- April 19th, 2009, 2:15 am#111774
http://www.youtube.com/v/gTXCN05vjGc
Proton Stream Tutorial v1.0
Jeff Schmidt 4/19/2009
DISCLAIMER: I am not responsible for any illegal downloading of software, or any remifications caused by that including, but not limited to: Downloading of a virus, wrong programs or any lawful actions taken by the companies in which you rip off.
That being said...
Here is my tutorial on how to make relatively realistic Proton Beams in Adobe After Effects. It was designed to give users a very basic understanding of how to do this, and not to be an exact recipe for making your own streams. Tweak settings, add effects, do whatever you need to do for your own satisfaction. I'm using CS3, but I don't know if this tutorial is compatible with all versions, due to plug in changes, and change in drop down menu titles. Here are some basic things to remember when starting this tutorial-
You WILL NEED TO DOWNLOAD "SAPPHIRE LIGHTNING S_ZAP" for the blue lightning portion. It is available from Gen Arts Inc. at http://www.genarts.com/sapphire-ae.html for a free trial download, limited only by time, so you can use it fully for this for a short time. Then, you can always download it via a torrent downloader. Do so at your own risk.
Make sure your composition's frame rate is the same as the frame rate in your final project!
composition>new composition
layer>new>solid
- Make it black then set this, and ALL solids in this tutorial to "Screen" mode
effect>generate>advanced lightning
- Turn forking down to 0%
- Open "Expert Settings" and set your "Complexity" to 3 - 4, and set "Fractal Type" to "Spline"
Rotate your beam so it faces the direction you would like (it's best to go corner to corner. That way, when you composite this later, you have the fullest length to use.)
Open "Core Settings" and set your "Core Radius" to something that pleases, you. I usually set it to at least 8. Set the "Core Opacity" to 100% and your "Core Color" to a Yellowish-Orange. I usually set it somewhere around a yellowish green, because in some shots in GB1, the core of the beam is that color. Reference the rooftop crossing of the streams, and you'll see exactly what I mean.
Open "Glow Settings" and set both "Glow Radius" and "Glow Settings" to 0.
Click the "Animate" button on "Conductivity" and then drag your timeline slider to the point in time where you want your Proton Beam to stop wiggling. Turn "Conductivity" up to any where past 0. The longer you're firing the beam, the higher you want the number set to. Play around with it and get something you like, but it's going to be drastically changed, animation wise, so don't be too particular. It's just to get some base movement out of your proton core.
Set "Turbulence" to somewhere above .5 but nowhere near 1 because that'll make your endpoint jump around a lot more than you want it to.
Once you have your beam some-what animated, now we get to the stronger motion.
effects>distort>wave warp
-Set "Wave Height" to something higher than default, but not too high. Fiddle with it for your own tastes.
-Set "Wave Length" much higher than default, somewhere around "300" but again, fiddle with the settings for yourself, and see what you come up with.
- Set "Direction" to the direction your beam is facing. Self explanatory.
- Set "Pinning" to the location where your beam is starting. This will make the starting point of your beam move less, and therefore your beam will look much more realistic.
- Set "Wave Speed" to again, something higher than default. I find that your speed should be somewhat correllated to your wave height, dicating that a ghostbuster with a shakier hand, makes larger, faster waves, while a more seasoned veteran will have a much straighter, steadier shot.
Now on to that trademarked ghostbusters proton glow!!
effect>stylize>glow
- Set "Glow Colors" to "A&B Colors"
- Set "Color A" and "Color B" to a Deep reddish orange, and a golden yellow. Does not matter which is which for this.
- Set "Glow Threshold", "Glow Radius" and "Glow Intensity" to however you feel comfortable. Fiddle with them to figure them out, it's all up to you on this part.
Use the "Color Phase" Wheel to animate the color by clicking on the "Animate" button and then scrub through your timeline and set it more yellow, or more orange down the line.
And that is how you get your Proton Beam core! Now, onto the Electron Arcs using the Sapphire S_Zap plug-in!!
So, as we started the earlier part, we do the same here.
layer>new>solid
- Make it black then set this, and ALL solids in this tutorial to "Screen" mode
effects>sapphire render>s_zap
Align the newly made lightning beam with your Proton Core.
The rest of this portion is relatively self-explanatory, so I won't go in to too much detail. If anyone has problems with this portion, let me know, and I'll add the info into this tutorial later if need be.
Now the default settings for this plug-in are actually a pretty good starting point. One thing I DEFINITELY recommend doing is setting the "Branch Angle" to Zero Degrees, so that the branches of the lightning will follow straight on the proton core, and not jump around all over the place. You're going to want to change the "Glow Color" to a much more vibrant blue, and afterwards play with the other glow settings to your liking. Also, play with "Branchiness" and "Branch Length" to get a good feeling. Luckily, this one is already animated. Play with the speed and such just to tweak it. Like I said, the default settings for this are already pretty good, unlike the Advanced Lightning plug-in used for the beam.
There are lense flare plug-in's that are very simple, and not needed for this tutorial. I'm also not going to say anymore about lining up your beams and what not than this- The only way I know how to do is it frame by frame lining them up with the animation button clicked on the Start point portion on your effects menus. Besides that, you're on your own.
Good luck, guys!
Jeff Schmidt a.k.a. Ian "Shades" McPherson
Proton Stream Tutorial v1.0
Jeff Schmidt 4/19/2009
DISCLAIMER: I am not responsible for any illegal downloading of software, or any remifications caused by that including, but not limited to: Downloading of a virus, wrong programs or any lawful actions taken by the companies in which you rip off.
That being said...
Here is my tutorial on how to make relatively realistic Proton Beams in Adobe After Effects. It was designed to give users a very basic understanding of how to do this, and not to be an exact recipe for making your own streams. Tweak settings, add effects, do whatever you need to do for your own satisfaction. I'm using CS3, but I don't know if this tutorial is compatible with all versions, due to plug in changes, and change in drop down menu titles. Here are some basic things to remember when starting this tutorial-
You WILL NEED TO DOWNLOAD "SAPPHIRE LIGHTNING S_ZAP" for the blue lightning portion. It is available from Gen Arts Inc. at http://www.genarts.com/sapphire-ae.html for a free trial download, limited only by time, so you can use it fully for this for a short time. Then, you can always download it via a torrent downloader. Do so at your own risk.
Make sure your composition's frame rate is the same as the frame rate in your final project!
composition>new composition
layer>new>solid
- Make it black then set this, and ALL solids in this tutorial to "Screen" mode
effect>generate>advanced lightning
- Turn forking down to 0%
- Open "Expert Settings" and set your "Complexity" to 3 - 4, and set "Fractal Type" to "Spline"
Rotate your beam so it faces the direction you would like (it's best to go corner to corner. That way, when you composite this later, you have the fullest length to use.)
Open "Core Settings" and set your "Core Radius" to something that pleases, you. I usually set it to at least 8. Set the "Core Opacity" to 100% and your "Core Color" to a Yellowish-Orange. I usually set it somewhere around a yellowish green, because in some shots in GB1, the core of the beam is that color. Reference the rooftop crossing of the streams, and you'll see exactly what I mean.
Open "Glow Settings" and set both "Glow Radius" and "Glow Settings" to 0.
Click the "Animate" button on "Conductivity" and then drag your timeline slider to the point in time where you want your Proton Beam to stop wiggling. Turn "Conductivity" up to any where past 0. The longer you're firing the beam, the higher you want the number set to. Play around with it and get something you like, but it's going to be drastically changed, animation wise, so don't be too particular. It's just to get some base movement out of your proton core.
Set "Turbulence" to somewhere above .5 but nowhere near 1 because that'll make your endpoint jump around a lot more than you want it to.
Once you have your beam some-what animated, now we get to the stronger motion.
effects>distort>wave warp
-Set "Wave Height" to something higher than default, but not too high. Fiddle with it for your own tastes.
-Set "Wave Length" much higher than default, somewhere around "300" but again, fiddle with the settings for yourself, and see what you come up with.
- Set "Direction" to the direction your beam is facing. Self explanatory.
- Set "Pinning" to the location where your beam is starting. This will make the starting point of your beam move less, and therefore your beam will look much more realistic.
- Set "Wave Speed" to again, something higher than default. I find that your speed should be somewhat correllated to your wave height, dicating that a ghostbuster with a shakier hand, makes larger, faster waves, while a more seasoned veteran will have a much straighter, steadier shot.
Now on to that trademarked ghostbusters proton glow!!
effect>stylize>glow
- Set "Glow Colors" to "A&B Colors"
- Set "Color A" and "Color B" to a Deep reddish orange, and a golden yellow. Does not matter which is which for this.
- Set "Glow Threshold", "Glow Radius" and "Glow Intensity" to however you feel comfortable. Fiddle with them to figure them out, it's all up to you on this part.
Use the "Color Phase" Wheel to animate the color by clicking on the "Animate" button and then scrub through your timeline and set it more yellow, or more orange down the line.
And that is how you get your Proton Beam core! Now, onto the Electron Arcs using the Sapphire S_Zap plug-in!!
So, as we started the earlier part, we do the same here.
layer>new>solid
- Make it black then set this, and ALL solids in this tutorial to "Screen" mode
effects>sapphire render>s_zap
Align the newly made lightning beam with your Proton Core.
The rest of this portion is relatively self-explanatory, so I won't go in to too much detail. If anyone has problems with this portion, let me know, and I'll add the info into this tutorial later if need be.
Now the default settings for this plug-in are actually a pretty good starting point. One thing I DEFINITELY recommend doing is setting the "Branch Angle" to Zero Degrees, so that the branches of the lightning will follow straight on the proton core, and not jump around all over the place. You're going to want to change the "Glow Color" to a much more vibrant blue, and afterwards play with the other glow settings to your liking. Also, play with "Branchiness" and "Branch Length" to get a good feeling. Luckily, this one is already animated. Play with the speed and such just to tweak it. Like I said, the default settings for this are already pretty good, unlike the Advanced Lightning plug-in used for the beam.
There are lense flare plug-in's that are very simple, and not needed for this tutorial. I'm also not going to say anymore about lining up your beams and what not than this- The only way I know how to do is it frame by frame lining them up with the animation button clicked on the Start point portion on your effects menus. Besides that, you're on your own.
Good luck, guys!
Jeff Schmidt a.k.a. Ian "Shades" McPherson
Last edited by ShadesMcPherson on January 12th, 2011, 9:24 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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