In this tutorial, we’ll check out an After effects setup for a high quality burning transition effect. Using only native effects, we’ll generate glowing embers, trailing smoke, heat distortion, and more.
2024 Update! I moved Texturelabs off of Patreon - you can now pick up the turbocharged template version of this project here:
texturelabs.org/tools/burnout-after-effects-template/
PROJECT SETUP
1920x1080 24fps 16bit
BURN OBJECTS (Precomp):
1) Adjustment Layer
Fractal Noise Effect - Contrast 10, Brightness 30, Scale 3
2) White Text Layer
TRANSITION MATTE (Precomp):
1) Adjustment Layer
Brightness & Contrast Effect - Contrast 99%, Use Legacy On
2) BURN OBJECTS PRECOMP - Overlay Blending Mode
Gaussian Blur Effect - Blurriness 40, Hue Saturation - Saturation -100
3)Solid - Overlay Blending Mode, 25% Opacity
Fractal Noise Effect - Scale 200
4) White Solid - Scale 200%
CC Burn Film Effect - Burn keyed from 0 at frame 30 to 100 at frame 130
Solid Composite Effect set to black
MAIN COMP:
1) Adjustment Layer
Transform Effect - Scale keyed from 110% at frame 0 to 100% at frame 120
CC Vignette Effect - Amount 250
Noise Effect - Amount 5%
Gaussian Blur - Blurriness 2
Unsharp Mask - Amount 100, Radius 1.5
2) Adjustment Layer - Screen Blending Mode, Opacity 15%
Gaussian Blur - Blurriness 200
3) Black Solid - Opacity 100% at frame 0, 0% at frame 40
4) Adjustment Layer
Displacement Map - Displacement Map Layer DISPLACEMENT REFERENCE, Effects & Masks, Horizontal 20, Vertical 10
5) DISPLACEMENT MAP REFERENCE (TRANSITION MATTE PRECOMP) - Visibility off
Fast Box Blur Effect - Blur Radius 25
Invert
Shift Channels Effect - Take Alpha from Luminance
Fractal Noise Effect - Complexity 4
6) EMBERS (TRANSITION MATTE PRECOMP) - Screen Blending Mode
CC Wide Time Effect - Forward Steps 0, Backward Steps 60
Solid Composite - Black
Fractal Noise - Contrast 220, Brightness -90, Scale 40%, Opacity 50%, Multiply Blending Mode
Brightness & Contrast Effect - Contrast 100%, Use Legacy On
Fractal Noise Effect - Contrast 200, Scale 10%, Blending Mode Multiply
Turbulent Displace Effect - Size 50, Offset Turbulence - expression “[time*65,540]”, Evolution - expression “time*200”
Set Matte Effect - Take Matte from BURN OBJECTS
Set Matte Effect - Take Matte from DARKEN BURN / TRANSITION MATTE, Luminance, Invert Matte On
Tritone Effect - Hilights FFDD83, Midtones 8D3F18
Glow - Radius 50, Intensity 3
7) SMOKE (TRANSITION MATTE PRECOMP) - Screen Blending Mode, Opacity 20%
CC Wide Time Effect - Forward Steps 0, Backward Steps 10
Set Matte Effect - Take Matte from BURN OBJECTS
Set Matte Effect - Take Matte from DARKEN BURN / TRANSITION MATTE, Luminance, Invert Matte On
Fast Box Blur Effect - Blur Radius 10
Solid Composite Effect - Black
Fractal Noise Effect - Fractal Type Dynamic, Scale 300%, Complexity 10, Sub Influence 90%, Sub Scaling 65, Sub Rotation 100, Evolution - expression “time*200”, Blending Mode Multiply
Turbulent Displace Effect - Displacement Twist, Amount 40, Size 50
8) FIRE EDGE (TRANSITION MATTE PRECOMP) - Add Blending Mode
Invert Effect
Turbulent Displace Effect - Size 20
CC Composite Effect - Composite Original Multiply
Fractal Noise Effect - Contrast 200, Brightness -25, Sub Influence 200%. Blending Mode Multiply
Set Matte Effect - Take Matte from BURN OBJECTS
Tritone Effect - Hilights FFDD83, Midtones 8D3F18
Glow - Radius 50, Intensity 3
9) DARKEN BURN / TRANSITION MATTE (TRANSITION MATTE PRECOMP) - Linear Burn Blending Mode
Fast Box Blur Effect - Blur Radius 30, Repeat Edge Pixels On
Levels Effect - Gamma .6
Hue Saturation Effect - Colorize On, Hue 30, Saturation 15, Lightness 15
10) BURN OBJECTS (BURN OBJECTS PRECOMP)
Set Matte Effect - Take Matte from DARKEN BURN / TRANSITION MATTE, Use for Matte Luminance
11) Black Solid
*Optional: For a background other than black:
DARKEN BURN / TRANSITION MATTE LAYER
After the other effects, use Set Matte - Take Matte from BURN OBJECTS, Effects & Masks, Alpha Channel
Levels - Alpha Gamma at 2.00
Turn off Adjustment Layers and Black Solid, but copy Displacement Map Effect to BURN OBJECTS layer and FIRE EDGE layer
*For a transparent background, use the additional settings above, plus:
DARKEN BURN / TRANSITION MATTE: Turn on Preserve Underlying Transparency checkbox (between Blending Mode and Track Matte in timeline panel)
FIRE EDGE: Turn on Preserve Underlying Transparency checkbox
SMOKE: After other effects, use Set Channels - Red Green and Blue Source set to Full, Alpha Source set to Luminance
EMBERS: Before the Tritone Effect, use Linear Color Key - Key Color set to black
00:00 Intro
01:24 Burn Objects Precomp
02:53 Transition Matte
07:39 Set Matte
08:45 Burnt Edge
10:08 Fire Edge
13:57 Smoke
18:10 Embers
23:10 Displacement Map
25:30 Final Effects
27:31 Outro