Take your After Effects work to the next level with these free plugins, scripts, and presets. We gathered a gigantic list of the best After Effects freebies that can enhance your visuals and optimize your workflow. Each is complete with download links and video tutorials!
Cc Light Sweep Cs4 Plugin
FX Console is a free plugin that helps you speed up your workflow in After Effects. It effectively works like a pop-up search bar that allows you to apply effects quickly, presets, screenshots, and more.
AEJuice GIF is a plugin that allows you to export GIFs from After Effects in one click. This free plugin dramatically speeds up exporting your own GIF animations, which was previously a tedious process.
Duik Bassel is a comprehensive 2D animation and rigging toolset. Covering everything from animation controllers to bones, to managing keyframes and automation. This plugin is definitely geared towards animation professionals.
Label Maker is a free plugin that scans the colors of your layers in After Effects and then automatically matches their layer label color. This can help make your layers easier to identify in a composition.
Sure Target 2 is a plugin that makes animating the After Effects camera incredibly easy. You just set your 3D layers as targets, then keyframe when you want the camera to jump from one target to another.
VC Reflect is a free plugin that makes it easy to create reflections on your layers in After Effects. It includes a ton of options for customizing the look of your reflections, such as reflection angle, falloff, skew, and blur.
Use the Presets menu in the Lighting Effects workspace to choose from 17 light styles. You can also create your own presets by adding lights to the Default setting. The Lighting Effects filter requires at least one light source. Only one light can be edited at a time, but all added lights are used to create the effect.
Four spotlights. White has full (100) intensity and a concentrated (8)focus. Yellow has strong intensity (88) and a concentrated focus(3). Red has medium (50) intensity and a concentrated (0) focus.Blue has full (100) intensity and medium (25) focus.
In the Lighting Effects workspace, the Texture channel lets you control lighting effects using grayscale images (called bump maps). You add bump maps to the image as alpha channels. You can add any grayscale image to your image as an alpha channel, or create an alpha channel and add texture to it. For an embossed text effect, use a channel with white text on a black background, or vice versa.
Premiere Pro is a powerful non-linear video editor, and it can do all sorts of other neat things with your video besides editing. While most video editing platforms, Premiere included, feature basic transitions like fades or pushes, it can help to have a few extra-special transitions available, be it a funky star-wipe or a subtle light leak.
To create the effect, we'll start with Photoshop's classic Clouds and Radial Blur filters, and we'll take advantage of Smart Objects and Smart Filters to keep our filter settings fully editable. We'll then use one of Photoshop's layer blend modes and a layer mask to blend the light rays in with the original image, and we'll finish by warming things up using a simple Photo Filter adjustment layer.
To make the clouds look like rays of sunlight, we'll use Photoshop's Radial Blur filter. But before we do, let's convert the "sun rays" layer into a Smart Object. That way, we can apply Radial Blur as a Smart Filter which will make it much easier for us to experiment with its settings. With the "sun rays" layer still selected, click on the small menu icon in the top right corner of the Layers panel:
When you're ready, click OK to close out of the dialog box and apply the Radial Blur effect, transforming the clouds into rays of light. In my case, I like the strength of the effect so setting the Amount value to 100 was a good choice, but the zoom isn't centered correctly. The light rays should be coming from the sun, but instead, they're a bit too far to the left:
We have our light rays, but they're covering the entire image. That may be what you want depending on your photo, but in my case, it's a problem. For starters, the rays are shining right through the couple on the beach. I also want the rays to appear only above the horizon, not below it. To hide the light rays in the areas we don't need them, we'll use a layer mask. With the "sun rays" layer still selected, click on the Layer Mask icon at the bottom of the Layers panel:
We're going to use the Brush Tool to paint over the areas where we want to hide the light rays. To do that, we'll need to be painting with black. Photoshop uses the Foreground color as the brush color, so to quickly make sure it's set to black, first press the letter D on your keyboard. This will set the Foreground color to white, which is the default color whenever a layer mask is selected. Then, press the letter X on your keyboard to swap the Foreground and Background colors, making the Foreground color black.
Then, begin painting over any areas where you want to hide the light rays from view. I'll start by painting over the area below the horizon, as well as that mountain in the background just above the horizon on the left. Since we're painting on the layer mask, not on the layer itself, we won't see the black brush strokes. Instead, the light rays will simply disappear in the areas we paint over:
As I mentioned, because we're painting on the layer mask, not on the layer itself, we don't see the black brush strokes as we paint, but we can see where we've painted by looking at the mask preview thumbnail in the Layers panel. The black areas are where we're hiding the light rays from view. The white areas are where the light rays are still visible:
To switch back to your image, press and hold the Alt (Win) / Option (Mac) and click again on the mask preview thumbnail in the Layers panel. Here's what my effect looks like with the rays of light now appearing only above the horizon, behind the couple:
The only problem remaining is that my light rays are white. I'd like to warm them up so they better match the warmth of the rest of the image. For that, I'll use a Photo Filter adjustment layer. To add one, press and hold your Alt (Win) / Option (Mac) key while clicking the New Fill or Adjustment Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers panel:
And there we have it! That's how to add rays of sunlight to an image using the Clouds filter, the Radial Blur filter, a layer mask and a Photo Filter adjustment layer in Photoshop! For similar tutorials, see our Sunlight Through The Trees or Warm Golden Sunset Effect tutorials. Or visit our Photo Effects section for more Photoshop effects tutorials!
Add more light to your photos! Check out this list of incredible light effect Photoshop add-ons. Paint the sky with a fantastic galaxy, or add a few light leaks to your Instagram selfies. This list can help you find the right light effect to make you shine!
From star brushes to bokeh actions, use these Photoshop lighting effects to bring out the best in your work. We have plenty of light effect Photoshop tutorials too! Check out this great Light Leak tutorial from Marko Kožokar.
Spotlights, bokeh effects, action lighting effects and brushes make up this first list of goodies. Incorporate these Photoshop lighting effects from Envato Elements into your next project and bookmark your favorites!
If you use Photoshop and other design software on a daily basis, you should consider Envato Elements. This top subscription-based marketplace offers you unlimited digital creative assets for a flat monthly fee. Here's a selection of the best lighting effects Photoshop add-ons you can find there:
This cyberpunk light package for Photoshop works quickly to create a colorful effect. Just open your photo and click play on the action. Cyberpunk also gives you six color options to choose from, letting you create the look your project needs.
Add more drama to your work by playing with light and dark scenarios. This lighting effect for Photoshop will help you do just that with one easy-to-use action along with 20 color corrections. Mix and match color effects for more exciting results.
Transform your photos with stunning premium actions like this light package for Photoshop. Add the perfect balance of charm and nostalgia inspired by old film and more. Grab up this Photoshop lighting effect suite to get access to 12 beautiful effects and eight amazing light leaks.
Bring the spotlights to you. This lighting effect for Photoshop is great for musicians and artists. Use it to emphasize your style with more drama and personality. Get nine Photoshop light effects, four noise grain styles, and seven additional color effects. Check it out!
Or add the beautiful Aurora Light to your Photoshop action list. Inspired by the real-life wonder, this set includes 16 non-destructive Photoshop actions you can quickly customize. You can use this Photoshop lighting effect on both a Mac and PC with the latest versions of Photoshop.
Need some shimmer? Sparkle brightly with the Shimmer light package for Photoshop. Created by AB-Designer, this download includes an amazing light for Photoshop action that will fill your photos with glowing bokeh and sparkles. Watch the video tutorial that's also included to see how it's done.
You're a star. Make your photos look like it with this star filters pro set. This light for Photoshop download includes eight Photoshop actions with various star sizes and styles. First, choose the star you'd like, and then press the action to get started. Add it to your collection!
Or create a miracle with this next lighting effect for Photoshop. Created by FD-Design, this action lighting effect adds fiery sparks and beams of light to your pictures. You can even control the light and spark directions for a completely custom result. Try this light for Photoshop with portrait and action photography. 2ff7e9595c
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