How to Create a Shatter Effect in Adobe After Effects
it's not perfect, but its a big step up from the old ae version, and its easy to see the potential for even better results. first, the colours look richer, and the warmth and intensity of the glow effect are controlled much more effectively than in the old ae plugin, although i still dont like the way it stacks up when previewed in an after effect window. and, with all the plugins set in the same project, you can stack glowing effects above each other very easily, and control opacity on each glow separately, so that one may be more bright than another. but it still only looks great in the after effects application itself. to see how the effect will look in a final rendered sequence, i recreated a couple of test sequences in final cut pro x and rendered an output sequence.
Download After Effects Plugins Cc Pixel Polly
i couldnt get the high-res versions to render in final cut pro x, so i used the low-res version instead, and also, for the glow effect, set the glow plugin to use a bias value (i.e. the 'glow intensity' knob) of 0.7. and here's the finished output sequence, with a few other tweaks to the sequence in after effects to improve some of the colours and contrast. but still, the red giant glow plugin isnt perfect. the glow effect in after effects is only as good as the sequence, or as well-chosen clip in final cut pro x.
while the glow plugin is powerful, if youre after a more controllable result, the ripple plugin is the one to get. in addition to being an exact copy of motions virtual camera roll, if you use a curl, you can set its position, speed, and rotation, to create an incredible variety of results. the ripple plugin also contains some other features, such as special ripple systems for motion paths, as well as a special ripple growth system, all of which make the plugin more powerful than just an exact copy of motion. with this in mind, ill finish by listing some of the different ripple systems in after effects. there are four different ripple systems, including the generated by motion which uses the motion paths channel, and a customisable inline editable parameter you can tweak to adjust its settings. the last is called generated by script, and i think uses the control points channel, but you can adjust everything in after effects. the most powerful ripple system, however, is the generated by track points, which allows you to add or subtract objects and its motion paths to your ripple track and the effects of the ripple will be additive, subtractive, or a blend.