How to create a Lightwrap effect in After Effects using only the default effects.
A quick run down for those running short on time:
- Start off with two layers:
- foreground (fg) layer (the fg being the keyed out actress in this case).
- background (bg) layer
- Duplicate the bg and move it to the top (make it the first layer and name it "lightwrap")
- All the following effects will be on the "lightwrap" layer in this order:
- Set Matte
- Take Matte from layer 2 (the girl in this case).
- Select the checkbox to Invert Matte.
- Fast Blur - this will blur the background and extend the the lightwrap onto the girl.
- Turn "Repeat Edge Pixels" on - this will make sure that if the fg layer crosses out of the frame, the lightwrap will not wrap onto where it should not (the center of each thigh in this case).
- Set Matte
- Take Matte from layer 2.
- Set the transparency of the lightwrap layer to 0-50%. Try not to go to high with the transparency as it make it look to fake.
- You can make the lightwrap layer a 3D layer and add a light to add a bit more compositing cohesion. This can help you match the actual lighting a bit better.
- That's it for a fast way to do a Lightwrap.
After Effects Expressions: Control and key your preComp effects from the Master Comp.
I grew tired of constantly having to hop between my Master Comp and various preComps in After Effects to time an effect to something being said in the VO of the Master Comp. So I wrote this nifty little expression for each effect that had to be timed. It would link the effects spread throughout my project to a single "Control" layer in my Master Comp. This allows me to animate my effects from my Master Comp instead of hopping back and forth between my preComps and Master Comp to check the timing.
The best part is if I had to hand of a complex project to another Motion Graphics artist, I could just tell them about the "Control" layer and that they would not have to hunt for everything. This cut the learning time down immensely.
Here's the expression from the video with comments about each line after the "//":
t = comp("Master_Comp").layer("Comp 2").inPoint //this gets the time the preComp layer starts in the Master Comp and sets it to the variable "t"
comp("Master_Comp").layer("Control").effect("Slider Control")("Slider").valueAtTime(t + time) //this adds the time in the preComp and the Master Comp so the keys are timed correctly between comps
Now remember, you can put multiple Expression Control effects on the Control layer so all your effects from different preComps can live in one spot on your Master Comp.
Here is a Visualizer demo videos that I created at Caustic Graphics.
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