After Effects CS6 Ray Trace 3d Title Tutorial

One of the new features of After Effects CS6 is the new ray trace 3d mode which brings some basic 3d effects to what is essentially a 2d program.  Previously you needed to use a 3d program such as Cinema 4d or Video Copilot's Element 3d but the recent version of After Effects changes that.  Layers magazine has a new tutorial by Daniel Bryant that goes through a basic title animation using the new 3d mode.   This a great chance to get your feet wet with 3d in After Effects and if you don't have CS6 it will give you a glimpse of whether the update is worth it.   So head over here for the tutorial and projects files available for you to follow along.

http://layersmagazine.com/3d-ray-tracing-in-after-effects-cs6.html

AE Tutorial for Animated Logo with Dynamic Shadows

Here is an interesting tutorial for an animated logo for AE with Mikey.   Mikey Borup gives a thorough explanation of how how he created his new animated logo but the most interesting thing about the tutorial is the approach he uses for the shadows.   The shadows are created so that they are dynamic and animate along with the logo but really go a long way in adding a professional polish to the animation.  This is a cool effect and have not seen it created like this before using a directional blur along with a matte.  From what I can see Mikey doesn't have a blog but posts his tutorials on Youtube exclusively.  Check out
his channel and watch the tutorial below.

Mikey's After Effects Tutorial intro logo tutorial

  

After Effect Electric Shock Tutorial by Adrian Koutz

Here is a fairly involved tutorial for ae.tutsplus.com for creating an electric shock that follows the contours of the body.  They offer along with the tutorial the source files so you can get a better idea of how this effects was put together.   Along with After Effects, you will need Trapcode Particular and Optical Flares.   He also uses Starglow but you could probably find a workaround for that.   This is a half hour video and you need a fair amount of After Effects knowledge.  Here is a preview of the effect and you can view the tutorial HERE...

Hand Drawn Ballpoint Pen Animation Tuturiol

Premium Beat just released this great After Effects tutorial on creating a hand drawn effect that mimics that of a thick ballpoint pen.  It is a really quick tutorial and easy to follow.  I love this kind of stuff and am always looking out for great ideas to animate text.  Watch below or visit the site for a full text description of the video.

Add Polish in After Effects with Secondary Animation

One thing that separates good from great in After Effects is the little details that great animators add that really make your animation shine.  One of those details is secondary animation.  Secondary animation is just adding the kinetic motion to a moving objects that conveys a sense of realism by overshooting and settling in. Joey Korenman gives a very detailed tutorial on secondary animation on his website schoolofmotion.com. Joey animates a logo and using curves with secondary animation gives it a really good look.  You need to have a fair grasp of After Effects but this technique will do a lot to give your motion graphics that polished professional look.  I've definitely bookmarked this site and look forward to future tutorials.  I've embedded the video below but go here to to see it on school of motion.

Intro to Secondary Animation in After Effects