Top 10 After Effects plugins that benefit the content

The way people work as graphic & motion designers, animators, or 3D artists can be completely changed by After Effects plugins. Because it can perform so much right out of the box, Adobe After Effects CC is now a standard motion graphics and compositing tool for many artists. However, much like any good piece of software, it is only enhanced by the addition of third-party plugins, which can elevate your work by adding new features or streamlining your process. It shouldn't come as a surprise to hear that there is a wide variety of After Effects plugins available for an application that is almost 30 years old. Each one of these After Effects plugins, regardless of price, will improve workflow, offer functionality that is just missing from the base After Effects application, and just make stuff look awesome. It is essential to acquire the necessary understanding of digital marketing, which is in high demand right now.

Table of Content:
1) Orb:
2) DOF PRO:
3) Saber:
4) Lenscare:
5) Shadow Studio:
6) Plexus:
7) Stardust:
8) Duik:
9) AfterCodecs:
10) Volna:

1) Orb:
Orb(opens in new tab) is focused on building realistic planets and provides a variety of special tools to make planetary construction simple. It employs a similar 3D engine to Video Copilot's excellent Element 3D plugin.

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You would believe that making planets in 3D is simple — just make a sphere, add textures, and you're done! But creating a world that "looks" properly can be more difficult than you might think. How can the distinction between day and night be changed, for instance, in a model of such a populated planet, so that cities are only visible at night and not during the day? An orb is a crucial tool for previs and, while it won't happen for everyone every planetary shot, it will for 90% of them. This is particularly true when used in conjunction with some other After Effects plugins or a 3D camera imported from a 3D application coupled with foreground plates for items like spacecraft.

2) DOF PRO:
Richard Rosenman, a tool creator, has released DOF PRO (Depth Of Field Generator PRO), his well-known Photoshop depth of field generator plugin, for After Effects. Since its original announcement in 2005, DOF PRO has been the industry's professional option for unmatched and complex depth-of-field effects that can be applied quickly and effectively as a post-process. One of the most potent and sophisticated depths of field processors in the market is produced by DOF PRO's cutting-edge features, which offer cutting-edge technology not found anywhere else. Capability for chromatic and achromatic aberration, the distinction of the focal plane bokeh, astigmatism and vignetting effects, support for customized aperture maps, and noise recovery are examples of advanced capabilities. Additionally, there is an iris array display, precise aperture display, 32-bit floating-point color support, and full alpha channel/transparency support. A feature comparison between the plugin and the Camera Lens Blur effect in After Effects can be found here(opens in a new tab).

3) Saber:
One of the most inventive After Effects plugin developers is Video CoPilot, which has acquired a solid name in the industry. It is wonderful that the company creates a free plugin, but a lot of its plugins have a noticeable fee. A very versatile lighting and effects tool, Saber (opens in new tab), is quite strong. It not only has a lot of presets and the capability to work with layer masks but it can also be used to produce light beams (for instance, lightsabers).

4) Lenscare:
Lenscare(opens in new tab) by Frischluft is one After Effects plugin that has gained ubiquity among artists and studios. Lenscare is two plugins. Without incurring the expense of generating DoF in CG, FL Depth of Field can use depth information from a 3D render to produce a realistic depth of field in CG. The depth amount and focus point can both be animated using this plugin. A speedier variant without depth input is FL Out of Focus. It produces stunning lens blurring by use of the Frischluft engine.

5) Shadow Studio:
A native plugin called Shadow Studio replicates several shadow styles. Soft Shadows Shadows Radial Within Shadows extended shadows Native plugin with multi-threading for optimum speed.
Traditionally, soft shadows are costly to calculate using techniques like raytracing. Users can spend much more time designing and much less time waiting for something like the buffer to refresh because Shadow Studio simulates these pricey effects in a quarter of the time! You may mimic either strong or soft shadows cast by a spotlight source by using the radial shadow mode. A dynamic light and shadow rig which changes whenever the position of the light is animated can be made by attaching this to a light or lens flare. You may build complex inner shadows with only one click by using the inner shadow mode, which skips a lot of unnecessary matting and pre-comp work. It contains three presets to produce trendy looks, like the "long shadow" appearance. There is also a tutorial video available. Jazz Dance by PonyMusic is the soundtrack for the preview video. It is compatible with both PCs and Macs, AE CS6 and above.

6) Plexus:
Plexus is a plug-in designed to bring generative art closer to a non-linear program like After Effects. It lets you create, manipulate and visualize data procedurally. Not only you can render the particles, but also create all sorts of interesting relationships between them based on various parameters using lines and triangles. The workflow for Plexus is very modular allowing you to create a truly infinite set of configurations and parameters.”

7) Stardust:
Volume objects may now be simply created by smoothly integrating the renowned open DB technology into Stardust. Convert complete particle systems & models to volumes, then play around with the data using boolean operations, filters, noise, and other tools. More upgrades and additions to Stardust's toolkit have included the ability to build gorgeous 3D wireframes for fascinating and attractive object outlines, "Extrude Edges" for quickly creating complicated 3D objects from text and mask edges, and several other tools. The revolutionary Adobe After Effects plug-in Stardust allows users to create breathtaking particle and object-based motion graphics and effects. Its ground-breaking interface enables the combination of 3D models, particles, effects, and much more, all residing and interacting in one common area, providing unmatched integration across powerful tools and delivering creative expression not previously achievable in After Effects. Utilize 3D physics, the Replica animation engine, the 3D Model Library, and plenty of additional tools to bring your ideas to life. Utilize any one of the dozens of included presets to quickly create sophisticated effects, or use the modular approach to construct setups from scratch.

8) Duik:
"Duik is a full-featured set of rigging and animation tools for Adobe After Effects. The primary rigging tools, such as IK, controllers, and bones, that are present in every 3D software are provided, but they are modified for After Effects 2D animation. With Duik, you can rig intricate characters and employ cutting-edge animation methods often found in 3D software. It may be possible that you are a little too young to utilize those tools if you don't know what rigging is. Handling keyframes & interpolations, conventional animation, animation exposure, and other animation tools are all available in Duik, along with automation like wiggle, spring, swing, and wheel that make it easier and faster to animate. Other helpful capabilities in Duik, like camera controls, are not just related to animation but may be very helpful for both riggers and animators. Due to its comprehensiveness and usability, Duik has become a script that is frequently used in films all over the world.

9) AfterCodecs:
How to encode film to the appropriate format is one of the most difficult problems that many motion graphics artists encounter. A lot of artists have shifted to Windows, and Adobe's decision to stop supporting QuickTime has resulted in spotty support for well-known codecs like Apple's ProRes. Fortunately, AfterCodecs(opens in a new tab) offers a fix. ProRes encoding is made feasible on Windows by AfterCodecs, which also provides extras like the ability to output H264 files greater than 8K. It works with both Windows and Mac.

10) Volna:
A sophisticated stroke plugin for After Effects, Volna(opens in new tab), includes built-in arrows, noise distortion, gradients, and a blending tool. With it, you may draw strokes along a route in a variety of styles, including taper strokes and points mode. To build a new shape, Volna can also combine various pathways from two-layer masks. The plugin smoothly transitions from one path to another by drawing intermediary lines between masks.



 

 

Editors, animators, and motion graphic artists can all utilise Adobe After, a complex and comprehensive programme. When a video or animation needs to be modified after being captured, it can be utilised in post-production. Third-party plugins can then be added to the programme to make it more appealing, complex, and commercial.

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