Realistic Basics Effects and Plugins
Hello everyone, this is your instructor, Choi Ji-won
In this session, we will cover
effects and plugins
Today's learning objectives are
Using the Distort effect,
we will practice creating a dreamy effect
to understand how effects work in After Effects
Secondly, by applying various plugins,
we will learn about the concept and usage of plugins
Understanding Effects and Plugins
First, let me introduce various effects
There are numerous effects available in After Effects
There are many effects that can be utilized
First, to access them,
In the Korean version, it is labeled as "효과 및 사전 설정"
In the English version, it appears as "Effect & Presets"
For those using the English version, you can find it in the right panel
You can check the "Effect & Presets" panel
For those using the Korean version, it is labeled as "효과 및 사전 설정"
There are various presets and effects available
And to apply the desired effect
drag it onto the layer in the timeline
and the effect will be applied
It is applied simply by dragging and dropping
Onto the layer in the timeline
Then, in the Effect Controls panel or directly in the timeline
you can adjust the detailed animation settings
Here are the steps
Find the effect in the Effects & Presets panel
Locate the effect and drag it onto the layer in the timeline
Drag and drop it into place
Then, the Effect Controls panel will appear in the upper-left section
There, you can apply detailed animations
You don't necessarily have to use the Effect Controls panel
The applied effect will also appear in the timeline panel
If you expand the effect settings,
you will see the detailed options
You can also work on them from there
This is how it looks
Animation Presets, 3D Channel
Which ones are used frequently?
The "Generate" effect is commonly used
The "Stylize" effect is also frequently used
"Distort" is another commonly used effect
"Keying," "Text," and "Blur & Sharpen" are also widely used
The most frequently used categories are
Generate, Stylize, Distort
Keying, Text, Blur & Sharpen
Is that all? No, it’s not
This is just a broad keyword
If you open "Generate," you’ll see effects related to generation
If you open "Stylize"
You’ll see effects related to stylization
The same goes for "Distort" and "Keying"
And also for "Channel"
We don’t have time to cover everything
But we will at least take a look at what’s included
Let’s go over them briefly
First, let’s talk about the "Distort" effects
I previously emphasized that this is frequently used
The distortion effect is called "왜곡" in Korean
For those using English, it will be labeled as "Distort"
Look for "왜곡" or "Distort"
Once you find it, you’ll see there are many distortion effects
There are so many, but I’ll introduce some frequently used ones
I’ll select a few to go over
If you look through them, you’ll find "Turbulent Displace," "Mesh Warp,"
"CC Lens," and "CC Bender"
First, the "CC Blobbylize" effect
It creates a rippling liquid effect on the image
It adds a motion that makes it look like liquid is rippling
Since it distorts the image, it is widely used
It is often used when creating dreamy or surreal effects
Next is "CC Lens"
This effect makes the subject stand out within a lens
Within a slightly spherical shape
It creates a dreamy motion effect
Next is "Displacement Map"
This one is a glitch effect
I’ll introduce these three effects
For those who have After Effects open,
try applying these effects to any file
and observe how each effect looks
It will be more effective if you check them as you follow along
Next, I’ll introduce the "Blur & Sharpen" effects
I’d like to introduce them to you
It appears as "흐림/선명" in Korean
In English, it is labeled as "Blur & Sharpen"
There are various effects under this category
They are often used when transitioning between scenes
or when you want to create a dreamy atmosphere
blur effects are commonly applied
There is also a camera shake effect
There are various effects that blur or sharpen an image
All of these are included in this effect category
A representative effect is "Compound Blur"
This effect applies mixed, composite, and pixel-based blurring
It reacts to another layer and blends the blur effect accordingly
It creates a spreading-in-water effect
That’s why it is a frequently used effect
Try typing "Compound Blur" in the effects panel
and see how it applies
Next, I mentioned earlier that this one is frequently used
This is the "Generate" effect
If you type "Generate" in English, you will find it immediately
If you scroll through, you will see various effects
There are effects like "CC Light Rays" and "Advanced Lighting"
"Beam", "Gradient Ramp", and so on
There are also line effects, so take a look through them
These effects are used for creating lines, lighting, and fills
They generate these types of effects
A representative one is "Stroke," which creates a drawing effect for lines
Next, there is "CC Light Rays"
This effect creates light beams
It allows lines to be drawn
These are the two main effects
Since they are frequently used, try clicking through all the "Generate" effects
and check how they appear when applied
Next is the "Stylize" effect, which is also widely used
If you type "스타일화" in Korean
Or "Stylize" in English, you will find it
It includes effects related to textures and posters
Most of these effects help create different texture styles
They include color, brush, texture, and poster effects
These are different types of style effects
For example, if you want to make a modern photo look vintage
or conversely, make an old photo look modern
or add a painted brush effect on a photo
or create an ink splatter effect where colors blend naturally,
These are the types of effects you can achieve
They create the effect of a painting being drawn
These effects stand out prominently
One of the most used is "Glow"
"Glow" creates a dreamy atmosphere using light
That’s why it is widely used
If you want to create a soft, sentimental feeling
applying the "Glow" effect will help achieve that
aside from these effects, there are also various plugins
There are both paid and free plugins available
There are also scripts available
By utilizing these, you can enhance your After Effects projects
and create more advanced effects
I have listed some below
Some are paid, and others are free
If you are interested, open your browser and
search for these keywords one by one
You can see what kind of effects these plugins provide
and be able to learn about these plugins
so I recommend searching for them at least once
Using effects and plugins
By utilizing various effects,
you can create more dynamic motion effects
We will do a simple practice to get familiar with these effects
This will help you naturally adapt to using them
In the file I provided, there is an avocado character
This avocado character is drawn as an AI file
It is designed with separated motion elements
Now, we will try adding some texture to it
Adding texture can make it feel more like a drawing
because it creates a hand-drawn effect
Let’s try adding an effect
You have multiple layers here all at once
If you want to apply texture to all these layers at once,
what should you do?
Clicking on each one individually to apply the texture
requires too much effort
Since you’re going to apply the same texture anyway,
doing it manually nine times is unnecessary work
To reduce that effort,
there is a concept called "Pre-compose"
If these layers have completed their individual adjustments,
drag your mouse over them like this
to select all of them,
or click one, hold Shift,
and click the last layer like this
This will select all layers
After selecting all, right-click on them
You see the menu, right?
In the menu, there is a function called "Pre-compose"
If you click on "Pre-compose"
a "New Composition Name" prompt appears
This is for naming the composition
Let’s name it "Texture Character"
After naming it, if you just press OK
it will now be grouped as "Texture Character"
it gets grouped inside the original composition
Now, let’s press Ctrl + Z and try again
Right-click while it’s grouped, then select "Pre-compose"
At the bottom, you’ll see "Open New Composition"
If you check this option,
write "Texture Character" and click OK
a new composition will be created,
and the layers will be moved inside it for editing
Now, let’s go back
If you click on the composition from before
you will see that it is now grouped as a composition
so, when setting up "Pre-compose"
if you select "New Composition" right away
it will create a new composition while keeping
the original one linked inside the main composition
This means your original composition will also include the pre-composed layer
If you wanted to create a new composition but forgot to check the option,
it’s okay even if you didn’t select it
In that case, let’s just delete it once
Instead, just double-click on "Texture Character"
It will open in a new tab
So, there are multiple ways to do this
If you need to modify a grouped composition later,
just open it and work inside it
So now, we have successfully grouped the layers
Now, we’re going to apply an effect to the entire character
As I mentioned earlier during the theory session,
at the top right, you’ll see "Effect & Presets"
If you're using Korean, it will say "효과 및 사전 설정"
type "Turbulent Displace" here
You’ll see two options: "Turbulent Displace" and "Noise"
Since we’re using distortion,
select "Turbulent Displace"
How do we apply it?
You can drag it onto the "Texture Character" like this
Without even going to the timeline,
you can just apply it here
You can also apply it directly to the composition
Once you’ve done that, in the "Texture Effect Practice" section,
the effects will appear in the "Effect Controls" panel
we’re going to adjust some details of the effect here
Right now, the distortion is a bit too intense
The displacement is set to "Turbulent" at the moment
We’re going to make it smoother
Let’s switch to "Bulge Smoother"
This will slightly adjust the effect
For the amount setting,
it’s currently set to 50
Click on it, type 70, and press Enter
Next, for the size setting,
the distortion is too strong, so we’ll reduce it significantly
Let’s set it to 4, okay now it’s set to 4
Next, set "Complexity" to 6
The higher the complexity, the more rigid it gets, so set it to 6
Next, we’re going to keyframe the "Evolution" setting
Start at 0 at frame 0,
Then at about frame 15, set it to 30
Press the spacebar and see the result
This once plain character now looks like a hand-drawn image
It has changed to look like a crayon-drawn character
Using "Turbulent Displace" among the distortion effects,
we’ve created a sketched line effect
Now, let’s add an effect to text
We’re going to create a new composition
What was the shortcut? Ctrl + N
Press Ctrl + N and in the "Composition Name" field,
and type "Text Effect"
or type "Text Effect Practice"
Next, set the resolution to 1920x1080
With the width 1920, height 1080
set the duration to 10 seconds
Click OK, and you’ll get a wide screen
We’re going to create a solid layer, so press Ctrl + Y
Name the solid "Dark Background"
and set the color to black (000000) and create it
Now, we have a black background
We’re going to write text directly on this background
To write text, you see the "T" icon on the toolbar, right?
You can click and drag with it
or you can press Ctrl + T
Press Ctrl + T and proceed like this
You can type whatever you want to write here first
Because I am happy to meet you
I will write "nice to meet you"
I will increase the size to make it more visible
When you activate the text,
on the right side of the text,
you can see a space where you can edit the text
You can increase the size like this
Let's also change the position
I'll move it to the center
This text is also sized at
around 200 font size
I’ll place it in the center like this
I'm going to group this
I will pre-compose it and name it "nice to meet you"
then, press "OK"
Then, a new composition will be created
but if we go back to where we were,
you will see it has turned into a composition
Here, you can press Ctrl + D to duplicate it
We're going to make a duplicate
To open the "Effect & Presets" panel,
the shortcut key is Ctrl + O
Press Ctrl + O and search for an effect here
We will apply the "CC Radial Fast Blur" effect
Search for "CC Radial Fast Blur" and once it appears
apply it to the lower composition
You can see the effect here, let's increase the "Amount"
It is currently set to 50, so let's increase it to 90
Now, move the center point inward
If you move it along the X-axis like this,
placing it in the center would create a stronger effect
And change the setting to "Brightest"
We will add a slight animation while it is selected
Move the center position from "갑"
to "니", if you move it to "니"
press the spacebar, and you'll see it move like this
You can see it moving, right?
Now, take the animated composition
and press Ctrl + D to duplicate it
Overlap this duplicated layer slightly
and I will change the center value
for this one, at around 5 seconds, move it from "반"
to "습"
This way, the lights will intersect,
and you'll see the light moving differently than before
now you can see the effect
Next, select the compositions with applied effects
hold Shift and select both
We're going to change the opacity
Set the opacity value to about 50
Changing it to 50 reduces the excessive light blur
If you change the input value while selecting both,
you will see that both are applied simultaneously
Let's take a look
It looks like this
Check how the effects are appearing
Make sure everything works up to this point
Now, we will add another effect
Since the search bar is open, let's search for "Fill"
Search for "Fill"
Once you search, "Fill" will appear,
this "Fill" effect will be applied to a blank composition
We will apply it like this
once applied, you’ll see the color appear
This is an effect that fills the text
It fills the text, but it looks too overwhelming
In the effect controls, change the red color to black
Then, press "OK"
Now, select the two layers below together
select layers 2 and 3
Here, go to "Mode" and select "Add"
we will choose "Add"
Let's try it
The light is now behind the text
This makes the effect feel more intense
Using this effect, we can create intro videos
or animation videos with typography-based intros
It will be very useful for an opening effect
By using this gradually intersecting light effect,
we have created an effect that highlights the text
In this lesson, we explored the concept of effects
and used the "Distort" effect among various types of effects
to create a dreamy effect
We also introduced useful plugins
that can make complex effects easier to create
since there are many, practicing each one
while working will be very helpful
Now, let’s review what we’ve learned today
and wrap up the session, thank you
Understanding Effects and Plugins
Effects: apply desired effects by dragging them onto a layer in the timeline
Effects can be adjusted in the effect control panel or directly in the layer settings in the timeline
Main effects: distort, blur & sharpen, generate, stylize
Plugins: use paid/free plugins and scripts to create advanced effect
Using effects and plugins
Creating texture with the "turbulent displace" effect
Search for "turbulent displace" in the effects & presets panel, then drag and drop it onto the composition
Adjust the displacement, amount, size, and complexity values
Emphasizing text with the "CC radial fast blur" effect
Search for "CC radial fast blur" in the effects & presets panel,
then adjust the amount and center values