Flowing and Glowing in After Effects
Second Edition by Jeremy Fuksa (jeremy.fuksa@3rdmartini.com)
Conventions used in this tutorial:
Link - Composition/Layer Name
Italic Text - Filter/Plug-In Name
Bold Text - Parameter Name
Download the compressed project file. zip (788 kb)
Everybody loves flowing, organic text, don't we? Film trailers, national television campaigns, even print pieces incorporate this striking effect. This tutorial will show you how to make your own text flow like ghosts, smoke, or whatever variation your imagination can add to it.
The first step is to create a composition in After Effects that contains your base layer. In the downloadable example project, I have called this composition Base Layer. In this composition is a logo in Illustrator format, but of course you can place this effect on text layers or anything else that seems aesthetically appropriate. Make sure however, that if you use an Illustrator drawing or similar object, you place it within a composition that is the same size as you desired final output. This way, the effect will not cut off prematurely. I added an optional Glow filter to the object so that the final render looks more interesting.
In order to make the logo float ethereally into focus, we will have to put displacement and blur effects onto it. We'll now make compositions that we will use later as operational layers for those effects.
Let's start by making a generic matte that we will use a few times in this effect. In order to really make your effect unique, you could use different mattes for each filter effect, but for the sake of simplicity, we'll just make one.
To begin the second step, I have created a composition called Fractal Matte. In this matte composition, I am going to create a solid that is twice as wide as my desired final output, create an oval shaped matte on the solid, and then set position keyframes to make the solid move across the composition. In this example, I placed fractal noise onto the solid using the Cult Effects CE Noise Turbulent filter, but you can use Image Lounge or any other noise generator plug-in for this. For a truly organic effect, use footage of clouds, swaying trees, or any other naturally chaotic motion as your matte. I have included with the project a Quicktime movie of pre-rendered fractal noise for those of you without the Cult Effects plug-ins. It shows up in the Fractal Matte comp as the layer called Optional Noise. If you don't have Cult Effects, simply delete the Fractal Noise layer and enable the Optional Noise layer. Notice that I also used the Levels filter on the fractal noise.
Since the Displacement Map filter used later on uses color channels to execute the displacement, I set the Output Black parameter of the red channel at 128, giving the noise a reddish appearance. You could just as easily use the Hue/Saturation filter set to colorize to achieve the same results, just with less accuracy (less accuracy could open up a wider creative possibility though).
At this point, there is one other filter that you can place on this noise layer. If you are desiring the look of the original Polevoy tutorial, you need to place a Gaussian Blur (or comparable) filter on the noise layer. Notice that the original tutorial makes no note of this, however, I found that omitting this filter creates an end result that is more like billows of thick smoke, which I found to be more interesting.
We'll now use the Fractal Matte composition as base layers for two other compositions. First, let's make a composition that I'll call Displacement Layer. In this composition, create a solid equal to the size of the comp set at 50% gray (so that the whole composition will create some displacement), and place the Fractal Matte composition in as the second layer. Secondly, we'll make a composition called Blur Layer. In it, place the Fractal Matte composition. Use the Curves filter on the composition, and create a "V" shape so that the shadows and highlights are heavily enhanced, while midtones are all but knocked out. When placed with the Compound Blur filter in the next step, this will help ensure that no undistorted areas of the final composition are blurred.
To put everything together, create a composition called Final Comp. Place the Base Layer, Blur Layer, and Displacement Layer compositions into Final Comp. Turn off visibility of Blur Layer and Displacement Layer. Apply the Compound Blur and Displacement Map filters to Base Layer. In the Compound Blur filter, specify Blur Layer as your blur layer, and in the Displacement Map filter, specify Displacement Layer as your displacement layer. Also, use the Glow filter and Levels filter on this layer, just to make it look more interesting.
Keyframe the displacement and blur values on Base Layer so that the object mystically appears. Tweak the keyframe values with velocity curves to make a smoother effect. Throw some random keyframes into the blur and displacement to make it more interesting. Go wild, it's OK.