By Tony Gomez / 08 February 2018 / After Effects Examples, After Effects Tutorial, Cinema Spice News / No Comments

Hey guys I know it’s been a while since I’ve posted on the blog, I apologize. To fix the long hiatus here are 5 unique and stylish After Effects tutorials to improve your visual effect skills.
These tutorials will teach you to create different looks to your video projects by adding dust & scratches, sketch lines, halftone dots, 8-bit grid bricks, and double exposure. All of these tutorials are made courtesy of our own master and commander, Mikey Borup at After Effects w/Mikey. Click on the highlighted links below to watch these tutorials.
Dust & Scratches
The Dust & Scratches tutorial will teach you to make footage look dated and worn out. You will learn to overlay dust, scratches, hair, and flicker imperfections onto your footage, giving it authenticity and an historic look.
To do this, you will first need to download the free Dust & Scratches preset from the Cinema Spice shop and follow the instructions. I made this GIF image using the preset as a reference. The footage I have here looks as if it was shot in the old west. Our own Brian Thackery shot the drone footage for an indie western film. You can watch the trailer right here: Iron Brothers Trailer
Sketch Lines
Sketch line art is perfect for commercials and music videos. In the Sketch Lines tutorial, Mikey shows you how to draw and animate wobbly lines over stock footage of New York City. Watch as tall skyscrapers come alive in the Big Apple!
You can also use this effect for animated scribble text for title cards and credits scenes. The Sketch line art in the GIF above is from a SnugZUSA advertisement, which Mikey worked on. You can see the full commercial right here: SoulKix Custom Shoes
Halftone Effect – “News Comic Look”
The “news comic” look or the halftone effect was used to copy photographs on old newsprint by using dots of different sizes and spacings, while creating the optical illusion a of fully printed gradient image. I can see this effect being used in music videos or graphic advertisements.
In the Halftone Effect tutorial, Mikey will teach you to create the comic dots by using the camera lens blur effect, and to animate the image. It’s quick and easy. He uses a still image in this video, but you can create this effect for video. Just make sure your footage or image has high contrast.
Mosaic Grid 8-bit Look
The mosaic grid 8-bit look makes me think of an old video game or glass tile in a walk-in shower. Either way it looks cool and inventive. In the Mosaic Grid 8-bit Effect tutorial you will learn to use the mosaic effect and the grid effect to create the 8-bit bricks.
It’s a unique visual and honestly I don’t see it enough in video. I can see this being used for commercials, music videos, or animated logos. Make it colorful and dynamic, because we’d love to see the work you guys put in these visual effects.
Double Exposure – “True Detective Intro”
Finally, we saved the best for last – the double exposure look. This effect is clearly inspired by HBO’s True Detective and it looks pretty close to the tv show intro. In the Double Exposure effect tutorial, Mikey gives you video files, dust particles, a lens flare, and a vignette preset to practice with. You will learn how to use a combination of effects such as Keylight, Displacement Matte, and the Camera Lens Blur. If you want to shoot the footage yourself you’ll need a green screen and some good lighting on your subject.
If you like what you see please consider to subscribing to After Effects w/Mikey. His channel is filled with hundreds of motion graphic and visual effect courses, all done in After Effects for your viewing pleasure. Like always, we’d love to showcase your work on cinemaspice.net and our social media accounts. Please send the links to support@cinemaspice.net.
Thank you guys for your support on Facebook and YouTube. We’re going to have a great 2018 and I’m glad you are coming along for the ride!
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