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6 Must have After Effects Plug-ins

Jeff McIntosh — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 16:34:57 +0000

After Effects is a great program that packs a lot of punch right out of the box. However as an experienced motion graphic designer you need more than what AE offers off the shelf. When looking to create particle, lighting and film effects it is best to go with a 3rd party plug-in to get the job done quickly and easily. Here is my short list of six powerful plug-ins that any serious After Effects designer should add to their arsenal.

1. Trapcode Particular

Trapcode Particular is one of the most talked about After Effects plug-ins of all time for good reason. Its powerful and easy to use particle system makes it the ideal choice for creating an array of effects like smoke, dust, clouds, grass, bubbles, rain, snow, debris and anything else you can think to throw at it.

More info: Trapcode Particular

2. Video Copilot Optical Flares

In 2009 Video Copilot launched the incredible After Effects plug-in Optical Flares. This affordable add-on creates stunning real life and artistic lens flares. Its ability to track 3D lights make it a truly indispensable tool and “wow” maker.

More info: Video Copilot Optical Flares

3. Magic Bullet Looks

Red Giant Software continually produces innovative plug-ins for After Effects users. Magic Bullet Looks is a toolkit for designers to add film moods and effects to their compositions. With over 100 presents and the ability to tweak your own, Red Giant Looks will not disappoint you with its overwhelming number of features.

More info: Magic Bullet Looks

4. Trapcode Shine

Trapcode Shine is an oldie but a goody. This simple plug-in can breath life into a composition by adding majestic light rays and glorious shine.

More info: Trapcode Shine

5. Trapcode Starglow

Trapcode Starglow is another classic plug-in that everyone should own. Similar to Trapcode Shine, this plug-in can add shinning twinkle and glow to your composition.

More info: Trapcode Starglow

6. Lenscare by Frischulft

Although this plug-in is the most obscure one on the list, it does not make it any less important. Lenscare is a remarkable plug-in and is in a class of its own when it comes to blurring effects. With a few simple steps this plug-in creates realistic rack focus blurs. Go check out this plug-in for yourself and get ready to fall in love.

More info: Lenscare by Frischulft

Red Giant People

Jeff McIntosh — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 03:06:43 +0000

The great folks at Red Giant Software put together a useful resource for motion graphic designers called Red Giant People. Much like the now defunct Trapcode People website, Red Giant People is a place where anyone can submit their own After Effects presets. The library is already off to a good start and is a growing resource of free goodies.

AV3 Software Affiliation

Jeff McIntosh — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:07:17 +0000

I am pleased to announce that I am now an official AV3 Software affiliate. They are an online motion graphics and VFX plug-in retailer who sells all my favorite third party After Effects plug-ins such as Red Giants Trapcode Suite, Zaxwerks, and DigiEffects to name a few.

I will be producing short sample video clips showcasing the creative power of all their After Effects plug-ins. Stay tuned for more great discussion on AV3 Software.

Trapcode People Resurrected Part 3

Jeff McIntosh — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 21:53:25 +0000

This is the last part of my three part series on found projects files from the now defunct Trapcode-People.net website. Enjoy!

Download Trapcode People Part 3

alphabet.aep, aonfire.aep, aqua.aep, audioanimation.aep, audioanimation2.aep, blowingtext.aep, boxecho.aep, counter.aep, dis-texted.aep, disintegration.aep, dofbubblesae6.aep, dofdust.aep, fizz.aep, flowerstroke.aep, fractalglow.aep, fractualsun.aep, green_fluff.aep, ice.aep, impulse.aep, latitude.aep, lighttrail.aep, magictest.aep, meteor.aep, money.aep, multiswoosh.aep, myparticles.aep, nebula.aep, particlularwomen.aep, pastel_checkers.aep, photo_ball.aep, rain2.aep, reigneoffirekiki.aep, smoketrail.aep, snow.aep, sparklingbubblesver2.aep, spectralave.aep, spinning_disks.aep, waterfall.aep, word_1.aep

Download Trapcode People Part 1

Download Trapcode People Part 2

Trapcode People Resurrected Part 2

Jeff McIntosh — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 20:34:53 +0000

I found some more project files that were once hosted on the Trapcode-People.com website.

Here are all the screen shots from the files the zip contains:

Download file

arrows.aep, backlit.aep, constellations.aep, crazyrainbow.aep, creating design.aep, disintegration.aep, dofbubbles.aep, dust.aep, fallinglights.aep, flaresmoke.aep, fractalsun.aep, galaxy.aep, glitz.aep, glowball.aep, growth.aep, lighthouse.aep, lighttrail.aep, lighttrail2.aep, lines.aep, metaballs.aep, northernlights.aep, orbproject.aep, particlecolor.aep, particular4dfmcol.aep, phoenix.aep, seseesse.aep, sparkler.aep, style.aep

Trapcode People Resurrected Part 1

Trapcode People Resurrected Part 3

After Effects Lexus Tutorial by Barbecue

Jeff McIntosh — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 03:24:49 +0000

Barbecue Design created an amazing commercial for Lexus Toyota Hybrid Drive using After Effects and Trapcode plug-ins. Ruediger was nice enough to put together a three part tutorial on how he did a lot of the effects in the commercial. What is even more exciting is that he is allowing me to provide downloads for these videos.

Here are the links:

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Free Presets From LME

Jeff McIntosh — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 21:33:55 +0000

Little Men Entertainment produces some nice After Effects and Trapcode presets. Here are some free presets that they are giving away.

Free presets

Trapcode People Resurrected

Jeff McIntosh — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 15:09:28 +0000

When I heard that Trapcode-people.net was abandoned I was very disappointed. It was a one of a kind community where people contributed there Trapcode plugin presets and allowed users to download them freely. Within the collection were a few very high quality files that became an important asset to my work flow. Whenever I had a project with a new challenge I would always click over to Trapcode-people.net to see if there were any solutions ready to be downloaded. More often than not I could find something that could be adapted to meet my needs. Now with the site gone I am at a loss and I know that other designers are too.

While the site was up I did manage to archive some of the preset files and find more using Archive.org. I want to offer all these files to you and hope that the spirit of Trapcode People will live on.

Here are some of the files the zip contains:

Download file
(Some of the files have errors in them and you cannot open them up directly. The workaround is to import the After Effects project file into an existing project file.)

3d-particle-line.aep, 3Dboxs2.aep, 3dlines.aep, 3dplant.aep, aboveclouds.aep, adifferentkindofsphere.aep, alphabet.aep, atom.aep, aurora.aep, birds.aep, confetti.aep, fireworks.aep, flare.aep, fuzzyflower.aep, glowball.aep, grass.aep, grassfreebie.aep, impacticular.aep, leavesparticular.aep, lines.aep, neon.aep, new_partiulcar_#8.aep, novaticularlux.aep, pyropackpalfireworkscascade.aep, rain.aep, slowrisingdust.aep, spermticular.aep, splaticular.aep, supernova.aep, text2circles.aep, tunnel.aep, volcanolavaexpl.aep.

Trapcode People Resurrected 2

Trapcode People Resurrected 3