AE Freemart

Like most people, I sit around playing with trigonometry and how it can be integrated into animation. Take this example here. This uses Trapcode Particular to generate some simple particles, but the emitters are multiple sources rotating about a Null object in various circular paths using Sine and Cosine. For example, this animation preview you see here only uses two keyframes to position Null 1 from the upper left to the lower right. So, If you move Null 1 around, all of the light paths will follow, but they will also keep their rotation going as well.

To add some polish, Trapcode Shine was added in to add some color and glow effects (yes.. it’s not JUST for that light rayz effect!!).

Download the Project (AE7)

If you dig the Trapcode plug-ins (and who doesn’t?), you should definitely check out trapcode-people.net. It’s a bajillion free presets and projects utilizing Trapcode plug-ins of various flavors….

Like this really cool one here, done by yours truly. This file requires Trapcode Particular and CC Hair. CC Hair is used to create the grass particle. There is a looping fractal noise texure acting as a “Hairfall Map” which provides some sway in the ‘grass’. The speed of the loop of the fractal noise is controlled by a slider in the main comp, called ‘Turbulence’, giving you control of the speed of the grass sway. There is also a slider for Grass Length. On top of the grass is another particle generator that creates some small ‘bugs’.

Sound complicated? Not really. It just makes some semi-photorealistic grass. The new DOF capabilities of Particular 1.5 really help with the realism. Kind of a bugger to render, but well worth it if you need some grass.

DOWNLOAD IT HERE

Here’s a swirling confetti effect made with Trapcode Particular.

This effect would be a good one for birthdays, Christmas videos, and change the colors for some Halloween magic.

As you probably know, Harry and I are both big fans of Particular. It’s an easy to use and an inexpensive tool! Don’t have Trapcode Particular? Download a free Trapcode Particlar demo.

Download Preset (AE 7)

Watch the movie (pops)

Jean Hauptman has an interesting article Sculpting with Particular: Particle system for After Effects. Looks pretty kewl. I’ve played with Particular like this before too. Maybe I should post some of that here, eh.

Another from Toolfarm’s old Freebie of the Week…

This is a mesmerizing and trippy project by Harry Frank, Toolfarm Expert Forums Expert and all-around creative guy. Okay, so it isn’t technically a preset, but who cares. It’s free and it’s cool and it uses one of our favorite plug-ins, Trapcode Particular.

Harry says, Trapcode’s Particular is a particle generator, but describing it that way does it little justice. It has been used to generate fire, explosions, crowd shots, clouds, LED effects and much more. It’s also a great way to generate design elements, as seen in some other Trapcode Presets.

In this freebie, we are using Particular to generate a custom particle layer, in this case an AE ellipse. The emitter point of the particle generator is directly following a Null object via an expression. The camera is also following the Null via an expression, but on a 2 second delay. The camera is also set to auto-orient on the motion path, which smooths out its spatial motion path. So, the result is the camera flying through the path of a stream of particles. Click to view sample movie (pops).

Feel free to change the custom particle layer as you wish. Play with the Null position keyframes to change the shape and motion of the tunnel.

Download the project file (AE 6.5)

Don’t have Trapcode Particular? Download a FREE Tryout version!

I see a lot of people asking how to make particles go in front/behind a layer in Particular. To do this, you need to use the “Obscuration Layer” setting in the Visibility section and arrange your layers just so. I posted this project for people to take it apart and figure out how to do it.

DOWNLOAD THE PROJECT HERE (REQUIRES AE6.5 AND PARTICULAR)

I remember being new in this business and hearing this like “Make a lower-third for this show”.. and I sort of nodded and pretended I was following along, even though I didn’t really know what they meant. Then when I was following along, I wasn’t quite sure where to start. If this is you… then check this project out.

Lower thirds are simple enough, but keeping them organized and easily changeable isn’t so easy when you haven’t done a lot of them. This is ONE way to do them.. I’m not saying the only and/or best way. But, I’ve done hundreds upon hundreds of name banners. Mine usually are organized something like this.

This comp uses a nested background. SO, if you’ve got 40 copies of this banner typed out and the client doesn’t like green, you go into the background comp and change the color there, and it will update in the copies you’ve made. There’s an adjustment layer at the top that wipes the whole banner on, so you don’t need to precomp anything to make an intro transition. Everything is generated in AE, so it’s very compact. However, this comp does require Trapcode Particular for the little boxes.

DOWNLOAD THE PROJECT HERE

Floating confetti, perfect for every occasion. Created with Trapcode Particular using a custom particle.

DOWNLOAD THE PROJECT HERE

For a demo of Trapcode Particular, download it from Toolfarm.

I was playing around with Trapcode Particular, trying to do something completely different, and ended up with this interesting background. You can easily change the color by changing ‘Color over Life’. Also, try changing the Particle Type from Star to Cloudlet for another interesting effect.

Download spinstar.ffx - zipped. Apply preset to any full screen solid.

Don’t have Particular? Get a free demo of the entire Trapcode Suite.

As Independence Day approaches, I’ve been working on a lot of things that require fireworks. Trapcode Particular has been invaluable for this.

Here’s a project that attempts to simulate a sparkler firework. The emitters all use one AE Light, so it should be easy to move around, or attach to an object.

There are a couple other Trapcode Plug-Ins used in the project: Shine and Starglow. These give some nice glow and tinting to the sparkler. They very much help, but are not required to use the Particular settings.

All of these plug-ins are available through Toolfarm.

DOWNLOAD THE PROJECT HERE