Aetuts+ is a site made to house and showcase some of the best After Effects tutorials around.
We publish tutorials that not only produce great effects, but explain them in a friendly,
approachable manner. We also stock up links to tutorials, articles, presets and plugins from around
the web to help you get the most out of After Effects.
01. Create a Breakup into Particles Logo Transition
A very popular request is how to make a logo breakup into particles and reform into another logo.
There's many ways to achieve this and most of them require a full 3D application, but in this
tutorial we learn how to achieve it all in After Effects using a 3D particle systems and a few smoke
and mirrors.
Author: Lloyd
I am the editor of Aetuts+. I also run AESCRIPTS.com which provides useful scripts for Adobe After
Effects. You can follow me on Twitter @aescripts
02. Create an Illuminating “Light Painting” Effect
You've surely seen a "light painting" photograph by now. Sprint made it very popular in their latest
advertising campaign, but it's been around for a long time, Picasso made a light painting in 1949. In
this tutorial Ben shows us how to easily recreate this effect using particles in After Effects.
Author: Ben McEwan
Ben McEwan grew up in Canberra, Australia. He started learning visual effects from a young age and
persistantly followed his dreams. Today, Ben does freelance work for feature films, short films and
television programs, and one day hopes to win an Academy Award.
This effect is loosely based off the traditional method of shooting still photographs with a slow
exposure to capture the motion path of a light. This tutorial is filled with many small tips and
tricks for Adobe After Effects to enhance the average user's knowledge and speed up their workflow.
If you would like some footage to experiment with, you can download the footage here
03. Create a Stunning Website Demo Presentation
As our world moves more and more onto the internet there are lots of websites that are worth showing
off. In this tutorial Markus shows us how to create a clean and elegant solution to show off your
favorite site.
Author: Markus Gustafsson
Visit my portfolio at NinjaEffects.com.
04. Create an Elegantly Handwritten Text Reveal
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.
Author: Jurrien Boogert
24 years old student in animation with the focus on motion design always looking out for freelance
jobs who, besides making things move, also loves producing music.
05. Design an Awesome 80’s Inspired Title Animation
We are very happy to welcome Nick Campbell (aka The Greyscale Gorilla) to the Aetuts+ family. He's an
incredibly talented designer and a fantastic teacher. In his first tutorial for us he shows us how to
create this awesome 80's style title animation. He covers a whole bunch of awesome little tips that
are sure be useful on any After Effects project.
Author: Nick Campbell
My name is Nick Campbell and greyscalegorilla is my photoblog. I currently live in Chicago and work
at Digital Kitchen as a Motion Designer. I get a kick out of solving problems.
06. Create a Breathtakingly Awesome Rain Scene - Day 1
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.
Author: Alex Verlan
Hello! I'm from Ukraine. I've been in love with After Effects and motion graphic design for 2 years.
It is and stays my hobby, however last year I started working as a freelance motion graphic designer.
07. Create a Breathtakingly Awesome Rain Scene - Day 2
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.
Author: Alex Verlan
Hello! I'm from Ukraine. I've been in love with After Effects and motion graphic design for 2 years.
It is and stays my hobby, however last year I started working as a freelance motion graphic designer.
08. Create an Ethereal Morphing Letter Canvas
Once in a while a new (or in this case very rarely used) technique appears on the scene and suddenly
you start seeing it everywhere. Well we have a feeling that this is going to be one of those. In this
tutorial Satya shows us how to use the built-in radio waves plugin to create an incredibly beautiful
and ethereal animation of morphing letters.
Author: Satya Meka
Satya Meka is a 19yrs old aspiring motion designer who is willing to work with interesting people. He
believes Math and Art are related to each other and he is passionate about moving things.
Preview Versions Note: We are transitioning to a new video player so we are posting the preview in
two different formats to see which version works best for everyone. If you can see one version but
not the other please let us know in the comments.
09. Create a Mysterious Smoky Logo Reveal
In this fun tutorial, Adam walks us through the write-on effect as well as a new way to implement
trapcode's particular to create the popular simulation of an appearing wisp of smoke. He shows us
some options to this effect as well how to customize any logo apply these principles in any way you
wish.
Author: Adam Everett Miller
Originally from MN, Adam moved to VA in 2004 to go to Liberty University. While there he met some
rocking friends, had some fun and learned a lot. He worked for the school for a while helping with
their promo videos and now is the Video Director of Hello Marketing in Lynchburg, VA.
10. Create a Beautifully Animated Faux 3D Flower Scene
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.
Author: Tan Wei Yan
A CG & Motion Graphics Designer. Freelancing on Motion Graphics Projects.
11. Play with Fire to Create a Fiery Logo Transition
Playing with fire will no longer get in trouble with your mother! High quality fluid dynamics has
traditionally been reserved for high end 3D applications, but in this tutorial we learn to harness
these simulations in After Effects to literally play with fire and create this fiery logo transition.
Author: Lloyd
I am the editor of Aetuts+. I also run AESCRIPTS.com which provides useful scripts for Adobe After
Effects. You can follow me on Twitter @aescripts
12. Learn how to Create Chromatic Aberration
Chromatic aberration is the failure of a lens to focus all colors to the same point. To a
cinematographer this can be an undesired effect, but in motion graphics it can be a very nice
addition. While it would be great to capture chromatic aberration naturally with real lenses, most
modern lenses aim to minimize this effect. This is why we are dedicating this tutorial to learning
how to recreate this phenomenon using built-in after effects plugins.
Author: Lloyd
I am the editor of Aetuts+. I also run AESCRIPTS.com which provides useful scripts for Adobe After
Effects. You can follow me on Twitter @aescripts
13. Animate Type the Old School Way
It's easy to get excited over the latest plugin or technology, but that inevitably leads to stuff
that all looks the same. So to get something new and original, sometimes you just need to go Old
School! Before computers, the way to produce type animations was to get creative with some props and
a camera. Lloyd shows us how to use some reflective paper and a camera to capture some very fresh
type animation. Of course he will also show you how to use After Effects as a finishing tool to bring
it all together; this is Aetuts+ after all!
Author: Lloyd
I am the editor of Aetuts+. I also run AESCRIPTS.com which provides useful scripts for Adobe After
Effects. You can follow me on Twitter @aescripts
14. Create a Dreamy Logo in the Clouds Animation
Markus is back to show us how to use a particle generator to create 3D clouds and use them as a
transitional device to reveal a logo.
Author: Markus Gustafsson
Visit my portfolio at NinjaEffects.com.
15. Create a “Day After Tomorrow” Inspired Instant Freeze Effect
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.
Author: Ben Wotton
Ben Wotton has a keen interest in Visual Effects and spends much of his time doing tests and thinking
up ideas for new ones. He has been accepted to study a Bachelor of Arts (Animation & Visual Effects)
at Charles Sturt University, Australia.
16. Create Your Own “Private Ryan” Movie Shot - Day 1
You don't have to be Steven Spielberg, you don't need millions of dollars, you don't even need more
than one actor to make your own war movie (well, one shot anyway). In this two day tutorial series,
Michal will show you how to create a realistic war movie shot using only one actor and a camera man.
Day 1 will show you: Color correction, realistic camera shake, and bullets hitting the ground on fast
footage. These are just pointers to lead you on your track to making convincing war movie visual
effects.
3... 2... 1... FIRE!
Author: Michal Jagiello
I'm interested in all aspects of moviemaking: shooting, mixing and camera operating, starting from
when the Matrix was released. For 3 years I've been recording some funny, amateur stuff. Now the time
has come for more serious work: time for compositing and adding video effects!
17. Create Your Own “Private Ryan” Movie Shot - Day 2
On day 2 of this charged tutorial, Michal will try to give you some insights and hints about gun
firings, ricochets and keying out soldiers to clone and paste them in to moving footage. So, needless
to say... just LOCK n' LOAD!
Author: Michal Jagiello
I'm interested in all aspects of moviemaking: shooting, mixing and camera operating, starting from
when the Matrix was released. For 3 years I've been recording some funny, amateur stuff. Now the time
has come for more serious work: time for compositing and adding video effects!
18. Simulate a Dramatic Underground Blast
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.
Author: Fred McCoy
Fred McCoy also known as Megalongcat is a Communication Design and Technology Major from Parsons
School of Design in New York City. He currently works for the website design company Blue Fountain
Media and runs the design criticism blog Megalongcat. His field of expertise includes Corporate
Branding, SEO Design, Front-End Web Development, Design Research, Ethical Design, Motion Graphics and
Design Critique.
19. Create an Old TV Footage Effect
You've probably seen other old TV effect tutorials before but in this tutorial Greg pays attention to
minute details like the RGB pixel separation and teaches us how to achieve this look using all
built-in After Effects tools.
Author: Greg DiGenti
Greg DiGenti is an artist who has been working in graphic design for years and has recently taken the
skills he learned working with Photoshop, illustrator, and Flash, and moved into the realm of motion
graphics and animation using After Effects as his primary tool. Though his career in this field has
been relatively short, he has already worked on several projects such as an animated viral marketing
piece for Sony BMG, an animated comic book for Studio 407, a book trailer, and several effects shots
and an animated credit sequence for a Wax Poetics/Fourth Density produced documentary. His portfolio
can be found at http://12gaugechicken.com.
20. Create a “Light-tastic” Logo Reveal Animation - Day 1
In this 2 part tutorial we get our hands dirty with a little expression math to create some
beautifully organic light streaks that are used to reveal the AETUTS logo. In part 1 Lloyd breaks
down the science behind creating a simple expression that drives the light streak emitter and shows
you how easy it is to create infinite variations with ease.
Author: Lloyd
I am the editor of Aetuts+. I also run AESCRIPTS.com which provides useful scripts for Adobe After
Effects. You can follow me on Twitter @aescripts
21. Create a “Light-tastic” Logo Reveal Animation - Day 2
In part 2 we learn how to use 32-bit compositing with custom particle shapes to create the
"light-tastical" light streaking logo reveal animation.
Author: Lloyd
I am the editor of Aetuts+. I also run AESCRIPTS.com which provides useful scripts for Adobe After
Effects. You can follow me on Twitter @aescripts
22. Create a Rhythmic ‘Beat-shake’ Effect
In this tutorial you'll learn how to make moving geometric shapes shake and shudder as if they've
been moved by the vibrations of a beat. You'll learn how to sync this effect to music and create the
building blocks of a stunning and futuristic music video.
Author: John Schlemmer
John loves making things move. Inspired by musical artists such as BT and Hecq, he constantly
continues to try out new styles of animation. When he's not messing around with After Effects or
Flash, he loves sitting down to watch a good episode of The Office, or trying to figure out which new
electronic gadget he should buy. Oh, and Legos. He loves Legos.
Make sure to watch the addendum posted below the tutorial where John explains how he used Photoshop
and After Effects to create the organic background that is used throughout the piece.
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