Create a Kaleidoscope (Mandala) in After Effects

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Create a simple kaleidoscope using the mirror effect in Adobe After Effects. This demonstration covers the basics of the mirror effect and walks you through creating a radial kaleidoscope pattern.
Understanding the mirror effect in After Effects takes just a bit of practice and good old trial and error. Getting familiar with the reflection point and how to set the reflection angle empowers you to create your own trippy kaleidoscope visualizations.
Edit: I should have named this "create a mandala visualization", since that is what this actually is. A kaleidoscope works somewhat differently.
I use an example taken from a music video I created for mister88keys • Havana - Camila Cabell...
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[@NBCmotion]

the meat of the tutorial begins at 1:13

[@SiriusEntertainmentibiza]

its cause you have said on the video you gonna make another one more focused on the animation i think.. can be? maybe i am wrong..

[@santiagoolivera8576]

Can I just say I love the way you did this tutorial? No intro, right to the action, everything detailed and as soon as you're done, the video ends Keep going dude!

[@rrdeville]

Yes, this was how tutorials should be done

[@benwalkeryt]

Just for anyone watching, it you can actually just type "+15" or "+30" (or -, * etc.) into any value in AE and the programme will do the calculation for you.

[@Mary-ch7ph]

I love your attitude, its so real and relatable. Thanks for the tutorial

[@judydydydydydy]

I rarely comment, but I like the way you speak and this is a really good and interesting tutorial! Thank you.

[@AudioSoulHealing]

Really unique approach and use of the mirror effect thanks for showing that!

[@mihaiwilson]

Great tip! You can make some really interesting fractal-like patterns with this and odd numbers and placements.

[@esliz6499]

yes keep making videos! love your personality haahha such a joy to watch. the dry humour is great.

[@jamesdawe]

Thank you for your advice @NBC motion😁

[@abbyschneider4644]

thanks so much for this!! every other after effects video i watch starts with like a 25 minute intro before we get to the problem im trying to solve , so frustrating thank you for just getting right to it!!

[@tarr0]

Amazing! Thanks for sharing this technique, it really help me!

[@GastonBiagiottiGBImagen]

THANK YOU SO MUCH, YOU SAVED MY LIFE

[@rheibez]

thank you so much, it helped me a lot!

[@nurasyrof]

Thank you so much, straight to the point, love it

[@Maik1968]

Perfect , such a nice idea and super easy to understand and rebuild with your explanation 👍👍 thanks for teaching 🙏

[@studiospeets]

Short, clear, easy. Thanks for the tutorial!

[@thedevo01]

Thank you! I like your casual style. Subbed!

[@IITaDHGdALToNII]

i never thought to look this up but this was amazing. Thank you

[@albalangedesign]

Appreciated tempo of this!

[@2TdLAEQQ]

So easy to understand! Thanks :D

[@tejasrawat6181]

Short and sweet tutorial. Thanks

[@bangsart13]

THANKS MAN! Really hopeful

[@flavia22981]

Thank you soo much that was super helpful. The effects are way more awesome than the presets :)

[@rajathilakeratne6242]

simple and easy for any beginner. Thank for your tutorial.

[@bleedrwn]

a simpler way is to add motion tile, increase the tile width and height and add polar displacement :)

[@NBCmotion]

I'll have to give that a try

[@fastertrackcreative]

This is excellent thank you! I saved the mirrors as an animation preset (as "Mandala") so I can easily apply them to any project :). I found a photo of lavender flowers creates a nice effect. I also animated a Null instead of the image itself and just link the image on (parent). That way I can easily swap them out without having to re-animate. I'm currently trying to find an image that has the desired effect. Shared to an AE subreddit if they'll let me.

[@pi198273]

Just perfect really

[@divinevex]

Thnx very much for the insight, sir. Greeting fr Thailand.

[@MeditacionKabbalah]

podes enseñar el que mostraste en el 1:09

[@WOOLEEzip]

i just Subscribed u thanks for the genius content!!

[@drokapedesign]

Thanks man, that's right what I wanted.

[@reyreypaulsen]

Youre a legend🔥

[@ginnavivaldi]

OMG thanks, this is so pretty cool

[@nouvalrizky3426]

really helpful! thanks for the tutorial

[@ChrrZ]

great tutorial! many thanks

[@AHIVASTUDIOS]

great! was looking just this...

[@ummehabiba4994]

Thank you so much It was really helpful

[@nakulll]

Thank you!!

[@SergioZuleta]

Nice! is it possible to use a comp with a video so the images inside could be also animated?

[@NBCmotion]

Yes! It looks amazing with video

[@Scriptionz]

Thank you so much

[@KarolínaUherčíková]

superhelpful:) thanks

[@Lightcode]

wonderful! yet I wonder has any [pc / android ] app been created to do only this? I dont need the other functionality or cost of AE. Maybe you have made an "actions" template? I'd buy that!

[@NBCmotion]

I made another video creating a kaleidoscope with Blender, which is free: kzbin.info/www/bejne/r6W2g39urs-AhKs

[@Lightcode]

@@NBCmotion I watched that thank you. A little bit too complex for me but I do appreciate the work you're doing. And as others have said, you are a great teacher

[@ClayIdeas]

how to duplicate effect there is no option

[@NBCmotion]

select the effect and key command/control - D to duplicate.

[@ClayIdeas]

@@NBCmotion Thanks working

[@tspirit]

nice nice nice thx!!!!!!!!!!!

[@annasbiq]

Thank you dude

[@tankietluu6895]

Thank you so much!!!

[@lumatar1535]

Nice, Thanks!

[@mastermeatball4645]

can I use an MP4 in place of an image so the kaleidoscope moves on its own?

[@NBCmotion]

Yes, absolutely!

[@barsik1923]

thank you really usefull

[@Uthu777]

Thank you so much Sir!

[@shadowschoon1257]

I'm trying to do multiple pictures. How would I make one adj. layer bigger for the background to cover my whole comp? been trying everything

[@NBCmotion]

If you followed along the tutorial, you end up with one adjustment layer that covers the whole comp. so you should be able to throw any number of images under it and have them show up. Just make sure the images pass under the small slice of the comp that is getting reflected (in this case, the top and just right of center)

[@lewshawashington8243]

thanks dude

[@mariadouni3980]

Hello and thank you for this useful tutorial. Can you please tell me how can i make the result of the first 3 sec of your video. Because i made the tutorial but i didn't understand how i can make it to look in 1920x1080. Can you please give me an answer?

[@NBCmotion]

Hi Maria! You could try a few different techniques to achieve the wide frame. In every case, it's good to work with the first mandala/kaleidoscope comp pre-composed inside your 1920x1080 comp. With your square comp in the center, you can duplicate the pre-comp layer and move each copy to surround the original, manually positioning each copy in a ring. You could also use the mirror effect to reflect the center comp along each of its outer edges. This gets tricky, but it can be done.

[@ukrainethefuture1101]

Very nice. Keep up 👍

[@galefraney]

Wonderful !

[@taegenmcshane]

So when you move the image layer around to create the kaleidoscope effect how would I then capture that effect as a video or image and export it?

[@NBCmotion]

You need to create key frames. Set a position key frame at the beginning of your comp timeline, then move ahead a second (for example), move the image, and set another key frame.

[@Flinefilms]

Obrigado por compartilhar! Excelente.

[@NBCmotion]

Valeu, amigo!

[@SiriusEntertainmentibiza]

hey bro , did you make the video splaining how to do the mandala animation?

[@NBCmotion]

Yes. This video.

[@SiriusEntertainmentibiza]

@@NBCmotion check minute 1.08 you said you gonna make another video for that other type of kaleidoscope

[@NBCmotion]

@@SiriusEntertainmentibiza yes, I did say that. and I made this: kzbin.info/www/bejne/r6W2g39urs-AhKs

[@Cyberpunk-sk2gp]

10/10 thanks

[@Uthu777]

How do I create one to cover all view of a 720 resolution intead of just circular, with a black border?

[@VideosByNate]

What I do is precompose the mandala/kaleidoscope in a larger comp (in your case I would probably make it 1440x1440), then import that as a layer in the output comp of your desired resolution. You can scale it as needed to fit.

[@Uthu777]

@@VideosByNate Thanks bro. That make sense.

[@AkshaySharmaakkiikka0]

Big thumbs up 👍

[@GunjanAh]

How do i change colours as the video goes on?

[@NBCmotion]

You can try adding a hue/saturation effect and animating the hue value

[@abdullahsafwat]

I FOLLOW U DEEP SEA MAN!

[@kaleidoscopemusicalcolorid9799]

Olá NBC, eu ativei o som da sua guia para ver o tutorial. Têm pessoas que não sabem fazer isso. Ative sempre a guia novamente depois de compartilhar! O seu vídeo estava sem som!

[@NBCmotion]

Eu não entendi. O quê é a guia? O vídeo estava sem som?

[@backwoodmenace]

Good video

[@klarawhite]

Great!

[@totalbingshow8564]

Did not show end result. The finished product must be shown at the end. I am absolute learner. how do you animate anything there.

[@NBCmotion]

This video is intended for after effects users who already have the fundamental abilities to animate layer scale, position and rotation. I explain at the end that you can do any basic animation within this setup and get a result. The final product is whatever you decide it will be. I showed an example at the beginning of the video, and at 2:45 I demonstrate some simple movement. I'm sorry to not conform to your every expectation, but you should be able to figure this out.

[@sarehk2676]

Thank youuuu

[@amaurylerouxdupeyron4523]

nice bro

[@ОксанаМеленте]

Cool

[@IMSI23]

Hey Guys! Does anybody know how to make a kaleidoscope react to music?

[@NBCmotion]

You can find some good tutorials out there for waveform animation. Apply those techniques to position, scale and rotation properties in a kaleidoscope and you're on your way

[@derekflow]

@@NBCmotion I'm also thinking of some ideas for this; that method works, but I'm getting pretty mixed results, just seems either extreme or too subtle. Would it be a good idea to export audio cue tracks, like a metronome backing track, like every 4 measure or 16 measures... etc, to be able to get more accurate changes in time with the music?

[@NBCmotion]

@@derekflow Sure, for the best results you'll want to manually animate to music, and having a waveform in your timeline helps a ton. if you select your audio file in the layer stack and hit L twice it will bring up the waveform in the timeline

[@yenomecirxiii7167]

thanks :D

[@anishnaik4663]

How to put this in circular motion

[@NBCmotion]

One way would be to precompose the whole thing and rotate it inside another comp. I suppose you could try rotating the mirror adjustment layer, too

[@anishnaik4663]

@@NBCmotion thank you so much

[@anishnaik4663]

@@NBCmotion also I want it in the shape of circle (Can I contact you on Instagram?)

[@NBCmotion]

To make the frame a circle, deselect all layers, double-click the shape layer button in the upper left (make sure the ellipse shape is selected). Then set the new circle layer's blend mode to "stencil alpha" (make sure it's the top layer in your comp)

[@anishnaik4663]

@@NBCmotion thanksagain

[@misaelhendirkus9830]

have you ever heard of cc kalaeida?

[@NBCmotion]

Yes I have. It's useful, but limited. This mirror technique is a bit more flexible.

[@misaelhendirkus9830]

@@NBCmotion okay, anyway i install that too, because of you, thx anyway

[@garyoak7620]

Salen demasiado pesados los videos al exportarlos 😢

[@elny123]

Yeah but how do I get rid of the ugly black borders around it???

[@NBCmotion]

I usually create the mandala in a larger comp (like 6k square) and drop that as a precomp in a 4k or HD comp and resize to fill the frame to my liking.

[@jiddanjayus3260]

Nais

[@z_yt_96]

Boom :D

[@nogoodboyo1200]

you're so angry. I love this tutorial but you sound like I just dissapointed you

[@NBCmotion]

Haha, apparently my voice matches my face. People tell me all the time that I look pissed, but I'm really not!