Articles: Sort By Host Application: After Effects: After Effects

	Creating a Heart Monitor by Aharon Rabinowitz Article Type: Tutorial, Video Tutorial In this tutorial, Creative Cow leader Aharon Rabinowitz shows you how to build your own EKG Machine in the Comfort of Your Own Home (or Office). (Flatline not included)

	Creating a Magnifying Glass Effect in AE by Aharon Rabinowitz Article Type: Tutorial, Video Tutorial In this tutorial, Creative Cow leader Aharon Rabinowitz shows you a technique for creating a magnifying glass in After Effects.

	Working With the Scribble Effect - Part 2 by Aharon Rabinowitz Article Type: Tutorial, Video Tutorial In this tutorial, Creative Cow leader Aharon Rabinowitz shows you how to use Auto-Trace and Illustrator to create complex scribble animation in AE.

	Working With the Scribble Effect - Part 1 by Aharon Rabinowitz Article Type: Tutorial, Video Tutorial In this tutorial, Creative Cow Leader Aharon Rabinowitz shows you how to create Scribble-like animation with shapes and text in After Effects.

	Creating Multi-Color Gradient Ramps by Aharon Rabinowitz Article Type: Tutorial, Video Tutorial In this tutorial, Creative Cow Leader Aharon Rabinowitz shows you how to create simple and complex multicolored gradient ramps in AE.

	Expression Controls #3 by Aharon Rabinowitz Article Type: Tutorial, Video Tutorial In this tutorial, Creative Cow leader Aharon Rabinowitz takes a look at some advanced uses of expression controls, and shows you how you can make your expression more dynamic.

	Expression Controls #2 by Aharon Rabinowitz Article Type: Tutorial, Video Tutorial In this tutorial, Creative Cow leader Aharon Rabinowitz explores most of the expression controls, showing you how they can be used to enhance your projects and save time.

	Expression Controls #1 by Aharon Rabinowitz Article Type: Tutorial, Video Tutorial In this tutorial, Creative Cow leader Aharon Rabinowitz introduces you to expression controls, a series of effects designed only for use with After Effects expression.

	Expression Tips #1 by Aharon Rabinowitz Article Type: Tutorial, Video Tutorial In this video tutorial, Creative Cow Leader Aharon Rabinowitz shows you some basic expression principles and shares a very useful expression that can be used to convert one set of values to another.

	AE Text Tips # 1: Working with Photoshop and Illustrator Files by Aharon Rabinowitz Article Type: Tutorial, Video Tutorial In this video tutorial, Creative Cow Leader Aharon Rabinowitz shares tips on working with Photoshop and Illustrator Text, as well as a few other text-related hints.

	AE Workflow Tips #7: Importing Projects by Aharon Rabinowitz Article Type: Tutorial, Video Tutorial In this video tutorial, Creative Cow leader Aharon Rabinowitz shares tips on the many uses of importing After Effects Projects, and how you can recover corrupt AE files.

	Animating a TV Turning on and Off by Aharon Rabinowitz Article Type: Tutorial, Video Tutorial In this video tutorial, Creative Cow Leader Aharon Rabinowitz revisits one of his first AE tutorials (the Old TV Look) and shows you how to animate the TV turning on and off.

	Bending Mode Tips #1 by Aharon Rabinowitz Article Type: Tutorial, Video Tutorial In this video tutorial, Creative Cow Leader Aharon Rabinowitz shares some hints for working with layer blending modes in After Effects.

	Animating a Signature - Part 2 by Aharon Rabinowitz Article Type: Tutorial, Video Tutorial In this tutorial, Creative Cow Leader Aharon Rabinowitz revisits his earlier tutorial on animating a signature and shows you how to add a pen writing the signature in After Effects 3D.

	AE Workflow Tips #6: Drag and Drop by Aharon Rabinowitz Article Type: Tutorial, Video Tutorial In this tutorial, Creative Cow Leader Aharon Rabinowitz shows you how dragging and dropping can speed up importing footage, rendering video, and exporting files.

	Nesting and Pre-Composing - Part 2 by Aharon Rabinowitz Article Type: Tutorial, Video Tutorial In this tutorial, Creative Cow Leader Aharon Rabinowitz explains when and why you would want to nest compositions and pre-compose layers in After Effects.

	Creating the 3D Ribbon Effect by Aharon Rabinowitz Article Type: Tutorial, Video Tutorial In this Video Tutorial, Creative Cow Leader Aharon Rabinowitz demonstrates how to quickly create the popular 3D ribbon effect in Maxon Cinema 4D and Maya.

	Nesting and Pre-Composing - Part 1 by Aharon Rabinowitz Article Type: Tutorial, Video Tutorial In this tutorial, Creative Cow Leader Aharon Rabinowitz explains the basics of nesting and pre-composing compositions in After Effects.

	Rotoscoping in AE by Pete O'Connell Article Type: Tutorial, Video Tutorial In this video tutorial, compositor Pete O'Connell explains a few of the techniques he uses to rotoscope in After Effects.

	Combining Effects with AE's Fractal Noise Effect by Aharon Rabinowitz Article Type: Tutorial, Video Tutorial In this tutorial, Creative Cow Leader Aharon Rabinowitz examines how to be more creative by combining different effects with AE's Fractal Noise.

	AE Keyframe Boomerang Effect, Part 2 by Aharon Rabinowitz Article Type: Tutorial, Video Tutorial In this tutorial, Creative Cow Leader Aharon Rabinowitz explores another instance of the boomerang effect and its causes, as well as several solutions for preventing it.

Using After Effects 7 on Intel MacPro Computers by Graham Jones Article Type: Tutorial Creative Cow member Graham Jones was the very first guy we have found who came up with a successful way that works for most users who want to use After Effects 7 on the new Intel-based MacPro computers. While it is not guaranteed to work for everyone, if you have been wanting to use AE7 on a MacPro, Graham gives you his recipe.

	AE Keyframe Boomerang Effect, Part 1 by Aharon Rabinowitz Article Type: Tutorial, Video Tutorial In this tutorial, Creative Cow Leader Aharon Rabinowitz shows you how to handle the annoying (and sometimes crippling) boomerang effect, in which a layer moves randomly between two spatial keyframes that are exactly the same.

	Looping Fractal Noise by Aharon Rabinowitz Article Type: Tutorial, Video Tutorial IIn this tutorial, Creative Cow Leader Aharon Rabinowitz show you how to create seamlessly looping fractal background animations by using AE's Fractal Noise effect.

	AE Workflow Tips #5: How to Find Missing Footage by Aharon Rabinowitz Article Type: Tutorial, Video Tutorial In this tutorial, Creative Cow Leader Aharon Rabinowitz shows you how to locate missing footage and other elements in your After Effects project.

	Force Motion Blur by Aharon Rabinowitz Article Type: Tutorial, Video Tutorial In this tutorial, Creative Cow leader Aharon rabinowitz shows you how to add a motion blur to effects that don't support this feature. Also covered is adding blur to video footage that has been sped up, and an introduction to CyCore's updated Effects - CyCore FX HD.

	AE Workflow Tips #4: Renaming & More by Aharon Rabinowitz Article Type: Tutorial, Video Tutorial In this tutorial, Creative Cow Leader Aharon Rabinowitz discusses methods of renaming layers, compositions, footage and effects. Also discussed are a couple of hidden buttons in AE that will make life a little easier.

	Animating a Signature by Aharon Rabinowitz Article Type: Tutorial, Video Tutorial In this tutorial, Creative Cow Leader Aharon Rabinowitz shows you how to animate a signature appearing on screen, and a few tricks to make it look more realistic.

	AE Workflow Tips #3: Open in Editor by Aharon Rabinowitz Article Type: Tutorial, Video Tutorial In this tutorial, Creative Cow Leader Aharon Rabinowitz discusses the ''Open Editor'' command and how it can help you streamline your workflow. Also covered is preparation for getting this command to work for you with all image, video and audio formats.

	The Very, Very Basics of Fractal Noise by Aharon Rabinowitz Article Type: Tutorial, Video Tutorial In this tutorial, Creative Cow Leader Aharon Rabinowitz introduces you to the Fractal Noise Effect, and shows you how to create the animated backgrounds seen in the opening of the Creative Cow AE Tutorials.

	Creating 3D Ribbon Text by David Langley Article Type: Tutorial In this tutorial Dave Langley demonstrates how to create a 3D ribbon of text that flows smoothly around curves up and down slopes moving around and interacting with other elements using only core tools in After Effects.

	Creating an Old-Paper texture using Fractal Noise by Chris Zwar Article Type: Tutorial Previously, Chris Zwar penned an article we refer to as ''Everything you wanted to know about Fractal Noise but were afraid to ask,'' but in this article, Chris takes it a step further and demonstrates a real project: Creating an Old Paper texture using the Fractal Noise Effect.

Building a Lensflare with Expressions by Mylenium Article Type: Tutorial In this tutorial, Creativecow's Mylenium demonstrates various lens flares and how to create them. The main focus of this tutorial is not the lensflare itself - there are enough plugins out there, that do a far better job than even the most complex setup we can cobble together. Much more is it meant to again teach you some tricks to work efficiently with expressions and breaking down projects into workable parts. Lensflares lend themselves to illustrating the benefits of expressions because they involve lots of layers and effects.

	Using Presets and Templates by Mylenium Article Type: Tutorial, Video Tutorial In this video tutorial, Creativecow's Mylenium demonstrates creating a dvd menu by using presets and templates which come with After Effects 7.0. In addition to using presets, we'll prepare our menu for use in Encore.

Fractal Noise - A New Look at an Old Friend by Chris Zwar Article Type: Tutorial When Adobe released After Effects version 7, the attention turned to major new features such as the user interface, 32bit HDR support and the graph editor. However there's another small update which is very significant for some users- the ''Fractal Noise'' effect is no longer confined to the Professional bundle, it's now included with the Standard edition. So for anyone who's never used the Professional version, or anyone who has never used Fractal Noise, Chris Zwar lifts the hood on this immensely powerful feature.

	Adobe After Effects 7 Interface by John Dickinson Article Type: Video Tutorial After Effects 7 has introduced us to a brand new unified interface. In this video tutorial, CreativeCOW leader, John Dickinson demonstrates how to navigate that interface.

	Graph Editor Demystified by Mylenium Article Type: Video Tutorial In this video tutorial, Creativecow's Mylenium discusses the timeline and the graph editor in After Effects 7. This has been one of the most requested features, and Mylenium will demonstrate how it all works.

	Open GL Demystified by Mylenium Article Type: Tutorial, Product Review In this video tutorial, Creativecow's Mylenium illustrates some of the new advanced Open GL features in After Effects 7 by comparing Open GL in version to Open GL in AE 6.5. If you're still wondering what the Open GL does, then watch Mylenium's video.

Creating a Glass Globe by Kurt Murphy Article Type: Tutorial When broadcast designer Kurt Murphy received a glass globe as a gift, it inspired him to see if he could create one in After Effects. In this tutorial, Kurt demonstrates creating and animating a glass globe totally in After Effects using Solids and Effects. This project is totally self-contained, needing no outside footage, but you will need the production bundle to complete it. Also nice but not necessary is the Trapcode Starglow plug-in.

After Effects 7 new features overview by Mylenium Article Type: Product Review After a long wait it's finally here - the new version of After Effects. People have been getting nervous already because it seemed like forever when version 6.5 was released, but now that it's here, let's take a look at what the new version has on offer. I work mainly as a 3D artist/ motion graphics artist, so please forgive me if I'm not commenting on some functions that may be of larger importance for your type of work.

	Creating an Animated Volume Meter by Talid Al Khatib Article Type: Tutorial One of the most fun and useful things in Adobe After Effects, is linking the motion of your project components with music. In this tutorial from Talid Al Khatib, we’ll create a ''volume meter'' that responds to your music.

	More Lighting and Shadows by Bill O'Neil Article Type: Tutorial In part two of our Shadows tutorial, Bill O'Neil continues with an explanation of an effect that he's constantly asked how it was done. He doesn't use 3D -- it's done entirely in After Effects and the coolness of the scene is mostly from the lighting and shadows.

Using After Effects Expressions to Animate World Maps by Mylenium Article Type: Tutorial These days even the smallest garage shops claim to be doing business all over the world so it's a quite common task to animate world maps and additional data related to their business. In this tutorial we will focus on a technique to represent a distribution or transport network. However, it can also be used to animate city maps or simply create other automated animation that applies the same paradigms.

Dressing Up a Scene With Shadows by Bill O'Neil Article Type: Tutorial Bill O'Neil has learned a lot from his gaffers over his years of live action shooting. Simply putting a tree branch in front of a light can create interesting and beautiful shadows on an otherwise plain wall. The trade name for this light obstruction material is cucoloris or ''cookies''. These same practical techniques can be applied in the After Effects 3D world. All we need are lights, obstruction layers (cucoloris) and surfaces to shadow. This tutorial is broken into two parts that highlight two examples of dressing up a scene with shadows. This is part 1.

	Using the Liquify Filter in AE 6.5 to Create Movement by Graham Quince Article Type: Tutorial Many of you may have not seen the value of the Liquify filter when you first found it in AE 6.5, but in this tutorial, Graham Quince demonstrates how he used it in a recent project to bring still photos to life.

	Using Curves to Simulate Bleach ByPass by Filip Vandueren Article Type: Tutorial In this quick tutorial, Filip Vandueren would like to share a technique he uses a lot which in Belgium is called 'etalongage' or color-timing. It's a two step process which gets great results.

	Using Depth of Field to Create Flythroughs by Bill O'Neil Article Type: Tutorial Depth of field refers to the distance from camera where things will be in focus.This tutorial from Bill O'Neil offers tips for assembling 2D flat objects in 3D space with the most realism using depth of field in After Effects.

	Shooting for 3D post by Bill O'Neil Article Type: Tutorial This tutorial from Bill O'Neil will focus on media acquisition for creating a 3D world in After Effects as well as offer tips for assembling 2D flat objects in 3D space with the most realism. Alright, how about realism in a surreal world? Read on...

Flying through a tunnel in After Effects by Chris Zwar Article Type: Tutorial Flying through a tunnel can be useful for everything from “wormholes” in sci-fi movies like “Contact” to the transcontinental phone line in “3 colours red”, or even the optic nerve of Edward Norton in “Fight Club”. To create a Hollywood-level tunnel effect requires a true 3D application, with sophisticated modeling, rendering and 3D camera interaction – however, in this tutorial, Chris Zwar mocks up a quick & dirty 2D imitation with the “Polar Coordinates” filter in After Effects.

	Two or Three Color Special Effect by Roland R. Kahlenberg Article Type: Tutorial We've all seen the scene in which everything is black and white except one color, but what if you wanted to have a two or even a three-color special effect? Well, this tutorial from Roland Kahlenberg, which we'll call Coolsville, will show you the way.

Building the Logo and Putting it together in AE: Part 5 of 5 by Dean Velez Article Type: Tutorial In this final lesson of a 5-part tutorial from Motion Graphics Trainer, Dean Velez, we'll build the logo and put it all together. The entire 5 part tutorial explores creating complex backgrounds using a Photoshop still with the 3D properties of After Effects. We'll also create high end transitions using path tools and various effects as well as eye catching 2D animation using parented layers and resolving text using the track matte features.

Building the Spider in AE: Part 4 of 5 by Dean Velez Article Type: Tutorial In this 5-part tutorial, Motion Graphics Trainer, Dean Velez explores creating complex backgrounds using a Photoshop still with the 3D properties of After Effects. We'll also create high end transitions using path tools and various effects as well as eye catching 2D animation using parented layers and resolving text using the track matte features. In lesson four, we'll build the animated spider.

Building the Animated Stroke in AE: Part 3 of 5 by Dean Velez Article Type: Tutorial In this 5-part tutorial, Motion Graphics Trainer, Dean Velez explores creating complex backgrounds using a Photoshop still with the 3D properties of After Effects. We'll also create high end transitions using path tools and various effects as well as eye catching 2D animation using parented layers and resolving text using the track matte features. In lesson three, we'll build the animated stroke.

	Fun in Particle Playground Land by Roland R. Kahlenberg Article Type: Tutorial Roland R. Kahlenberg, CreativeCOW's resident Particle Playground expert, shows off the versatility of Particle Playground by creating a game that incorporates collision detection against a customized grid.

	Combining Volumetric Lights and Grid Basics by Aaron Slater Article Type: Tutorial Aaron Slater was working on a music video in which his images would 'flash' within a basic grid to the beat of the music. Here's a tutorial demonstrating his technique combining volumetric light effects with the grid.

	Tanx-AE: A Game for After Effects by Chris Zwar Article Type: Tutorial Everyone needs a diversion now and then, so Chris Zwar took some time to write a game in After Effects just to see if he could. Here's the result: Tanx-AE, the world's first game written for Adobe After Effects. Take a moment, download the aep and have some fun with this. It's for version 5.5 and up.

	Turning Paint Into Masks in After Effects by Timothy Kurkoski Article Type: Tutorial Paint strokes and masks in After Effects are both forms of vector paths, but converting one into the other isn't always straightfoward. This tutorial shows how to take strokes from the Vector Paint effect, as well as AE 6's new Paint tools, and turn them into masks.

R:Evolutionary Motion Typography in After Effects 6.0 by Alan Shisko Article Type: Tutorial, Product Review Every art form has its technological touchstone. Whether it’s a million purpura mollusk shells ground up to make the color “purple” or the Korg DX-7 defining a generation of music, technology has had a profound influence on art and design. With the release of After Effects 6.0, designers, animators and compositors have been given a radical new tool to push pixels around: call it Textacy. Alan Shisko talked with Steve Kilisky, Project Manager for Adobe After Effects about Textacy and how it all came about..

	Keylight by Barend Onneweer Article Type: Product Review Adobe has announced that The Foundry's Keylight will be bundled with the upcoming release of After Effects 6.0 Professional Edition. In this article, Creativecow leader, Barend Onneweer gives us a sneak peek at Keylight.

Expressions in Adobe After Effects 6 by Dan Ebberts Article Type: , With After Effects 6.0, Adobe has introduced some wonderful new functionality to the world of expressions. Most of this is the result of spectacular new features that have been added to After Effects that were not necessarily aimed at expressions but nonetheless dramatically increase the power available to the expression writer. There have also been a few changes and enhancements to the expression language itself.

Extras: Creating Cogs and Gears in AE 5.5 by Chris Zwar Article Type: Tutorial This tutorial from Chris Zwar is a bit of a one trick pony, but it’s a trick that’s worth knowing. Cogs and gears are nice looking design elements and are popular in all sorts of backgrounds. If you do a search on the internet, it’s easy to find a range of techniques for creating cogs in Photoshop and Illustrator, and Illustrator even comes with a few included.

Part Four: Creating Cogs and Gears in AE 5.5 by Chris Zwar Article Type: Tutorial This tutorial from Chris Zwar is a bit of a one trick pony, but it’s a trick that’s worth knowing. Cogs and gears are nice looking design elements and are popular in all sorts of backgrounds. If you do a search on the internet, it’s easy to find a range of techniques for creating cogs in Photoshop and Illustrator, and Illustrator even comes with a few included.

Part Three: Creating Cogs and Gears in AE 5.5 by Chris Zwar Article Type: Tutorial This tutorial from Chris Zwar is a bit of a one trick pony, but it’s a trick that’s worth knowing. Cogs and gears are nice looking design elements and are popular in all sorts of backgrounds. If you do a search on the internet, it’s easy to find a range of techniques for creating cogs in Photoshop and Illustrator, and Illustrator even comes with a few included.

Part Two: Creating Cogs and Gears in AE 5.5 by Chris Zwar Article Type: Tutorial This tutorial from Chris Zwar is a bit of a one trick pony, but it’s a trick that’s worth knowing. Cogs and gears are nice looking design elements and are popular in all sorts of backgrounds. If you do a search on the internet, it’s easy to find a range of techniques for creating cogs in Photoshop and Illustrator, and Illustrator even comes with a few included.

Part One: Creating Cogs and Gears in AE 5.5 by Chris Zwar Article Type: Tutorial This tutorial from Chris Zwar is a bit of a one trick pony, but it’s a trick that’s worth knowing. Cogs and gears are nice looking design elements and are popular in all sorts of backgrounds. If you do a search on the internet, it’s easy to find a range of techniques for creating cogs in Photoshop and Illustrator, and Illustrator even comes with a few included.

Cell Pattern And Favorites by Jim Tierney Article Type: Tutorial Cell Pattern is a filter that can be used to create all sorts of background animations, displacement maps, track mattes, and many other things. It uses algorithms to generate the shapes and shading you see rendered. This allows you to create thousands of different patterns and textures. In this tutorial, Jim Tierney demonstrates a few of these as well as discusses how to create and save your own After Effects favorites.

	Basic Shatter: Introduction to the Shatter Effect by Ben Unguren Article Type: Tutorial Now that Shatter is included in the filter set of After Effects 5.5, many users are asking how to use this effect. In this tutorial, Ben Unguren demonstrates a very simple technique to help get you started with Shatter.

	Morphing In After Effects by Chris Zwar Article Type: Tutorial Morphing is a distinctive effect that is best known from the movie 'Terminator 2' as well as the Michael Jackson music video 'Black and White'. In this tutorial, Chris Zwar demonstrates simple morphs with the Reshape filter in Adobe After Effects 5.5 -- which is a Production Bundle only effect found under the Distort menu.

	nesting compositions - 1 by Ben Unguren Article Type: Tutorial In this tutorial, Ben Unguren gives COW members a simple introduction to the concept of nesting. He assumes you have an understanding of what keyframes, layers and compositions are. This is in the Basics of After Effects Series.

Motion Sketch and the Smoother: The Racing Course by Ben Unguren Article Type: Tutorial By using motion sketch and the smoother, you can acheive a less ''computer-generated'' motion in your animations, and in less time. This tutorial introduces you to the basic techniques involved with motion sketch and the smoother. This is by no means a complete demonstration of what you can do with motion sketch or the smoother. This simply introduces you to how to use them.

	Cinema 4D import: Simple Color Correction by Thorn Article Type: Tutorial With AfterEffects 5.5, Adobe has truly delivered C4D users an excellent solution to assembling all of your 3D pieces. Cinema 4D and AfterEffects are a very powerful combination, and in this 3-part tutorial series, Thorn shows you how to get started in the world of multipass.

A Beginner's course in 3D in AE 5.5 by Bjorn Sjostrom Article Type: Tutorial If you have very little knowledge about animating the camera and building a 3D comp, this tutorial is for you. In this tutorial, Bjorn Sjostrom tries to remove any fear toward the 3D tools in After Effects 5.5. He hopes it will give you an relaxed attitude towards animating the camera, and building a ''3D corridor'' where only your imagination can stop you, the sky is not the limit but space is.

	Getting Jiggy With the Wiggler by Jim Tierney Article Type: Tutorial One of the problems that may plague animators is that their animation is too perfect - too clean. In this article, Jim Tierney demonstrates how to add in a little randomness to your animation with the Wiggler tool in After Effects 5.5.

	Time Remapping in After Effects by Bryan Preston Article Type: Tutorial Have you ever looked at your rendered animation and just thought, 'Something just wasn't right?' In this tutorial, Bryan Preston demonstrates the use of AE 5.5's Time Remapping Filter to control the speed of an animation.

	Path Text: Advanced Settings by Ben Unguren Article Type: Tutorial With version 5.5 of After Effects, Adobe has included some new features in the path-text filter that can be quite cool SUCH AS THE ABILITY TO TREAT TEXT CHARACTERS AS INDIVIDUAL OBJECTS, BUT RETAIN THEIR CONNECTION TO A PATH. In this tutorial, Ben Unguren demonstrates how to use the filter to generate a dancing type-on effect.

Trapcode Shine: Write it with Light by Mark Simpson Article Type: Tutorial Mark Simpson has written this tutorial in response to the many requests for info on a sample movie he posted in the Trapcode Forum using Shine in After Effects. This tutorial was done in AE4.1 using Filters from the Cult Effects Collection and the new Trapcode Plug-in Shine. Here's the rundown of how Mark creates the effect.

	Caustics: Dropping the Cow into A Pool of Water by Jim Tierney Article Type: Tutorial In this tutorial, Jim Tierney creates the effect of an object dropping into water, using the Caustics and WaveWorld filters in Adobe After Effects.

Precomposing in After Effects by Bryan Preston Article Type: Tutorial Bryan Preston explores the process of precomposing in Adobe After Effects. He looks at the use, strategy and inner workings of precomps in After Effects. He also adds some secrets he's learned in using precomps to manage both files and projects more efficiently. This is an article that is well worth reading to understand why, when and where and how to use precomps in your own AE projects.

Expressions are FUN! by Ben Unguren Article Type: Tutorial In this tutorial, Ben Unguren will show you one way to control expressions in Adobe After Effects 5, by using another layer as a 'controller' of a layer with a simple wiggling expression, giving you a great deal more control. If you are unfamiliar with expressions in After Effects 5, you may want to read the chapter 'Creating Expressions' in the After Effects 5.0 manual before continuing with this tutorial.

	Procedural Matte Creation by Barend Onneweer Article Type: Tutorial Barend Onneweer explains Procedural matte creation by combining multiple keying types into a single matte for extensive control over the final matte. This is essential for pulling those difficult mattes from badly lit greenscreens.

Simulating a Tornado in After Effects by Mark Simpson Article Type: Tutorial Mark Simpson uses the masking capabilities of After Effects along with some 3rd party plug-ins to simulate an animated Tornado. This tutorial is in response to the many requests about how to make a Tornado in After Effects. This simple tutorial uses the pen tool to create multiple masks in conjunction with the 'Turbulator' plug-in, to make a quick and dirty Tornado. It can't compete with the advanced particle emitters of a dedicated 3D app, but it is sure to be useful in some instances, where the lack of time or high end 3D tools required for a fully realistic tornado are not available.

Using Cult Effects 'CE Lightning' & Evolution 'Foam' to grow a tree by Mark Simpson Article Type: Tutorial Mark Simpson uses Cult Effects 'CE Lightning', 'CE Radial Shadow' and Atomic Power Evolution 'Foam' effects to simulate a time-lapse like effect of tree being grown out of the ground and then leaves growing on the tree. This tutorial could easily be adapted to be used with the built-in plug-ins of AE 5.

	Evolution 'Card Wipe': Simulating an LED Style Audio Meter by Mark Simpson Article Type: Tutorial Mark Simpson uses Atomic Power Evolution 'Card Wipe' effect and Adobe After Effects Production Bundle's 'Motion Math' to simulate an LED style Audio Meter.

	Evolution 'Shatter': Blowing text off a page by Mark Simpson Article Type: Tutorial Mark Simpson uses Atomic Power Evolution 'Shatter' effect and Adobe Illustrator to simulate text being blown off of a page. Evolution is built into After Effects 5.0. This tutorial should be easily adapted for use with AE 5.

	Creating a Flowing Title Effect by George Polevoy Article Type: Tutorial George Polevoy explores a method of creating a flowing title effect in Adobe After Effects. With this technique, you can add a variety of effects, such as smoke or fire, as well as an abstract 'flowing' for a visual element.

Cloud Fly Through by Richard Rippon Article Type: Tutorial In this tutorial, Richard Rippon will show you how to simulate flying through a cloud bank using After Effects 5 new 3-D capabilities. We will primarily be working with the layers Z position, so we won’t even scratch the surface of After Effects 5 new capabilities. To create the clouds we will use After Effects Fractal Noise plug-in and Boris Clouds plug-in, which may be found in Boris AE and Boris Continuum. If you have your own way for making your clouds it should also work.