You may have heard of a feature in After Effects called Snapshots. Snapshots are different than Screenshots. Snapshots are temporary image files stored in After Effects that allow you to recall a screenshot so you can compare two frames in the future. It’s like when you go to the eye doctor and they say 1 or 2 1 or 2. 1) Close After Effects. 2) Set your screen at resolution you want. 3) Shft + Alt + Cmd immediately when you click in application icon to run it, clic OK. With this action you clear the preferences and when AE opens it's gonna be ok in fullscreen. Apr 20, 2016 If you are using that layout (without that bar on the top of your screen you can exit AE by going to File/Exit or if you f.eg. On windows just use keyboard shortcut ALT+Space - that should show you pop-up window with exit, minimize etc. If you wish to toggle between full screen and floating window just use CTRL+.
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You don’t really have to break your phone. Shatter the fourth wall in After Effects with this easy-to-follow tutorial.
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Over the past year, Instagram has received criticism for the increase in adverts that appear in the feed — and in the “stories” function that debuted in 2016. Recently, while browsing stories, I saw an advert, but it very quickly caught my attention for creative reasons. The ad was for British mobile phone service O2, and I was about to skip it until a fantastic effect appeared mid-scene. The ad was promoting some sort of insurance policy (I think, I wasn’t paying too much attention to the ad itself) for those who are prone to dropping their phones. When the in-ad characters dropped their phones, the entire screen would crack. As a result, the video footage would displace where the “screen” was cracked.
While the technique has limited use in narrative drama (maybe it has a place in the found footage genre), there are plenty of cool applications for this effect in music videos, adverts, and online content. Let’s have a look at how you can achieve this effect in Adobe After Effects.
I had a basic idea how to pull off the effect: a shattered glass texture, the displacement map effect, and a change in the blend mode for the texture layer. However, I kept running into a problem wherein the whole image was reacting in a way I did not want. The glass texture was affecting areas of the image where the cracks weren’t appearing, even when I would change the displacement map behavior setting.
Thankfully, YouTuber Trey Trimble had produced a video covering a similar effect, and I was able to see where the error was occurring. The glass texture was a square JPEG file, and the displacement map was working to the edges of the square, rather than the cracks itself. The fix was to mask the cracked texture to appear more angular.
To produce the effect, you will need a cracked glass screen texture, and thankfully you can find hundreds of textures online, just make sure to check the licensing terms — here’s a starting point.
The Method
Import your glass texture into Photoshop — you can also perform this task in After Effects, but I prefer the ease of Photoshop — and select the pen tool. Now create an angular mask around some of the jagged edges of the glass texture.
Once you have a mask that you are happy with, save the file as a PNG, and in After Effects, import the newly created PNG glass file and the footage you want to affect. Bring both files into the timeline, and place the PNG file above your phone footage. You now need to change the blend mode — Lighten or Screen are great modes to use. The mode you pick will depend on the look you wish to achieve; in the example, I’m using screen.
This looks pretty good already. If time were limited and this was only going to be a still image, I’d perhaps stop here. But as this is video, we need to affect the moving footage with the displaced glass, and we can do that with the displacement map in the effects panel. When you’ve applied the displacement map effect to the video footage, we need to change a few settings.
- We want the displacement map layer to be the cracked glass texture.
- Use for horizontal displacement = luminance.
- Use for vertical displacement = luminance.
- Displacement map behavior = stretch map to fit.
In the image below, you can see that if you don’t change the behavior of the map, it affects areas of the image where the glass texture shouldn’t be.
Finally, to displace part of the footage within the cracked area, you want to increase the horizontal and vertical displacement settings. There’s no correct number for this; it will depend on the look you are aiming for. You want to make the cracked part of the screen slightly off from the original media as seen in the still below.
Using the method above, here’s the before and after on a different clip.
Of course, from this perspective, in comparison to the original advert, it would be the phone’s camera lens that is cracked — not the screen. But ultimately the creative options with this effect are endless, and that’s the fun part.
Looking for more articles about the fourth wall and After Effects? Check these out.
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Work smarter! In this post we share the essential shortcuts for Adobe After Effects.
If you are new to After Effects or just want to tighten up your post production skills, here are 10 shortcuts that will save you time and have you working more efficiently. This is a follow up to my previous 5 After Effects Tips & Tricks for Video Editors post.
One quick note: as you’ll see below there is a difference in Mac vs PC keys. For Windows users the Command key is Control and Option is Alt.
1. Add Footage to After Effects Comp
Mac: Command + / PC: Control +/
Using this shortcut is much quicker than dragging layers (footage, images, etc) into your AE composition. Simply select the footage in the project, hit the shortcut and it will automatically be added to the AE comp.
2. Move a Layer Up/Down
Mac: Command + [ or ] PC: Control + [ or ]
Select a layer in your comp and use the shortcut to move it up or down the layers. Add shift to the shortcut to instantly move the chosen layer to the top or bottom of the stack. This is much quicker and more accurate than dragging a layer up and down with the mouse.
3. Select a Layer in your AE Comp
Select a number on the number keypad (both Mac & PC)
This is a super simple shortcut that let’s you pick a number on a numeric keypad (if you’re using one). Whatever number you select will select that layer in your AE composition.Press the number on the keypad for the layer you want to select in the Composition.
4. Toggle Between Selection Tool & Other Tools
Temporarily switch to another tool by holding it down. Then, let go to get back to the selection tool. Simple, but actually a significant timesaver.
5. Creating New Layers in AE
Create a new solid on Mac: Command + Y
Create a new solid on PC: Control + Y
New adjustment layer on Mac: Option + Command + Y
New adjustment layer on PC: Alt + Control + Y
Depending on your workflow, these are two good shortcuts to commit to memory. You can use solids as vignettes or use them to apply an effect onto (then use Screen Mode to remove black and see just the effect). Adjustment layers are transparent layers that you can mask and add effects to, while affecting all the layers beneath them.
6.Deselect a Layer
After Effects Screenshot
Mac & PC: F2
After Effects Screen Pump
Using F2 is a quick way to make sure nothing is selected in your project. This avoid having the wrong layers selected by accident have having to use a ton of undos to get back on track.
7. Fit to Comp Width
Mac: Option + Shift + Command + H PC: Alt + Shift + Control + H
This handy shortcut will quickly scale a layer in your composition to fit the entire composition’s width – super useful when working with shapes or adjustment layers.
8. Zoom to 100%
Mac& PC: /
Use this hotkey want to see your work at 100% magnification. Adding Shift (so, Shift + /) will make it fit the entire composition window.
9. Create New AE Composition
Mac: Command + N PC: Control + N
Any complex AE project requires tons of individuals compositions, so it’s worth committing this shortcut to memory. Once a new comp is created you can change the preset, pixel aspect ratio, frame rate and duration. The shortcut for “Composition Settings” is Command/Control + K.
After Effects Screen Mode
10. Ram Preview
Mac & PC: 0 on the number pad
Using the shortcut for RAM Preview is much quicker than clicking the “Ram Preview” button in the Info panel. To make speed up your work even faster, for every other frame ram preview just add Shift + O.
For a full list of Adobe After Effects shortcuts, visit the official reference guide here. Also, it’s worth noting that you can change of any of these shortcuts to fit your own workflow and needs. To do so, use the KeyEd UP script that you can download from Adobe here.
Do you have any favorite AE shortcuts? Share them in the comments below!