#AFTER EFFECT PARTICLE PLAYGROUND FREE#

For lots of particles, set the number higher, but be aware that your computer may begin to slow down. If you want a small number of particles, set this number very low – the lowest number you can type in is. This is determined by a slider that goes from 0 to 20, but these numbers don’t correspond to the actual number of particles on the screen – the default value, 2, probably produces hundreds of particles per second. Once we start exploring the composition with a 3D camera, some of these options may be useful, but they can always be switched back on.īelow the Grids & Guides section is Birth Rate, which determines how many particles the effect will generate.

#AFTER EFFECT PARTICLE PLAYGROUND FREE#

In the effect controls, the first section of the effect is Grid & Guides – feel free to uncheck the boxes for position, radius, motion path, grid, horizon, and axis box.

The first thing I’d recommend doing is turning off the grid, guides, and other extraneous information. When you apply Particle World, the effect begins to emit particles from the start point of the layer it is applied to – so you should see particles shoot out as you scroll through the timeline. The solid you were working with should have disappeared – in its place, you should see something that looks a bit like a firework, along with a 3D grid and some other guide marks. Add the Simulation effect CC Particle World to the layer and you should see an immediate change. Even though we’ll be working in 3D, you can leave the solid as a 2D layer. First, create a new solid, the same size as the composition you are working in. If you end up doing this kind of work professionally, Particular is absolutely worth investing in – but you can still do a lot with After Effects’ built-in Particle World and it’s the perfect tool for learning the basics.ĬC Particle World is an effect, which means it needs to be applied to something. It offers more advanced controls and options than the built-in effects do, but it doesn’t come cheap: Particular by itself costs several hundred dollars and the entire collection of Trapcode effects runs around a thousand. Of all the many effects, scripts, and presets that can be added to After Effects, Particular is easily one of the most popular. Trapcode encompasses a suite of effects made by the third-party company Red Giant. If you do any online searches for particle techniques in After Effects, you will probably see another effect mentioned a lot: Trapcode Particular. Many of the options in Particle World can be applied to the other particle simulation effects as well, so learning this one will give you a good head start on using the others.

We’re going to be focusing on CC Particle World, since it’s the only effect that works in a 3D environment. If you look under the “Simulation” section of the effects, you’ll see that there are actually a few different particle-related options: CC Particles Systems II, CC Particle World, and Particle Playground. Even as a purely abstract aesthetic element, particles can add a lot to a composition. Particles can be used to create all sorts of interesting effects, including rain, snow, smoke, flames, fireworks, stars, and a lot more. Let’s explore another 3D topic with one of After Effects’ coolest features: particles.

So far, we’ve created 3D objects and cameras in After Effects.

After effect particle playground