Compositing 2D Elements with Footage in After Effects
In this After Effects tutorial we'll learn how to composite 2d elements over live footage. Software required: After Effects CS4 and up for Project Files.
What you'll learn
In this After Effects tutorial we'll learn how to composite 2d elements over live footage. We'll create an appealing final video using a few simple images and variety of compositing and animation techniques. We'll begin the tutorial by importing our elements and tracking various features of the face, including a difficult track through an eye blink. We'll learn how to create a tracked and animated mask to match our eye movement. To combine all of the elements and give them visual appeal, we'll learn how to use several different effects not only by themselves, but also together to create various looks. We'll learn how we can create animation using expressions. And finally, we'll combine all our layers using compositing math to correctly mix everything together. Software required: After Effects CS4 and up for Project Files.
Table of contents
- Importing the Elements and Beginning the Composition 3m
- Fixing the Animation of Our Tracker to Stay with the Pupil 7m
- Creating a Mask for the Eye and a New Track 8m
- Animating the Eye Blink Mask 9m
- Adding Spherical Distortion and Color to Our Elements 5m
- Creating a Bright Grid Using Glow and Modifying Alpha Levels 6m
- Creating a Pulsing Expression Using the Modulo Operator 8m
- Creating the Spinning Pieces Using Expressions 5m
- Creating Fake Illumination on the Grid from the Spinners 6m
- Compositing the Reflections on Top of the Elements 6m
- Creating a Moving Mask for Our Reflections 6m
- Color Correcting the Back Plate 7m
- Making Final Adjustments and Adding Motion Blur 5m
About the author
Along with creating and recording training, he also used to manage the support team and work closely with the production development team at Digital-Tutors, now a Pluralsight company. He began his career working freelance and quickly realized that he wanted to find a company where he could use his talents to help people succeed in the CG industry. Chris has likely watched more Pluralsight creative training than anyone on the planet, and its evidenced by his Einstein-sized brain and encyclopedic... more