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Advanced Electricity VFX – Classic Video Copilot Tutorials

Video Copilot's Advanced Electricity Effects in After Effects: A Step-by-Step Tutorial

In this series we explore the treasure trove of VFX tutorials from the archives. Join us on a journey back in time to revisit the timeless teachings of Andrew Kramer and Video Copilot. Despite changes in software and trends, the practical wisdom embedded in these classic tutorials remains just as relevant today. Let’s dig into these tutorials together, re-discovering practical insights that can still be applied in our modern VFX projects. This tutorial focuses on advanced electricity VFX. It's broken down into sections for easier understanding and you can download the project files here.

I. Project Setup & Basic Lightning

  1. Bit Depth: Set your After Effects project to 32-bits per channel (Alt + click on project settings). This provides better color information for bright effects.
  2. Import Footage: Import your background footage (e.g., street sidewalk) into a new composition.
  3. Create Lightning Solid: Create a new solid layer, named "Lightning Hit".
  4. Apply Advanced Lightning: Apply the "Advanced Lightning" effect to the solid. You can use the Effects & Presets panel or a tool like Video Copilot's Effects Console (Control + Spacebar).
  5. Initial Lightning Settings:
    • Glow: Set Glow Opacity to 0%. A custom glow will be created later.
    • Core Radius: Increase to around 3.
    • Mask the Lightning: Use the Rectangle Mask Tool to create a mask around the bottom area where the lightning will hit the ground.
    • Alpha Obstacle: Increase the Alpha Obstacle value to make the lightning interact with the mask, creating a contact point.
    • Termination Threshold (Expert Settings): Lower to around 5% to prevent the lightning from extending beyond the layer bounds.
    • Decay Main Core: Experiment with this to vary the lightning's thickness.
    • Forking & Turbulence: Adjust these for the desired lightning complexity. Lower turbulence creates straighter lightning.
    • Branching: Adjust to control the number of branches.
  6. Animate Core Radius: Alt-click the Core Radius stopwatch and add the expression wiggle(7,3) to create subtle variations in thickness.
  7. Animate Conductivity: Alt-click the Conductivity stopwatch and add the expression time*4*2 to create a slow, evolving electrical current.
  8. Animate Direction (Optional): Keyframe the Direction property to add movement to the lightning bolt. Experiment with Core Drain and Fork Variation for more complex animations.
  9. Pre-compose Lightning: Select the lightning layer and choose Layer > Pre-compose. Select "Move all attributes into the new composition" and name it "Lightning Comp".
  10. Set Lightning Color: Double-click the "Lightning Comp" to open it and change the Core Color to your desired color (e.g., blue).

II. Creating the Reflection

  1. Specular Reflection: Duplicate the "Lightning Comp" (Control + D). Solo the duplicated layer.
  2. Linear Wipe (Highlight): Apply the "Linear Wipe" effect. Set the Transition Completion to 180 and position the wipe to isolate the bottom edge of the lightning, creating a specular highlight.
  3. Horizontal Blur: Apply "Fast Box Blur". Set Blur Dimensions to Horizontal and increase the Blur Radius.
  4. Vertical Blur: Apply another "Fast Box Blur". Set Blur Dimensions to Vertical and increase the Blur Radius.
  5. Solid Composite: Apply "Solid Composite". Set the color to black. This provides a background for the blur and allows greater control over the glow.
  6. Exposure: Apply the "Exposure" effect. Increase the Exposure value to create a bright streak.
  7. Set Blending Mode: Set the specular reflection layer's blending mode to "Add".
  8. Linear Wipe (Top Cut): Apply another "Linear Wipe" effect to the specular reflection layer. Set the Transition Completion to 180 and adjust the completion and feather to cut off the top part of the blur, creating a more 3D look.
  9. Diffuse Reflection: Duplicate the specular reflection layer and its texture. Name this layer "Diffuse". Increase the blur radius on both Fast Box Blur effects and adjust the exposure to create a softer, more spread-out reflection.
  10. Contact Point: Duplicate the specular reflection layer and its texture again. Name this layer "Point". Reduce the blur radius significantly and adjust the exposure to create a small, intense point of light at the contact area.
  11. Hot Spot (Optional): Import the provided "Hot Spot" element and set its blending mode to "Add". Position it at the lightning's origin. You can use Curves or other color correction effects to adjust its appearance.
  12. Integrating Texture:
    • Import a grunge texture.
    • Make it a 3D layer and rotate/scale to align with the ground plane.
    • Pre-compose the texture layer (Layer > Pre-compose) and name it "Ground Texture".
    • Set the specular reflection layer's Track Matte to "Luma Matte" and target the "Ground Texture" layer. This makes the texture influence the specular highlight.
    • For a more dynamic reflection, copy the background footage into the "Ground Texture" composition. Set the blending mode to "Soft Light" and use Exposure to blend the footage's brightness with the texture.

III. Adding Glow to the Lightning

  1. Solid Composite: Apply "Solid Composite" to the "Lightning Comp" layer. Set the color to black.
  2. Glow 1: Apply the "Glow" effect. Set Threshold to 0, Intensity very low, and Radius to around 25-30.
  3. Glow 2 & 3: Duplicate the Glow effect twice. Increase the Radius on each duplicate (e.g., 100, 200).
  4. Exposure: Apply "Exposure" after the glows. Increase the exposure to boost the overall glow intensity.
  5. Hue/Saturation (Optional): Apply "Hue/Saturation" before the Exposure. Reduce saturation slightly to fine-tune the glow color.
  6. Turbulent Displace (Optional): Apply "Turbulent Displace" before the glow effects. Set Size to a very low value (around 2) and Complexity to 2-3. Increase the Amount slightly to add subtle noise and texture to the lightning.
  7. Vector Blur (Optional): Apply "Vector Blur" after the Turbulent Displace. Experiment with Amount and Ridge to create soft edges while retaining some hard edges. The order of these effects can significantly impact the final look.
  8. Exposure Wiggle: Add a wiggle expression to the Exposure effect's Exposure property: wiggle(9,3). This creates flickering.

IV. Directional Lightning

  1. Create a Tall Solid: Create a new solid layer, significantly taller than your composition.
  2. Apply Advanced Lightning: Apply the "Advanced Lightning" effect. Set Glow Opacity to 0.
  3. Keyframe Animation: Keyframe the layer's Position, Origin, and Direction properties. Move the layer vertically and adjust the origin and direction points to create the illusion of traveling lightning. Use a mask and the Alpha Obstacle to control the interaction with the ground.
  4. Reverse Keyframes (Optional): To reverse the lightning direction, select the keyframes and choose Animation > Keyframe Assistant > Reverse Keyframes.

V. Subsurface Cloud Effect

  1. Import Cloud Footage: Import plain smoke or cloud footage into a new composition.
  2. Create Light Source: Create a new solid and apply the "Advanced Lightning" effect. Use the Omni setting for a sporadic look. Animate Conductivity and add a wiggle expression to the Core Radius. Set the Core Color to gold. Apply a "Solid Composite" set to black. Pre-compose this layer and name it "Light Comp".
  3. Create Diffused Glow: Apply a series of "Fast Box Blur," "Exposure," and "CC Composite (Add)" effects to the "Light Comp" layer, progressively increasing the blur radius and exposure. This creates a soft, diffused light source.
  4. Create Cloud Mask: Duplicate and arrange the smoke footage layers to create a cloud mask. Pre-compose these layers and name the composition "Smoke Mask". Add a Curves adjustment layer within the "Smoke Mask" composition to control the overall brightness and contrast.
  5. Apply Set Matte: Apply the "Set Matte" effect to the "Light Comp" layer. Set the Matte to "Smoke Mask" and Take Matte From to "Luminance". Invert the matte. Set the "Light Comp" layer's blending mode to "Add".
  6. Refine Alpha: Add a Curves or Exposure effect to the "Smoke Mask" composition and adjust the alpha channel to refine the light occlusion.

VI. Lightning Interacting with 3D Text (Element 3D)

  1. Create 3D Text: Create a solid layer and apply Element 3D. Create your text and apply materials. Add lights and adjust the environment as desired. Pre-compose all 3D elements.
  2. Create Lightning Solid: Create a new solid layer and apply the "Advanced Lightning" effect.
  3. Set Matte: Apply the "Set Matte" effect to the lightning layer. Set the Matte to the pre-composed 3D text layer and Take Matte From to "Alpha Channel". Increase the Alpha Obstacle value.
  4. Channel Blur: Apply "Channel Blur" above the lightning effect to diffuse the lightning's interaction with the 3D text.
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