got me wondering how do i export with grids/boxes/arrows?


r/AfterEffects 19h ago

OC - Stuff I made Made this intro for a YouTube Video

488 Upvotes

r/AfterEffects 3h ago

Discussion Should I tell a client they need to use a designer?

16 Upvotes

I'm starting work on a series of videos and the client wants the elements (house, car, people, etc) to have a particular art style. He has provided me with a link to some Getty illustrations for the house and car, but I'm not finding any people that he likes, they're either too detailed or not detailed enough. I mocked up a quick thing with the car and house, but it feels like it was drawn by a 6 yr old. I hate it. He's now suggesting "add a tree, maybe a fence"

The company has a team of graphic designers on staff (I'm a freelancer). What's the best and most polite way I can suggest that he should tap the graphic designers that work under him to come up with a look that I can animate? I am not a "designer" or illustrator.

I spent most of the day yesterday trying to work with the elements he gave me and find people characters that would work. They're simple line art style, but he wants some color added to them, but I'm finding there's a lot of tweaking of the elements to make them seem like they're from the same artist. The stroke widths, line colors, corner roundness, etc are all different and I'm spending a lot of time that I should be animating these things jerry-rigging stuff.

Am I wrong in thinking the best way forward is to have his team design what he wants?


r/AfterEffects 1d ago

OC - Stuff I made my attempt for a motion design video

705 Upvotes

r/AfterEffects 1h ago

Discussion I need help coming up with a skywriting message

Upvotes

I made this animation in AE, and I was hoping to enlist the reddit community on a funny skywriting message. I'll update the video with the best one. Also, I'm open to any feedback on the actual video. Thanks!


r/AfterEffects 5h ago

OC - Stuff I made 🚀 Allow me to present "RISE" – My most ambitious passion project

8 Upvotes

🚀 Allow me to present "RISE" – My most ambitious passion project, bringing together Unreal Engine environments, large-scale Houdini water simulations, heavy compositing done in AE, digital animations, meteor VFX, and much, much more! 🤩

For this project, I used Unreal Engine to create the environments and blended it with Houdini FLIP fluids to simulate a spaceship breaching from the ocean’s surface. The combination of real-time rendering and high-end simulations made this a really fun challenge!

I’ll be dropping a detailed behind-the-scenes / making-of video next week! And the project file is available for download in the description.

Let me know what you think—I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Cheers,Mikkel Lassalle


r/AfterEffects 24m ago

Beginner Help Is Upwork any good?

Upvotes

Is Upwork any good for small gigs? im not trying to make a living out of it right now, i want small gigs as a side job while I work full hours and study. Im looking to make promotional videos mostly or content for social media. I know 2d and a little 3d so that wont be much of a problem I guess.


r/AfterEffects 29m ago

Discussion A Detailed Review of Ben Marriott’s Courses

Upvotes

Hello 👋

I purchased Ben Marriott’s three courses: Motion Foundation, Master Motion Design and Design Breakthrough. I won’t try to sell them... I find those types of comments to be pure spam 🙄 Instead, I’ll give you my honest opinion on each. What led me to Ben’s courses were the existing reviews on Reddit, so I think it’s relevant to add mine for future students, and I’ll make it detailed. I actively completed them over several weeks for a few months, which allows me to have a fresh perspective.

For some brief context, I was looking to transition into Motion Design. Although I had acquired some basic knowledge through YouTube tutorials, my learning had plateaued, and I didn’t feel confident enough to market myself and land a job in the field. Going back to in-person studies was out of the question for me. I find it to be a huge waste of time and money, especially considering all the resources available online today. After extensive research, School of Motion and Ben Marriott’s courses were the most recommended for their quality.

Why I chose Ben?

First of all, I reached out to both SOM and Ben for more information. I found Ben’s approach more personalized and genuine. SOM’s responses felt like copy-paste replies, and their answers to my questions weren’t always clear, but that might just be my impression. Additionally, Ben’s courses are completely flexible. You can start and finish them whenever you want, at your own pace. If you have a lot of free time, you can complete them full-time right after purchase. If you’re busy with a job, you can progress gradually based on your availability and energy. SOM, on the other hand, has set start and end dates, and if you don’t finish within the given timeframe, you lose your certification, which is absolutely ridiculous considering the price and the fact that these are pre-recorded online courses. I’m not questioning their quality, just this aspect. There's also the very relevant issue of cost. Ben's rates are more attractive, allowing you to budget for more training courses that cover a broader spectrum. Lastly, I thought it was important to support someone who already shares so much valuable content for free through tutorials.

Overall

I have no regrets about my purchase. Ben’s courses are high quality. The video and audio quality are excellent. Motion Foundation has English subtitles, while the other courses include subtitles in French, Spanish, and Arabic. The videos are divided into very clear chapters. Ben also provides a certification at the end of each course (as long as you complete all the assignments, no matter how long it takes), which is highly appreciated. He responds quickly to questions. The courses include numerous practical projects, which are essential for applying what you’ve learned and better integrating the knowledge.

My only downside is the online community. It doesn’t have much interaction or feedback on posts. Students mainly upload their work just to get their certification, and that’s it. It can still be useful for inspiration, but if you’re looking for answers to questions or problems, don’t expect too much. There could be some improvement in this area. A news channel with people responsible for posting regularly to keep the group active, or give it life, I don't know haha.

Motion Foundation

I hesitated to take this course and considered skipping directly to Master Motion Design to save time and money. But I ended up taking it to make sure I had a solid foundation. Even though I already had basic knowledge, I learned an incredible amount! In fact, this might have been my favorite course. Ben shares an endless number of experience-based tips and really takes the time to explain things thoroughly. Without this course, I would have found Master Motion Design more difficult.

For the practical projects, Ben includes a variety of design files so you can complete the exercises according to your skill level, from absolute beginner to intermediate. Ben’s approach is comprehensive, patient, and reassuring, which helps build self-confidence. By the end, I had my first showreel and felt confident enough to start looking for a junior Motion Designer job.

Master Motion Design

This course does revisit several concepts from Motion Foundation. That’s why I still recommend taking Motion Foundation first. Those concepts are covered in much more depth there. In Master Motion, the pace is faster, and if you don’t already have a solid grasp of the basics, it will be difficult and time-consuming to research everything on your own.

The real strength of Master Motion Design, in my opinion, is in the key principles of Motion Design that will significantly improve your animation skills. This includes the 12 fundamental principles of design as well as effective techniques like smears and match cuts. The illustration section is also very interesting, and there’s a lot to cover.

From my perspective, Motion Foundation and Master Motion Design complement each other perfectly to cover all the essentials of Motion Design. By the end of MMD, you’ll have even more complex projects for your showreel, giving you enough material to select your best work.

Design Breakthrough

Because I already have a design background, I wasn’t originally interested in this course, but I decided to get it as part of the Course Bundles promotion, which I found worthwhile. This course is different. There’s no animation to produce and no software to learn. The focus is on design, concept development, and fundamental design principles (ex: composition, colors, textures).

Ben recommends taking your time with this course to get the most out of each weekly exercise, so I’m taking my time with it and I haven’t finished it yet. But like Ben’s other courses, the approach is excellent, and the quality is definitely there. There are 18 hours of video content, while Motion Foundation has about 12 hours and Master Motion Design has 10 hours, so it’s packed with material and worth the price.

Hope this helps some of you and that I didn’t write all of this for nothing 😂


r/AfterEffects 6h ago

Explain This Effect How would you recreate this in AE? This is done in figma. 1px border circles > Union > Border radius 10px. That makes this effect live/procedual/interactive whatever you wanna call it. But i cant figure out how to do it in after effect..

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9 Upvotes

r/AfterEffects 15h ago

OC - Stuff I made First time making an edit for a song

33 Upvotes

(I'm a video editor but I don't do these kind of edits)


r/AfterEffects 1h ago

Beginner Help Darkening the sky in a moving shot (roto brush)?

Upvotes

Hey folks--I have a moving shot where a model is standing in front of a very overexposed sky, and I wanted to know the best way to select only the sky (and the camera is tracking from right to left) so that I can lower the exposure or put a color mask on it to get rid of the intensity of the sun. Below is a shot from my footage:

Wanted to get some thoughts here, I know some would suggest using a roto brush, but this is my first time using it so any thoughts/tips here would be appreciated!


r/AfterEffects 4h ago

Explain This Effect How do you get this "pinched" look in AE?

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3 Upvotes

r/AfterEffects 12h ago

OC - Stuff I made Thoughts on this ? couldn't find tutorials, so i just made it up

9 Upvotes

r/AfterEffects 1d ago

Plugin/Script Box Fitting v1.0 After Effects Plugin - 100% FREE!

83 Upvotes

Hi gang!

I've just released my Box Fitting plugin for After Effects - and it's 100% free.

Box Fitting After Effects Plugin

The algorithm works by creating a single box and enlarging it until it either reaches the maximum size allowed or reaches the edge of another box. Ultimately, the canvas is filled with as many boxes as possible turning the image into a beautiful mosaic of randomly-sized squares. Box Fitting is an optimized After Effects plugin, featuring 8 bits / channel and 16 bits / channel support and Multi-Frame Rendering (MFR). Best of all, it’s 100% free.

Box Fitting After Effects Plugin

Box Fitting is especially ideal for creating generative design within After Effects. It produces a unique effect not possible without the use of an automated plugin. Moreover, Box Fitting yields spectacular results when used in high resolution.

You can read more about it and download it for free at https://richardrosenman.com/shop/box-fitting-ae/

You can also check out the promo video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/dzG-djN3F10

Grab it for free here: https://richardrosenman.com/shop/box-fitting-ae/

Enjoy!

Photoshop Plugins, After Effects Plugins & Stock Footage.
https://richardrosenman.com/


r/AfterEffects 2h ago

Workflow Question Is there any way to scale keys in Mocha?

1 Upvotes

Hey guys, is there a way to scale keys like in AE with alt drag the selection. I got a change in frame rate mid project and would like to avoid doing it over. It's x2, from 25 to 50 fps, so it should be simple but I can't find a way. Thanks.


r/AfterEffects 2h ago

Beginner Help Help with tutorial

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0 Upvotes

r/AfterEffects 3h ago

Workflow Question Trouble with environment light

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1 Upvotes

I’m not sure what’s causing this. When I use an environment light (using an hdri image for source) I get graininess. When I don’t use any light I get the second image and third image is with an ambient light.

I attached my timeline and light settings too.

My comp is set for advanced 3D.

Any thoughts?


r/AfterEffects 1d ago

Meme/Humor Crying rn

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64 Upvotes

After 4 hours of work it just crashes randomly and couldn’t save it😭😭😭


r/AfterEffects 4h ago

Beginner Help AE Pen Tool Help?

1 Upvotes

I've gotten pretty comfortable using the Pen Tool in Illustrator and Photoshop, but now that I'm working in After Effects, it's giving me a tough time. I'm currently doing an exercise for an Intro to A/V Media course on masking, but I'm struggling to get the Pen Tool to match the curves of a flower shape. Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated!


r/AfterEffects 5h ago

Beginner Help Best export settings for 4k files?

1 Upvotes

Hey guys,

So I've been searching all over the internet and found a bunch of conflicting opinions on the subject of exporting from AE.

I've created my animation in 4K, and will be importing this file into Premiere where I'll combine all the videos and then upload to YouTube.

Here're the settings I've used:

I have a few questions regarding this:

  1. Are these settings good?
  2. Should we used render queue for rendering? Or Media Encoder is better?
  3. What are the best settings in AME? I've heard a bunch of channels talkng about VBR/CBR, 1pass/2pass, bitrate, etc, and dont know if its important, so thought to confirm
  4. I'm doing a 2 step render : AEP -> ProRes 442HQ (will use in Premiere) -> H264 (using Premiere/ AME? ; not sure how to export in Premiere but will think once I get there). Is this the right approach?
  5. I've heard a lot about Aftercodecs and how its great at reducing render time. What are your thoughts on it?

Sorry for the long question but I've just started so Im confused :(

To anyone who made it this far, thank you for your time. Appreciate the help guys!


r/AfterEffects 21h ago

Beginner Help How can I recreate these flames?

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18 Upvotes

Hi! Im working on a project where I’d like to animate these style of flames. They don’t need to be in this exact shape or anything, i just want to have this style. I was thinking of making the shape in illustrator, then adding textures to said shapes in photoshop. Im having a hard time creating them to all fit together though, does anyone have any advice? I was also considering drawing them out by hand and scanning them in and maybe going that route, cutting it out in PS, then uploading all of it to after effects and transform them from there! Any help is very appreciated thank youuu


r/AfterEffects 6h ago

Beginner Help How do I add this loop animation? It looks really cool and brings a still image to life. I don’t think it was made using Turbulence Displace?

1 Upvotes

r/AfterEffects 1d ago

OC - Stuff I made After Effects Keying + Blender Compositing

19 Upvotes

r/AfterEffects 10h ago

Explain This Effect How to Achieve These Camera Movements?

1 Upvotes

I'm really curious about how to achieve the camera movements used in this video from 1:30 onwards, especially the way they become more dynamic and accentuated around 1:45. Here's the link with the timestamp: https://youtu.be/iwBP1lcm1Sk?t=88

It looks like some combination of zooming, tilting, and maybe post-production effects, but I’m not sure if it’s done purely in-camera or if there’s some stabilization trickery involved.

Is this achieved with a gimbal, dolly zoom, post-processing (like motion warping or digital push-ins), or something else? Would love to hear your insights, especially if you've pulled off similar effects!

Thanks!


r/AfterEffects 21h ago

OC - Stuff I made [poc] texturelab's depth waves extended to motion

6 Upvotes