Simple Shape Orbits - Adobe After Effects tutorial

Fake 3d orbits. What's the difference between a sphere and a circle anyway? It renders fast, sets up in seconds, and so long as you don't need shading, it's good enough for a particle sprite! It's simple shape orbits in under 5 minutes! Airhorn noise!
This is a response to the many viewers who requested this tutorial after watching the Basic Patterns Tutorial here: • Basic Patterns in Afte...
If you have any questions just let me know in the comments.
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evanabrams.com/blog/tut134/
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[@jaredlamar]

IF YOU GET STUCK AT @3:19 put the anchor point onto the orbitter!!!

[@isaacgonzalez112]

jared lamar thanks you helped me alot :)

[@AdamBoroniec]

i was struggling with that! Thanks dude!

[@TheKlausunderwin]

Just got stuck there and then read your comment. :)

[@hdrstratcommsaa7645]

are you talking about where he sets it to Auto Orient to Camera? You may have missed the shortcut he used for that: Ctrl + Alt + O (thats a letter oh, not a zero), (on PC -- forget which key combo on mac ) or navigate through the menu: Layer > Transform > Auto Orient

[@happylife2345]

Thanx a lot!!!

[@abacadusale]

I have this feeling in the previous video that this will have its own tutorial. Quality content as always :D

[@MsRockstella]

Loving the pattern series, please do more :)

[@hypeteevo1057]

Thank you abundantly for the tutorial! Short, simple, & to the point!😃🙏

[@lukemayer8608]

This is crazy you just uploaded this, I was just looking for this effect last night! Perfect!

[@ECAbrams]

"The Secret" works. Proof right here.

[@DamonBowe]

I often feel like I'm orbiting around ECAbrams videos...

[@ostentatiousostrich]

I recently discovered your channel and boy, am I glad I did! Great tutorials. Just great.

[@zafaroe]

I have been search for this for a week everywhere. Thanks man!!

[@Andee...]

Been loving all the new videos!

[@simoneblax]

Man, this is so useful! I've never thought about it. Thanks, as always!

[@floralpattern1]

Great tutorial. No messing around. Thank you

[@MidoriAmae]

Donated and downloaded! Thank you so much. Saved my client!

[@khalidabduljaleel]

Amazing as always ECA

[@raggadubdubgaming]

Sense of humor and simplicity made me subscribe.

[@Miro-kw5xp]

This is a great trick to have in the bag. Thank you Evan!

[@jasvenkat]

Great stuff again Mr Abrams!

[@anaskp9072]

As always, another cool tutorial. Thank you very much.

[@NazarieMihai]

Amazing! Fast tutorials are the best!

[@scottroberts6481]

Just another person saying thank you so much for the easy explanation. It really helped me out of a potential jam.

[@XchelRocks]

You’re the best. Thanks for making tutorials!

[@ahmedabd-elmonem3690]

best ae Tuts Online Ever watched >>thanks Evan :D

[@shijasmarakkar23]

As always, great job!

[@understandingcat]

Thanks a bunch, Evan! That was indeed a nifty trick and I made use of it right away. Btw, an object in an orbit is called a satellite. :-) Looking forward to more tips and technique as we float in the deep space of mograph. .-0

[@RUNawaYLEE]

I've been binge watching your tutorials and I love all of them and your voice and when it goes off and be squeaky lols

[@ECAbrams]

Thanks. Glad people like my weird voice.

[@SolvayConference]

As always, great job! You make some of the best, if not the best, AE MG tutorials.

[@ECAbrams]

Well, thank you very much for saying so.

[@GaryStockton]

Wow EC, that's surprisingly simple. I'll be using that one for sure. Thank you!

[@ECAbrams]

"Surprisingly Simple", title of my autobiography

[@KurKurKur]

this is the tuts which I'm too scared to ask. Nice tuts!

[@harebear9934]

This is so simple, but so cool!

[@jkvsu]

I love these! Thank you so much

[@crokis372]

Just amazing!!! Thanks!!

[@thelonewanderer1191]

Awesome video!

[@user-ph7qw3zt9g]

wow, nice tutorial! thanks!

[@genevievelavoie2926]

Thanks for the tutorial! Very useful!

[@berendvanrossum4585]

Just what I was looking for, thanks!

[@NERV0USMONKEYS]

WOW!!! This is so perfect!

[@ChamanDeep]

wooo you made it effortless...thanks for sharing :)

[@luizfernandoalves857]

You should make a tutorial about that awesome grainy glow around the main planet or whatever that center ball is.. Thats sweet, bro

[@Armbrecht]

It's actually one of his earlier videos :) kzbin.info/www/bejne/Zn6cophulLGbgtE

[@maryamsamadi4714]

Hi Luiz! You can add a 'Glow' effect to your shape layer and then in the effects panel, set Color A to the fill color of the shape and set B color to the color of the background. Then adjust the Radius and Intensity as you want.

[@ECAbrams]

Not much to it really. A little gradient blur on a solid, a little HLS noise to taste, and a tint for some final colour control. That may be another of these very very quick tutorials :)

[@allexrain]

yes, I really want to see this in tutorial!)

[@danielnakamura2195]

Please, I really want to see this in tutorial too!

[@unfoldlab]

fantastic man，yuour tutorial made my day!

[@DeVisTom]

Love this kind of commentating!

[@Henrique2801xbox]

Man, that´s amazing, thanks a lot!

[@maryamsamadi4714]

That's genius!

[@paulocardoso8519]

Thank's dudeee. Love your tutorials. You're funny :P

[@CoffeeAndColtrane]

thank you, excellent tutorial

[@cubworld]

So good! Thank you

[@slik_su]

easy clear fast and awesome !

[@ds.hardeep]

Simple but amazing 👍

[@maciejstachowicz7505]

Great stuff ! Thanks

[@khaliddinar]

Brilliant! Thank youuu

[@claudineidelima7181]

Bro you saved my project, thanks :D

[@panoskoutelas9542]

Ingenious!

[@EdisMhargaVillahermosa]

WOW THIS IS VERY HELPFUL!! THANK YOU!

[@ECAbrams]

Glad to hear it!

[@RyokerDesign]

Thank you so much!

[@TheVisualvictor]

awesome and easy! THX!

[@MrMuffinLord]

I'd love a tutorial on your aesthetics or where you get your style choices from. Like your intro looks amazing, the little lines inside the box or the weird glow of the "sun" that doesn't look perfect but is this grainy mess and perfect in a whole other way. I know this wouldn't be a simple tutorial where you just achieve one effect so I'm not expecting you to do this since it's too broad of a concept but still a cool idea imo

[@ECAbrams]

That might be a topic to bring up on the live sessions we get into on this channel from time to time. That might be a better place to get into these open-ended optics.

[@radekleber]

tremendous job

[@NeuroFactory]

Greate tutorial, you make fun to watch, thanks man.

[@siddhaysawant9188]

Thankyou so much sir :)

[@olegogorodnyk2487]

Велике дякую! Мега круті уроки.

[@realityframeofficial]

Thank you!

[@ZiusPlays]

Great tutorial again. Could you make a tutorial about the most common/interesting affect & presets? Echo effect seems to be fun and I never use it before :D

[@manhong1574]

Shocking good!

[@tzukailin8596]

Awesome!!

[@liviafortes8182]

Amazing tutorial! :D Greetings from Brazil!

[@ECAbrams]

Thank you very much. Olá from Canada!

[@philcoulson1431]

2 kkkkkkk

[@tariimrekrisztian1880]

Very very great thank you i'm subscribed

[@nirajfilms1040]

amazing sir...

[@lesterjohnlacrete584]

oh shit! that is awesome and easy to do!

[@adelinacourt4366]

Top! Using this for my next Googie-themed vid!

[@artixto]

Very Nice!

[@jaydibari]

Gold! thanks!

[@somilsingh7198]

Awesome!

[@hi-xu5sk]

Thanks teacher🥺🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@inajinet]

You are the best 👍🏻

[@alideep9656]

Thank you

[@KAMIKAZEE3421]

Thank You! 😀😀😀

[@soshicarlo]

Thank you so much

[@UrduStuff]

nice one thanx

[@rasharasho4038]

Love it

[@aliakll4090]

great Bro ,

[@Nolose-ms3bh]

Thanks!

[@mraaishgamer7764]

thank you☺

[@vitormancini1729]

That is so fucking awesome thanks.

[@lightning4201]

Good video.

[@ECAbrams]

Thanks!

[@johnnyschuler1997]

First saw that and was totally wondering how to make that, you mind reader

[@hammamet8232]

yeah thank u

[@musictravelife]

You are my Dave Matthews. ˆ-ˆ

[@MrCarLo44]

Great Work! i do have issues though. After applying the Echo Effect on the Orbiter at 5:10 , i can't seem to replicate the same effect. But it worked when i pre-compose the Spinner and Orbiter and then apply the effect on the Precompose. Why is that?

[@mikkvillem]

Killer intro, too.

[@bengood5499]

Really useful. More 2.5D animation tutorials if you may. But how do you variate the speed of the orbit (faster in certain area and slower in other areas)?

[@samuelnaesen1176]

Set your keyframes closer :)

[@shubhankar3164]

ly man

[@MarkSRiddle]

Thanks for the great tutorial although I though this will be made using some expressions because they happen to never interfere, turned out simpler than I imagined and I learned about that "echo" effect, I though you will be using "CC force motion blur". So is there any way to do it with expression to make them mathematically and visually satisfying ? Thanks again !

[@MrSceneNine]

I made a guess that you would use the Orbit Null instead of a plain Null, animate the rotation and then parent the camera to it. And then Parent the centre planet to the Orbit Null as well, so then the camera and centre planet are spinning around and in fact the 'orbiter' is the static object. Same thing at the end of the day though!

[@mirsjani8604]

So we use the same principle while working with a comet (round top and pointy end)? I tried making it work with follow path thing but the comet doesn't curve. I'd like it to curve around the planet. Thanks.

[@DoggyDogWorld730]

Hi! How do you create that lighting effect around your middle circle?

[@ViralOza79]

Hi.. Is it possible to make an animated (curved?) arrows, orbiting around the shape, using this technique? Thanks!

[@kikeborland]

Capo!

[@WayneofGames]

But how can you still achieve this effect while having Layer Styles on the "Middle" Layer? I tried it and everytime i put and outer glow etc. on this layer the "Orbiter" doesnt go behind it anymore.

[@theblastedfrench]

how could anyone give this a thumbs down?

[@hacheismo]

10/10 no bullshit.

[@PericlesCosta28]

Wow

[@Schwanenmaedchen]

This is so rad- Thaaaaaank you!! What if I wanted to use flower petals? is it also possible or much harder (because they're not circles but have a pointy edge on two parts)

[@ECAbrams]

depends on what you would like them to "do" really. This illusion works to look like spheres, but with any other shape it will look like a flat thing always facing the camera. If that's what you're going for, this would do it. What are you looking for the petals to seem like they are doing?