Adobe - After Effects CS3 Tutorial _ Create a Fireworks Effect Using After Effects

Create a fireworks effect usingAfter Effects

Table of Contents

Introduction(www.adobe.com/designcenter/aftereffects/articles/aftcs3it_fireworkseffect.html)

Create a fireworks effect(www.adobe.com/designcenter/aftereffects/articles/aftcs3it_fireworkseffect_02.html)

Create a fireworks effect

To add some sparkle to your composition, follow these steps:

1. Choose File > New Composition in After Effects to create a newcomposition in whatever resolution you’d like to work in.

2. In the Composition Settings dialog box (Composition > Compositionsettings if you closed the window), set the Duration to 4 seconds(0;00;04;00).

3. Create a new solid layer in your composition by choosing Layer >New > Solid. In the Solid Settings dialog box, select Make Comp Sizeand then click OK.

4. Choose Effect > Simulation > CC Particle Systems II.

5. Select Composition > Preview > RAM Preview to do a RAM preview(see Figure 1). Check out the sparks!

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Figure 1: Create some sparks with CC Particle Systems II.

We don’t need to do much to make this look really pretty. What wehave now is a constant stream of sparks. Let’s set some keyframesfor the Birth Rate of these particles to give us a single “pop.”

6. Drag the current-time indicator (CTI) in the Timeline to the beginning ofthe comp and then set an initial keyframe for Birth Rate by clickingthe stopwatch to the left of its name in the Effect Controls panel (seeFigure 2).

Figure 2: Set the initial keyframe for the Birth Rate effect.

7. Set the Birth Rate to 40 in the Effect Controls panel, and then movethe CTI ahead 5 frames and set the Birth Rate to 0. Do a RAM previewagain and you’ll now see that “pop,” but we still have some work to doto make this more convincing.

8. In the Effect Controls panel, twirl open the controls for Physics andset Gravity to 0.2, which will keep the particles from falling away soquickly. Set the Resistance to 10 to keep the particles from travelingtoo far away from their point of origination (also known as theProducer).

9. Twirl open the controls for Particle and set Max Opacity to 50%.

Duplicate layers and create a sequence

Now we’ll duplicate the effect a few times to create a short sequence thatincludes multiple fireworks.

1. First, make the Solid layer 2 seconds long. Click and drag the right-hand edge of the clip to the left until it lines up with the 2-second markon the Timeline (see Figure 3).

Figure 3: Make the Solid layer 2 seconds long.

2. With the Solid layer selected, choose Edit > Duplicate to duplicatethe layer, and then change the position of the Producer by firstselecting the CC Particle Systems II effect in the Effect Controlspanel. Then click and drag the Producer in the Composition Viewer toa new location (see Figure 4).



Figure 4: The Producer is a small circle with a cross inside it.

3. Repeat step 9 three more times until you have five copies of the layer,each with its Producer in a different location.

4. Now to have these fire off in a sequence, select all five of the layers,and then choose Animation > Keyframe Assistant > SequenceLayers.

Figure 5: Sequence the layers.

5. In the Sequence Layers dialog box, select Overlap. Each layer shouldfire 10 frames after the previous layer, so this is basically a mathproblem that depends on your frame rate:

If you’re working in 30fps, enter a duration of 1:20 (0;00;01;20).



6. Click OK, do a RAM preview, and then sit back and watch the show.

Where to go from here

To customize further, try changing the colors of the particles as well asplaying with the different Physics parameters.

For more information on working with After Effects, see the followingresources:



After Effects Design Center(www.adobe.com/cfusion/designcenter/search.cfm?product=After+Effects&go=Go)

Encore Design Center (www.adobe.com/cfusion/designcenter/search.cfm?product=Encore&go=Go)

Adobe Video Workshop(www.adobe.com/designcenter/video_workshop/about.html)

Create After Effects comps with Encore DVD(www.adobe.com/designcenter/encore/articles/enc2am_aecomps.html) , byChad Perkins

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Adobe - After Effects CS3 Tutorial _ Create a Fireworks Effect Using After Effects