Looping Dynamic Background animation After Effects Tutorial

In todays After Effects tutorial I show you how to make an animated and dynamic background. We're using simple shapes and and animate the with the time displacement effect using a fractal noise effect to steer the animation size. In the end we stylise the animation and place it in 3d space. Using depth afield to make it more appealing
You can create this in After Effects CS6 or newer versions.

[@rotkiw1617]

"Yeah, thanks for watching, and if you liked it, give me maybe a thumbs up, if not that's fine too I don't really do for likings, I just really do it for educational purposes." There on the youtube there's not many like you, and I can see that you wanna just pass knowledge, and that's awesome. Really respect you and keep good work 'cause I really like way you teach and guide AE.

[@nikyabodigital]

this is like the effect that you will almost use in every part of your project so the bg is not boring. just with this your motion graphic will look so professional

[@JustJ0YouKnow]

Very helpful! I'm currently working on overlays for my streams and this tutorial is giving inspiration and practical application at the same time. :)

[@jeffreysmith7298]

For those having issues with getting it to loop -- the main comp needs to be set to 5 seconds. Doesn't matter if your keyframes are all matched, if the main comp itself is longer than 5 seconds it won't loop correctly

[@felipecosta9391]

Thx, it help me a lot

[@JackSinister]

Probably the best tutorial I've ever watched

[@destructorestelargalactico7345]

Have just follow the tutorial witha After Effects CS5 and it works totally fine

[@maurogoncalves6824]

Thank you very much, this tutorial gave me ideas on how to make nonstop backgrounds.

[@palakchopra9381]

Thanks for the tutorial! Had the issue with loop zooming out every time it started again. It was because I was changing the value of just the x axis from the transform options. Using the the red or either of the axis solved the issue like in the video solved the problem.

[@TyboAudio]

fixed my issue! thank you and @swissives

[@OORVOKKI]

Thank you for magnificent tutorial. This i tried to make two years ago without any succeed. You are very good to explain.😊

[@rayi1002]

definitely a fav, yet so simple.

[@MohammadEkram-hm9ug]

Thank You Thank you so Much

[@wiriya_loka]

thank you! creative uses of fractal noise never had in my mind lol

[@dominoeffect4191]

Easy to follow! The ruler grid technique was helpful for looping. Thank you!

[@bananabike279]

That was very helpful! I didn't even know about the Motion Tile option :o I'm defnitely going to try this out, thank you for making this tutorial!!

[@NickyAlmasy]

Great tutorial! Very clear with brilliant result in the end.

[@marquesmarceloo]

What a beautiful creation! Thank you very much!

[@samazoid]

love this tutorial and also addicted to ur accent

[@agustinmartinez7963]

Greate tutorial i learn a loot, thanks for this tutorial :D!!!

[@roundone21]

thanks for your time ...great video

[@RogerBurgin]

Great tutorial, thanks for putting it together.

[@hannarevolve5906]

thanks a lot. Your tutorial helped me out a lot. Many many many thanks

[@panoskoutelas9542]

Loved it. Thank you for sharing!

[@CardinalFXfootages]

Great tutorial! Thanks! This is what I need for my projects.

[@LorinHudson]

In the latest versions of AE, this tutorial doesn't work no more. The time displacement @8:19 does nothing

[@SalymGuer]

Yeah, the solution is to set the cross compt to track matte, and then Luma Matte, works just fine and no need for time displacement

[@onigiri168]

Great tutorial !! Thank you !!!

[@dundeedolphin]

Thank you. Very helpful.

[@EvanMunozAKAUncleSkuby]

Learned a lot from this, thank you!

[@PavlomirMarinov]

Pro tip: If you count how many rows and columns you have, you can match the mosaic count as well, so you won't have to add black solid or adjust the position.

[@ramiroelganame3610]

This is a great one! Thanks and i hope you can upload more of this kind of videos. Creative looping backgrounds is great for ppt presentations!

[@vlad.k22]

Great tutorial! Thanks

[@Coolvanpersie20]

thats a really good tutorial, i cant wait to practice this!

[@JohnPlantz]

very good tutorial, really helped me come with some ideas for my school project. Thanks!

[@golosok_academy]

It's fine! Thank you!

[@alinavaranchykhina1551]

thank you! very helpful

[@drewnix7201]

Thanks dude! This helped me a lot

[@Zengane]

Hello, thanks for the tutorial I've used it to make my own background, but when I move the null object to try and make the loop, it zooms out while moving instead of staying the same thanks in advace

[@swissives]

Hi, I'm not sure I can follow. It's difficult to day where you stuck. But I would say you have to check the camera position. The camera is looking at an angle to the background layer. The background layer itself is only moving from the right to the left. If you follow the way I've done it you should get the right result. Let me know if it's still not working. A bit more info's will help me to understand where the issue might is in case you still have problems. I hope this was helpful.

[@trikewars]

If anyone is facing this issue i believe changing the camera tool by Alt + Left clicking on the camera icon until it changes to UCT (Unified camera tool) should fix. If stuck on moving Null object - notice when zoomed in that the null object has 3 separate arrows for direction (X,Y,Z) Click and drag the arrows to move different directions.

[@ChrisFalconBuilds]

Is there any way to get a text tutorial to go with the background, please? I am trying it but it just looks off somehow. I think the 3D rotation on the text must be slightly off

[@somironmusic8073]

Very helpful!

[@jinxed1383]

Thank it was really great...

[@JakeBrowneVideo]

Spent four hours on this and can't get a seamless loop. Because of the 3D effect, crosses on the left are fundamentally larger at the start of the animation than at the end when position keyframes are applied. I can't fix this and it's driving me insane.

[@WillieTheAutomaton]

Having this same issue. Someone below said they fixed it, still no luck. The way you explained it though isn't quite right. They're not larger, it's just the cameras perspective, in reality, it shouldn't be doing this.

[@douglasmarchesi5465]

@@WillieTheAutomaton same problem, I would really appreciate it if someone could help us with this.

[@jconway2907]

Very elegant use of Time Displacement & so well explained. Thanks for taking your time to share!

[@Pathorkuchimon]

You’re a genius!

[@vinayakdevc6]

Really amazing 🤩🤩🤩

[@brayansanchez6780]

Great video. Thank you!

[@tabombaleni2150]

thanks great video

[@FordeHaveMercy]

Loved this video!!! Thanks

[@darilysmontilla8896]

Wuao .... Nice Video, good job

[@qiuvincent3267]

awesome , thats useful thx

[@SirLithen]

Is there any way to have overlapping shapes with this approach? For example a grid of circles that scale up and cover the whole screen as a transition.

[@jakubknapik3359]

Good job! Thanks for tutorial ;)

[@michayloblues]

Nice class, thank you!

[@Jez2008UK]

That was brilliant ! Thank you so much for sharing :)

[@stephenward5324]

Hi, just wondering with the mosaic effect, is there anyway to change it to be different shapes rather than a square grid? Great tutorial by the way!

[@liaiscoolsunflower7506]

Yeah I was looking for one like this too! Awesome tutorial by the way

[@dimensional9420]

Gradient + posterize eff.

[@5thmindsetllc610]

Thank you for this!! 💯

[@lufecta1978]

I can't make the seamless loop with fractal noise. I tried copy pasting the keyframe like you did, but my last keyframe shows a different fractal noise than my first keyframe. What am I doing wrong here?

[@swissives]

The important part is to have 3 key-frame. One at the start, one in the middle and one at the end. The start and the end key-frame must be the same. You can copy the starting key-frame and paste it at the end. Like that you should get a same fractal noise pattern at the start and at the end. I hope my explanation was clear. Otherwise let me know.

[@kempster1996]

​@@swissives I'm having a similar probem, the time displacement seems to move the fractal noise to a different pattern even though the frames have been copied and pasted.

[@douglasmarchesi5465]

@@kempster1996 me either

[@mirazsu]

Nice tutorial, of course I'm going to drop a like :)

[@juangerardo1310]

Thank you!!

[@DarkSharingan21]

Great tutorial!

[@shinigami1291]

thank you, and nice video, I have one question, if I would like to do more than one element, like a + and an x, how can I create a pattern or a tile with more than one form?

[@srobin302]

tanks bro for make this!

[@drownyourfish]

the preview rendering time is insane though from motion tiles or is it just me?

[@notgeeboss]

Great video but unfortunately, I can't get this to loop seamlessly no matter what I try. The mosaic seems to start and end correctly but the time displacement throws it out

[@douglasmarchesi5465]

did you manage to fix this? if so how because i have the same problem. pleeeeeease somebody helppp

[@notgeeboss]

@@douglasmarchesi5465 nah I didn't, sorry

[@douglasmarchesi5465]

​@@notgeeboss ok thanks, I will try anyway

[@ignacioalvarado1384]

thank you

[@MickSturluson]

Was a good tutorial but I cant figure out how to loop it properly. Because it's angled, when i move it across the x-axis (from left to right), it's smaller on the right side thus there's a jarring cut when it loops.

[@MickSturluson]

Oh my god i figured it out. Moving the null with the axis on screen adjusts the Y and Z values so nothing is out of focus, and the crosses are the same size... I feel like such an idiot after messing around for a couple hours... Great tutorial, I was a little upset at first since I didn't get it at the very end, but this is a solid start to what can be fleshed out and personalized

[@pantone_375c]

Hi! I'm working with dots instead of crosses, still when adding the time displacement and precompose, my dots keep having a regular resize animation, it doesn't look like yours that the graphics resize in different timing. Do you know why could that be?

[@swissives]

Check out minute 7 in my tutorial. This might be the fix for your issue.

[@GamJaCheep]

Amazing

[@hawkezley9554]

Having an issue where the adjustment layer with time displacement is changing the start and final frame of the noise pre-composition and making so it can't be looped, anyone else having this issue on the 2021 version?

[@hannahroberts8529]

I am! I can't figure it out...

[@douglasmarchesi5465]

@@hannahroberts8529 2022 and I'm too

[@thanxyoo]

Thankyou.

[@jasonk9770]

I am using a logo instead of crosses, with a simple scale-up and scale-down animation. The resulting animation is only slightly random. Is there a way to tweak the noise layer to create more random movement? Thank you!

[@arnautovserhii2514]

Hello. How do you do to upload project preview before playback (coursor is stil on 7:55 and green download bar is filling)? What shortcut do you use?

[@no-name168]

I have no clue why but when I turn on the Adjustment layer it prevents my particle from looping and I see few of them stops at the end of whole animation on last frame of it's own animation and don't want to loop anymore. Any ideas why?

[@KennyChu]

Coo. I learned the 3D effect

[@titofebrianto9978]

nicee thankyou

[@assassinschord]

8:33 Oh, so this is the key to make looping animation. NOTED.

[@peppertech8015]

I tried to make the seamless thing but at the start all my cross are not fully open, and at the end yes. idk why helppp plz

[@linjas4159]

how do i loop it for more 5s

[@Crimea-Vera]

super!

[@akashadearg-due1435]

Cool

[@tgodpepa]

how can i make it endless??

[@KS-bq4rs]

nice tutorial, thank you..you have a new Subscriber

[@amarpawarfilms]

nice

[@BenHekr]

For anyone using AE 2021 and having trouble getting it to loop perfectly. Duplicate the "Cross Grid" comp (The actual composition in the project window, not just in another comp) and change the Max Displacement Time to -1 (or the negative version of the Cross Grid's Max Displacement Time). Double the length of your main composition and place both "Cross Grid" and Cross Grid Reversed in that comp, one playing right after the other. Then precomp Cross Grid and Reverse to keep them as a single video in the main. Now it should loop perfectly.

[@BenHekr]

Other solution is to add a medium gray solid (HexCode #808080) to the noise comp above the noise solid and make it fade from 100% opacity to 0% in the first 10 frames and fade from 0% to 100% opacity in the final frame. Solid gray will be the middle frame of your animation and all the copies will be on the exact same frame.

[@douglasmarchesi5465]

hi thank you very much for your answer, it helped a lot my vision of the software. I'm having a problem that when I double the composition time the elements disappear I still don't know why

[@douglasmarchesi5465]

@@BenHekr hi thank you very much for your answer, it helped a lot my vision of the software. I'm having a problem that when I double the composition time the elements disappear I still don't know why

[@benjaminhecker]

@@douglasmarchesi5465 can't say for sure without seeing the exact file, but a quick fix would be to keep it at half size and bring it into a separate composition and slowing it down there or doubling it if it is set up to loop.

[@mohammadnorozi1864]

❤🔥

[@ondra10192]

What file type can I export it in? Can I use this e.g. as a background for my website in wordpress?

[@LupusLive]

You sound like Fitz with a different accent.

[@DDRFreak410]

How did you get yours to move slowly? Mine just goes through from the left side to the right very fast. Also depth of field is not working for me either.

[@swissives]

To make it slower you can adjust the evolution speed on the fractal noise and the cross you like to animate.

[@ОленаКосяк-ъ8у]

Awesome tutorial, easy to follow! It was the first one which I've done in AE. Have a question: I want to import a png or ai file instead of cross and do the same thing. But cross apperars as a shape and it has a 'size' option, but the png file only has scale. If i scale it and then apply motion action the whole picture will change the size so the objects will move, but how to make it changing size without moving? Thank you for advice))

[@Willrmountain]

I've done this, but if I try to export it or drag it into Premiere it just gives me a flat block colour and the animation is gone, am i doing something wrong or has this glitched out and I need to start again?

[@swissives]

I’m sorry, but I can’t answer this. It might be an issue with your AfterEffects. I had no problem exporting my animation.

[@Willrmountain]

@@swissives I ended up just doing it from scratch and it exported fine. God knows what went on in the previous file but it all worked out in the end.

[@leemclachlan]

Just wasted 3 hours. tried to make it fancier, but it doesn't seamlessly loop. It seems to jump a bit. Gave up in the end. :(

[@narjismirza7537]

I tried doing the Time displacement effect on a shape imported from illustrator. I changed the vector into shape but the time displacement effect not working, Why? pls reply soon. Thank you for the great tutorial!

[@swissives]

Have you creaded the backround layer and precompised the fractual noise and background layer? Like that you shoud be able to get the time displacement working. Otherviews you might miss a step. I hope this was helpful.

[@narjismirza7537]

@@swissives Thank you. I figured it out! I didnt add any scale /rotation or any time oriented effect on the object it self.. so the time dispalacement effect didnt work!. ،

[@swissives]

Thanks for letting me know. It‘s not always easy to know where someone is stuck in the process.

[@victornicacio5752]

Is there some way to do a color randomize on those crosses?

[@markusakatwin3980]

Maybe try doing a rainbow overlay on the one cross that changes over time and do another time displacement on the color overlay?

[@tareklarine5260]

Like before watching ...

[@danielkaufman4114]

Can't figure out how to add a title with that effect from the beginning, any explanations? Great otherwise

[@SirLithen]

Make a text object, make it 3D like the crosses. Copy the rotation settings from the crosses to the text. Keyframe the text object from right to left.

[@halaabdallahstudio7286]

you're awsem

[@oxygeneinfo]

🥰😍🤩😘

[@omidshakiba9404]

what is the name of background music?

[@swissives]

Omid M.Shakiba , I made this music myself. It has no name. :-)

[@Uthu777]

Mine is not looping:(

[@swissives]

Have you added the expression?

[@dbpsychodelic]

@@swissives Which expresion?

[@mrcd59]

it doesn't work AE2022

[@Terexzes]

my rtx 3070 cant even do this

[@douglasmarchesi5465]

my GTX1660 Super can, why a rtx can't ?

[@joeyzahn3285]

You gotta slow down man - Way too fast. Take a breath in between steps and let us followign take a second to catch up lol