Book Image

Creative Motion Mastery with Adobe After Effects

By : Vishu Aggarwal
Book Image

Creative Motion Mastery with Adobe After Effects

By: Vishu Aggarwal

Overview of this book

Visual effects and motion graphics are everywhere, shaping the film, TV, games, websites, and application landscape. Navigating a field this complex and ever-expanding demands more than mere familiarity with tools; you need to stand out to get ahead. Creative Motion Mastery with Adobe After Effects is the definitive guide that not only equips you with the essential skills to distinguish yourself, but also takes you through real projects that you can add to your portfolio. Guided by a hands-on learning approach, you'll master the UI, workflow, and diverse projects such as text animation, shape layers, and rotoscoping. With this newfound knowledge, you’ll take your graphic design and post-production skills to the next level using chroma keying, particle simulations, and 2D and 3D tracking. You’ll progress faster than someone taking a formal course in Adobe After Effects! And it’s not all about creating; you’ll import graphics from Illustrator and Photoshop and apply post-production effects to give them a new life. Finally, you’ll discover how seamlessly you can export and manage your projects, ensuring end-to-end coverage of all you need. By the end of the book, you’ll have a thorough understanding of Adobe After Effects, equipped with the skills and practice you need to propel your career in graphic design.
Table of Contents (18 chapters)
1
Part 1: Working with Motion Graphics
8
Part 2: Post-Production and Visual Effects
13
Part 3: 2D and 3D Tracking, and Rendering

Creating fire and smoke simulations

Let’s add fire and smoke simulations in the War Scene composition using CC Particle System II. CC Particle Systems II is a powerful tool that can be used to create a wide variety of effects. It is also relatively easy to use due to its simple settings and pre-built presets, and you get immediate visual feedback.

Adding a smoke simulation

First, we will add a smoke simulation using CC Particle Systems II effects in After Effects.

Follow these steps to create a smoke simulation:

  1. Right-click in the War Scene composition, then go to the New | Solid... option.
  2. In the Solid Settings dialog box, change Name to Smoke and Color to # 000000 and click OK.
  3. Keep the Smoke layer selected, go to the Effect menu, and select Simulation | CC Particle Systems II.
  4. In the Effect Controls panel, reveal the Producer settings of CC Particle Systems II. Producer refers to an element or component that generates or emits particles.
  5. Change...