Have you ever looked in the Adobe After Effects Effects menu and wondered what some effects are used for? In this series of tips take a voyage of discovery as we uncover the default effect that ships with Adobe After Effects, starting here with the Add Grain effect.
Add Grain
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That’s great to hear Ahmed, and it’s exactly why I started this series!
Hi JD,
would have been cool to see the settings you are using inside the “add grain” FX. I use this effect sometimes, but because it is such a subtle effect I am never shure if there is a better way to set it up. I read Marc Christianson ´s book, which is really great, a while ago. I think its time to read some chapters again 😉
Hi illd, the settings I use depend on what I need but generally I keep things very subtle. I start with a preset and drop the size right down. The content I create here at Foxtel gets compressed before broadcast so too much noise/grain can end up making the footage look bad.
Oh thats a good point! Most of the footage will be “grained” or distorted anyway by the following compresions. Seems to be important to keep that always in mind by adding grain…
Thank you so much John for your excellent tutorials. I have used many of your techniques in my own work. I really look forward to your tutorials on the AE Cycore effects. I had always been hoping someone would do a good thorough review of how those effects could be used and I could not find them anywhere, not even on Lynda.com. You’re the best!
Hi Tia, yes there are so many effects it’s easy to get lost. I’m also looking forward to reminding myself what some of these effects are good for.
This series is a great idea. Maybe for other fx that you currently use, you could give some typical examples of interesting uses ??
🙂
Hey Boreale, we certainly will be including examples of how the effects have been used in our and others work where possible
Thanks John.
Just wanna say it’s so cool that you put up this website and offer all of this info for AE lovers.
It’s VERY appreciated!!! p.s. I learn more here than over at that other site.(VCP)
This is a GREAT idea!
I love the grain
You’re welcome Daniel. Had you been using it before or just started using it?
I’m sorry, I made a mistake John, I was taking about the Remove Grain filter, I use it in almost every video project that involves people and skin. The Add Grain I don’t use it too often, the director I usually work with doesn’t like much grainy footage, but I use it in my personal projects sometimes of course.
Thanks for the clarification Daniel. Tinderbox 3 from The Foundry also has a really nice effect named “Silk” that is great for softening skin. Best wishes, JD.
Thanks for the tip John. I’ve tested it but it gives me very strange results, like a venetian blinds effect. Maybe I don’t know how to use it. Do you have any tutorial using this plugin?
Hi Daniel, the only information I found on this effect is on the Tinderbox 3 Manual but I haven’t done a Google search either. All the best, JD.
John, I wonder if people fully understand: the #1 functional purpose of grain is to *unify* real footage and cg footage.
***Grain helps SELL the shot*** When done correctly it adds to believability.
Think of the importance of color matching or light matching…well here you are matching textures
Excellent points Craig, thanks for sharing your knowledge. Best, John.
Thanks John. I’m just passing on the knowledge of others!
Hey Craig, sharing the knowledge is what it’s all about! Thanks again.
Hi Tarek, thanks for sharing your efforts. I don’t understand why you used “smoke”.
Just try to remember Tarek, that some of the best effects are the ones you don’t even notice. Best, John.