After Effects Tutorial: Psychedelic Flowy Animation

[@noagendasevenseven1231]

For anybody following this using AE 2023 they have changed where the Luma track matte is. I got it to work by Changing mode to Luminescent Premul, then change the track matte to your precomp, THEN you have click the box next to it to switch to Luma matte. I am sure this is going to trip (no pun intended) some people up. Why does adobe always change things lol Great video! Subscribed!

[@NobleCreativeCo]

Thank you for that note, @Guide Guru! It's true that these updates happen so often it's hard to keep up :)

[@AceCmbatguy25]

Well sure but it's much better now imo lol

[@warpig2786]

thanks. i really appreciate your reasoning/justifications behind every move that you made while the tutorial lasted! trial and error baby. im just too impatient at times.. good job!

[@MarshalFrank]

Simple and Clear, thank u!

[@planecuadorvideo9281]

Nice effect my dude, super simple and cool.

[@affable.pebble]

That's a lovely animation, a very concise explanation, too, thanks a bunch!

[@RickStLouis-xh4zh]

A quick an easy tutorial for a pretty dope effect. Thanks for sharing dude!

[@martabrejnakowska]

that's what i needed. thank you!

[@TalimTay]

Thank you! Needed this!

[@polkadot2151]

Great tutorial! It really helped me. Thanks a lot! ♥

[@deepakk6033]

thank you

[@LouisLengkey]

Nice tutorial, hope you can do more tutorial 🙏

[@christincimdata4699]

Wow, this helped me a lot!

[@animamundi9652]

Good stuff

[@schoukah]

This is awesome! Thank you so much!

[@kupi_cheeseburger]

wooow thank you!!!

[@npurkis]

super cool, thank you! :)

[@maxtatoolille]

Nice video :) Is it possible to add a shadow on every form to make like a paper cut effect ?

[@NobleCreativeCo]

Hi @maxtatoolille! Thank you for the kind words! That's absolutely possible! The way we'd go about it is as follows: 1. Assuming you already have one of the swirl mask layers in the timeline (per the tutorial), drag another instance of the same swirl comp to the timeline. Instead of using it as a mask, leave it visible. 2. With that new instance selected, use the original swirl mask layer as a Luma Track Matte for this new instance. 3. Apply a drop shadow effect by right-clicking the new instance, going to Layer Styles, then Drop Shadow 4. Set your drop shadow properties as preferred. 5. Under the Layer Styles effect within your layer, twirl down Blending Options, then Advanced Options, and set the Fill Opacity to 0%. That should effectively create the illusion of a drop shadow for each swirl layer. You can repeat that for every swirl mask. Hope that helps! Happy Animating!

[@natemmett]

could anyone help me figure out how to add more "bands" to this animation?

[@NobleCreativeCo]

Hey there @natemmett! We'd be happy to help: under the "Fractal Noise" setting, try cranking up the Contrast value, and you should get more bands. Hope that's what you're looking for!

[@lunimaxedits6235]

I LOVE YOU

[@Ajaysoni-xx1hm]

Make more tutorial ❤️

[@yazeedhaidaoui189]

Thank you for the tutorial! When I export, I'm still getting the pixelated edges of each shape. How did you end up with such smooth edges?

[@NobleCreativeCo]

Hi Yazeed, First, make sure that your composition is high-resolution enough. The size of the composition from this tutorial was 1920x1080 (HD). Even if your main composition is smaller, make sure that the compositions with this effect is at least high-definition. The Threshold effect also inherently produces somewhat jagged edges. We applied some VHS effects, which added a slight blur to the animation, and therefore made it look less a bit less pixelated / jagged. You can also try using the Levels effect instead of Threshold, and move the black and white points very close to each other. This will produce a similar effect, but gives you a bit more control over how sharp it is. Alternatively, you can also try using a box blur to soften the sharpness of the shapes. Hopefully one of these suggestions helps! Happy Animating!

[@rambellastudios1040]

I was wondering if its possible if the lava lamp can change into simplified animal faces? Can that be done in After Effects?

[@NobleCreativeCo]

Hi, Rambella Studios! I'm sure it's possible in After Effects! We would likely go about doing something like that manually, using shape layers, and keyframing their paths. Let us know if you figure something out! Happy Animating :)

[@niu1909]

how do I let text get affected/distorted by the flowy animation?

[@NobleCreativeCo]

Hey there! Thank you for watching our tutorial! Here's one way to effect text within the swirls: 1. Copy the solid color layer and Fractal Noise effect from the color band you're trying to have change the text. 2. Create a new composition, add your text, then paste the solid color layer (with the Fractal Noise effect) below your text layer(s). 3. In the Fractal Noise effect options (within this new composition), change Contrast to 1500, Brightness to 0, and Overflow to Soft Clamp. This should soften the effect from what it was before. 4. Add the Displacement Map effect to all of your text layers a. Within this effect's options, change the Displacement Map Layer to your solid color layer with the new Fractal Noise effects. Also change the Source dropdown to Effects & Masks. b. Change "Use for Horizontal Displacement" option to Luminance (and do the same for "Use for Vertical Displacement" c. Change Max Horizontal (and Vertical) Displacement to 150 (this may affect performance) d. Change Displacement Map Behavior to "Stretch Map to Fit" 5. Now your text should react to the same motion as your main comp's swirling! Play with using duplicates of your solid color layer as Track Mattes to get some additional great effects! Happy Animating!

[@nicolehines4418]

Hey this might be a silly question. But what app or system are you using? Am I able to download? And does it cost anything to get?

[@NobleCreativeCo]

Not silly at all! We're using Adobe After Effect CC (2021) on a Mac. You can purchase just After Effects for $20.99/mo. from Adobe's website. Hope this helps you on your animating journey!

[@nicolehines4418]

@@NobleCreativeCo it totally does! Thank you ☺️ for taking the time to respond. Do you know if I’m able to get it on iPad Pro? I have the 5th gen 😬😅 something I’ll have to search 🔍. I’m trying to create these effects for meditation clips on KZbin.

[@NobleCreativeCo]

That's great @@nicolehines4418! Unfortunately, at this time, there doesn't appear to be official support for After Effects on the iPad Pro. Best of luck!

[@sillyjennymedia2507]

Someone better know what they are doing before they do your tutorial. We'd better understand how a pre-comp works first.

[@GreciaUrdapilleta]

OMG thank you, this was exactly what I was looking for and worked perfectly

[@NobleCreativeCo]

So glad we could help! Happy Animating :)