Browse the latest Adobe After Effects tutorials, video tutorials, hands-on projects, and more. Ranging from beginner to advanced, these tutorials provide basics, new features, plus tips and techniques. Wanna hire my VFX artist Nick Khoo for your next project?Contact him at [email protected] out his website here: to t. 8/10 (1269 votes) - Download Adobe After Effects Free. Design animated graphics and visual effects at professional level with Adobe's complete creative composition and animation software, Adobe After Effects. Every day there are more and more image, drawing, and animation professionals capable of. To do this, you can use the Content Aware Fill in After Effects. Open Content Aware Fill, select your background image, then just click Generate Fill Layer. This will automatically create a new layer to fill in the hole on the background. Background filled in with Content Aware Fill.
Text layers have gained a massive upgrade in After Effects 17.0. You can now use expressions to control text styling as well as the text itself. This feature enables you to keep font, size, and styling in sync across multiple text layers in After Effects and Motion Graphics templates.
Bear in mind that this is a new feature and will only work in After Effects 17.0 or above. MoGRTS containing text-style expressions will only be compatible with Premiere Pro 14.0 and higher.
In this blog post, we’ll cover three ways to use text forwarding expressions:
- Forward Source Text only
- Forward style only
- Forward Source Text and style
JavaScript Engine
To start, double-check that the JavaScript Expressions Engine is enabled. Go to File -> Project Settings… and click on the Expressions tab. Change the Expressions Engine from Legacy ExtendScript to JavaScript.
Forward Source Text only
This method has been available in After Effects for a long time, and many enterprising creators use it in their MoGRTS.
Create two text layers. For our example, we’ll name our layers “Parent” and “Child.” Pickwhip the Source Text of the second layer and drag it to the Source Text of the first layer. Voila! The second text layer now copies the Source Text of the first text layer.
You can copy and paste the expression from here: 2019 flu deaths in us.
thisComp.layer(“Parent”).text.sourceText
Forward text style only
We’ll continue where we left off in the previous example. In the Expressions Editor, simply add “.style” to the end of the expression. The second text layer now copies the text properties (style) of the first text layer. However, the Source Text remains separate.
You can copy and paste the expression from here:
thisComp.layer(“Parent”).text.sourceText.style
Forward Source Text & style
This one’s going to be more challenging, and we’ll have to combine our previous examples to accomplish it.
In the Expressions Editor, we’ll create two variables with custom names. Coding best practice is to give meaningful, self-explanatory names when creating custom variables. So we’ll create one variable named “parentText” to get the Source Text, and one variable named “parentStyle” to get the style of the Source Text.
var parentText = thisComp.layer(“Parent”).text.sourceText;
var parentStyle = thisComp.layer(“Parent”).text.sourceText.style;
Now we’re going to copy the text style properties from the “Parent” text layer via expressions. Hit Enter in the Expressions Editor to add a third line, and type in:
parentStyle.setText( parentText )
Once set up, the second text layer will copy all text style properties and the Source Text from the first text layer. Here is another way to write the expression and achieve the same result:
style = thisComp.layer(“Parent”).text.sourceText.getStyleAt(0); style.setText(thisComp.layer(“Parent”).text.sourceText);
By using “.getStyleAt()”, you are getting the style of a particular character index at a particular time. In this case, “.getStyleAt(0)” is getting the style of the character “P” because its character index in the word “Parent” is 0. Using “.style” is the same as using “.getStyleAt(0).” These techniques just scratch the surface of what is possible with text expressions.
More information on expressions for text properties can be found at the HelpX page.
Dropdown Menu Expression Controls
MoGRT creators have long used Sliders for toggling between multiple designs. When designing several options in a MoGRT, After Effects 17.0 has a new feature to familiarize yourself with.
Checkboxes are appropriate for On/Off states, such as flipping on or off the stroke of a text layer.
Sliders are appropriate for ranges of minimum and maximum values, such as the padding of a text box.
The new Dropdown Menu Control is appropriate for selection from a limited number of options.
How to set up a Dropdown Menu
In this example, we’ll learn how to reposition a layer to four different positions on the screen, like in the GIF above. Citrix mac workspace.
Create a New Composition with dimensions 1920x1080px. Create a new Null Object and apply the Dropdown Menu Control effect to it (Effect -> Expression Controls -> Dropdown Menu Control).
In the Effect Controls panel, select the Dropdown Menu Control and click on Edit… Click the “+” button in the top-right of the dialog box to add Item 4. Click on Item 1 and rename it to “Bottom-Left.” Rename all other items to reflect their position. Always rename the Dropdown Menu Control items to something that reflects the contents best.
Create a new text layer. Hit “p” on your keyboard for Position, and alt-click the stop-watch to the right of the word “position” to add an expression. To move the layer’s Position based on our Dropdown Menu, we’re going to write a switch statement:
In the Expression Editor, copy the following expression snippet:
menu = thisComp.layer(“Null 1”).effect(“Dropdown Menu Control”)(“Menu”).value;
switch (menu)
{
case 1: [192,972];
break;
case 2: [1344,972];
break;
case 3: [192,162];
break;
default: [1344,162]
};
The item names of the Dropdown Menu are not read by the expression. Instead, it is reading the index, meaning the hierarchal position of the menu item in the list (1, 2, 3, etc.). If no case (number) is matched, then the default code is executed. For our example, case 1 is “Bottom-Left,” case 2 is “Bottom-Right,” case 3 is “Top-Left,” and default is “Top-Right.” The values inside the square brackets are the positions that the layer will move to.
In the Effect Controls panel select the Dropdown Menu Control. Right-click the Menu property (A) and select Add Property to Essential Graphics.
In the Essential Graphics panel, hit Export Motion Graphics Template > OK. Fire up Premiere 2020, import your newly created MoGRT, and see the Dropdown Menu in action!
For more information on drop-downs,see the HelpX page.
Cover image via
Learn about methods you can use to animate your own photographs in After Effects. Free project file included.
There are many different ways to animate a 2D photograph. So, instead of animating one specific photo, let’s learn about the techniques that go into animating a photograph. Hopefully, afterward you’ll have a better idea about which methods will work best for your own photos.
Let’s start animating! (If you want to follow along, download the free project file!)
Download the Free Project Files
Click the button below to download the free pack of 2D Photo Animation Project Files. In the download, you’ll find everything you need to try out the techniques in the tutorial.
DOWNLOAD FREE 2D PHOTO ANIMATION PROJECT FILES
By downloading, you agree not to resell or redistribute these free assets.
Masking Photographs
Once you’ve decided what you’d like to animate in your photograph, you will likely need to mask it out. Masking out our subject allows us to separate them from the background. You can mask out your subject using the Pen Tool and tracing an outline around them.
When you do this, I recommend turning on the RotoBezier function, which will smooth the tracing line between each mask point. This will give the mask a more natural appearance.
While masking, zoom in as close as you can on your image, and work in short segments. This will speed up the masking process and make it easy to follow the outline of the subject.
How to Fill in Backgrounds
Once you’ve masked out your subject, you’ll need to fill in the area on the background where you removed them. (Otherwise, you’re left with a hole in the background!)
To do this, you can use the Content Aware Fill in After Effects. Open Content Aware Fill, select your background image, then just click Generate Fill Layer. This will automatically create a new layer to fill in the hole on the background.
If the results from Content Aware Fill are not optimal, you can also try using the Clone Stamp Tool to paint in the background. I also recommend applying a Camera Lens Blur effect on the background, if needed.
Creating Depth and Parallax
After Effects 2020 Getintopc
To create some depth with our 2D photo animation, all we need to do is keyframe the Scale of our layers. Objects closer to the camera should scale more over time than objects further away. This creates parallax, giving the illusion of depth on our 2D layers. For example: Scale your subject up 10% during the animation, but only scale the background up 5%.
Using the Puppet Tool
You can also add subtle movements to your subject layer using the Puppet Tool. Select the Puppet Tool and add pin points to your subject. You can then keyframe animation on those points over time. This creates the look of super slow motion. Be sure to use the Puppet Tool sparingly—less is usually more!
Accenting with Footage
![After Effects 2020 After Effects 2020](/uploads/1/1/8/2/118223935/325177856.jpg)
By far the easiest way to animate your 2D photos is by accenting them with footage elements. These can be things like dust, light rays, and fog. A lot of these assets are also available for free!
Rocketstock has two freebie packs that work great. The first is their free Prism Bokeh Overlays. These are perfect for accenting holiday, luxury, or wedding photos.
The second free pack from Rocketstock is their Volumetric Light and Dust Overlays. These are perfect for landscapes, portraits, or dramatic photographs.
Finally, PremiumBeat also has a free pack of 4K Fog Overlays. All of these assets help add secondary movement, which will go a long way with your photo animations.
Interested in the royalty-free tracks we used to make this video? Give them another listen:
- “Ocean Tranquility” by Cymatix
- “Lo Fi Waves” by Origami Pigeon
- “Chilling in the West Indies” by Mattijs Muller
- “Lo Fi Beach Dawn” by Trending Music
- “Influencers” by FASSounds
After Effects 2020 Download
Cover image via Diego Cervo.