Adobe After Effects Basic 3D Tutorial

You can create a large amount of simple yet really cool effects just using the inbuilt features of Adobe After Effects.

I have already created a After Effects beginner series that covers all the basics like masking, adjustment layers and track mattes. If you haven’t watched the series yet, I highly recommend you check it out before jumping into another dimension.

In this tutorial I will show you how to use the basic 3D elements that are available in the base version of Adobe After Effects. No plug-ins are required for this tutorial.

Here is what you will learn:

How to work with 3D layers

You can mark any layer in Adobe After Effects as a 3D layer, including video layers, solids and images. Once you have enabled this property you can place it in the 3D space of your scene as you like.
I will show you how to mark your layers as 3D layers and how to use the positioning gizmo.

How to create and use cameras

If you are working in 3D you will need to add a camera into your composition to tell After Effects how to view your 3D elements. You can animate the position, orientation and point of interest of the camera to create some cool effects and I will show you how easy that is.

How to work with lights

Finally, After Effects supports all sorts of lights that you can place in your scene to illuminate the 3D layers. There are different types of lights available, like Spotlight, Point Light, Parallel Light and Ambient light. We will cover how to create and manipulate lights within your composition.

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8 Responses

  1. Great tutorial Tobias! Your videos are some of the best on the internet for demonstrating Ae and Pr, you definitely put a lot of work into making them, and they are greatly appreciated!!

    1. That’s great to hear, thank you very much Lee! A lot of time goes into my tutorials so it’s always a really nice thing to feel it stands out from the usual ‘recorded my screen while eating a pizza and ranting about visual effects’ tutorials haha!

  2. I really like the way you break it down i need more lessons advanced tips and tricks ! for more 3d in film
    is this possible to get maybe

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