The task of selecting software for live audio-visual performances can become overwhelming, given the wide variety of solutions that are available. As is true of choosing anything, you need to understand what you need. You then take a look at what is available. Once again as with most other products, there are features offered that you may not comprehend completely. Your selection depends on your own skills and experience in the profession too. This can be especially tough for someone who is just starting out in this domain, or trying to get things done in such software for the first time, because you may not even be sure of what you need exactly. A good starting point is to take a look at what is available. And hence what are presented here are the best ones according to the professionals. So read on here to get the taste of some of the best VJ software that is available in the market today, including free ones right at the end.

VJamm

VJamm made by Camart Ltd., described by the software publisher as a “piano for sound and vision.” It comes in two primary variants, VJamm (£50) and the VJamm Pro (£299). The professional version carry a number of advanced features, including support for higher resolution clips – 2048×2048, (while VJamm supports only up to 720×576), support for more file types (“.mov”, “.swf”, “.3ds”), better media import methods (Live Text creation and SMS to screen) and the ability to record a particular composition for later use. The Pro edition also allows the purchaser access to VJamm’s development program, which in turn is one of the reasons why the latest versions have a lot of intuitive features – driven by inputs from VJ’s who have used VJamm in the field.

Providing a comprehensive audio-visual solution, VJamm is reputed among VJ’s as having one of the most accurate time-bases which make it highly suitable for professional presentations – clip stretching and other clip calisthenics. Other attractive features include a responsive cross-fade module, a range of on-the-fly clip controls (like soft edge luma key, opacity, etc.), support for up to 16 layers of video with individual controls for each, and more.

There are add-ons that can be downloaded such as VJamm Blueprint which is an intuitive tool for creating attractive visual improvisations on-the-fly. The great thing about the add-ons is that you don’t have to purchase them – they are available for free to download, and will work as long as you use the registration key that is provided during purchase of VJamm/Pro – the publisher’s promise “you pay only once.”

But VJamm is for Windows PCs only. Minimum requirements: 1GHz CPU, 256 MB RAM, Windows XP with an Open GL graphics card. Free demo version is also available.

AVmixer Pro

A good choice for starters, Neuromixer’s AVmixer Pro fits somewhere midway between VJamm and VJamm Pro. Although it does not have the support for as many live external video streams, it does come with a fairly complete set of features and so is an ideal solution for a beginning to intermediate level VJ. At $89, it is much cheaper than the VJamm Pro, and certainly a better buy than the VJamm. And unlike VJamm it is also available for Mac OS X.

The interface is attractive as well as intuitive. You can view the layers side by side for individual manipulation, and most of the functions, including a playback speed slider (range from 8% to 800%). With a little tinkering and some practice, you’ll very quickly find yourself sub-consciously rolling the mouse-over to the right place at the right time. It has a pretty standard list of advanced features including support for all major file types, MIDI support, support for FreeFrame effects and A/V mixing. The internal sequencer and the ability to assign specific audio channels to specific effects or to blends, makes it somewhat better VJamm.

As mentioned above, for Windows and Mac OSX users. Requires 512 MB RAM and QuickTime software installed prior to AVmixer Pro installation. Don’t forget to take advantage of the 30-day trial.

Resolume

For Mac as well as PC users, Resolume Avenue 3 is a great software for VJ`s, supporting up to 3 video layers. If you know to use Adobe Flash or use Flash for creating visuals then Resolume’s is for you. It can play Flash animations including AS2 and AS3 scripting. And when it comes to scripting you know how powerful it can be. It is probably a bit over-priced (€ 299.00) when compared to the VJamm Pro. But has the support for over a many external video streams and has relatively simplest user interface – overall it has a less cluttered feel. If you like to work on fewer layers, but would like far more video streams then this can be a good choice. Another important feature of this software is video mapping. If you have worked with much code based real-time graphics processing application like VVVV then you will know how hard it is to map a video on any physical object. But when it comes to Resolume with few clicks you can map the video onto any object or surface. Not only that you can even project on multiple surfaces or objects.

Although it does not have an SMS-to-Screen feature or an internal sequencer, it still comes with the ability to assign Audio input channels to effects and blends, as well as advanced LFO features – in addition to the standard LFO syncs to Audio/BPM (which available with VJamm Pro and AVmixer Pro), there is the ability to manually adjust the LFO wave and LFO assignment to mixing channels/effects.

You can watch the Resolume introduction video from Bill Holland at Gearwire. This software is available as a trial download as well as a 50% discount for an educational license. It requires at least 1GB of RAM with ATI Radeon 9600 or better OR NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 or better.

ArkaOS Grand VJ

With an 8 Channel solution, ArkaOS Grand VJ (priced at €279) is comparable to the other heavyweights we have seen. So it is midway in terms of layering and video mixing capabilities. It does support most of the Automated Mixing and LFO capabilities, in a way similar to Resolume’s Avenue. Thus it clearly has the advantage over VJamm Pro in this regard, but falls behind in the numbers of layers (8 vs. 16). Whereas its advantage over Avenue is in these very layers (8 vs. 3) it does fall behind in the ability to support external video streams or clips (8 vs. over a hundred). So it really may boil down to your need for the additional layers at a slightly lower price.

Otherwise the feature-set is pretty standard and comparable to the other options: FreeFrame effects, MIDI support, and supports both Live Text Creation and SMS to Screen; like VJamm Pro you can save your compositions/performances.

Download and give it a try, but seriously consider paying the shipping for the boxed version because it comes with a 2.8GB DVD of clips from various VJ artists. 1 GB RAM recommended, XP/Mac OSX 10.4 or higher, NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200/ATI Radeon 9200/Intel GMA 950 or higher, and Quicktime+Flashplayer pre-installed.

VDMX

One of the most popular VJ software for the Mac platform is VDMX. Able to any number of input clips and up to 4 external video input sources, the VDMX comes fully-loaded with all the bells and whistles that are customarily expected from a professional VJ package. What makes VDMX stand out though is its insistence on a real-time paradigm, that grants access at runtime to advanced video/graphics manipulation functions. This access is provided by the user interface that displays the relevant graphs on the main screen itself – changing parameters can be done quickly on-the-fly and it’s as easy as adjusting the graphs with the mouse (which in turn will affect the internal engine; the rendering engine runs at runtime). This allows you the flexibility of trying out things spontaneously and be brilliantly creative. As the publisher’s point out “VDMX’s workflow is designed to let you treat your studio like an instrument.”

Indeed the interface, with its signal processing/video manipulation functions does give it a studio feel. The right half of the interface is completely dedicate to such “studio” functions. VDMX replaces the basic timeline paradigm that is so standard in VJ software today with their innovative take on the real-time studio feel. However, and it must be said, for the non-professional the interface can be a little over-whelming; and even for the professional there is a little bit of a cluttered feel (make sure you have a fairly large screen to make it easier for yourself) and it can take a while to get used to the new paradigm.

Another important feature of VDMX and advantage being a Mac OS X application is that it can import Quartz Composer Composition and control it in real-time using VDMX controls. It also can use Quartz Composer Patches as plug-ins. And when it comes to Quartz Composer, you how innovative and creative it can be.

At $300 it is a better deal than some of the software we have already discussed, and it has a variety of add-ons for streamlining the interface and the rendering pipeline. You can save a particular setup (i.e. interface & rendering-pipeline combination) and load whichever setup is most desirable for your current activity.

The trial version only has saving disabled. Requires 1GHz or better CPU, Mac OSX 10.5.0/QuickTime 7.0.4 up, 512 MB RAM, and PCI Express or Intel Graphics Processor with at least 64 MB VRAM and OpenGL.

Modul8

Another fairly popular Mac-only VJ solution is Modul8. Although priced in the same range as some of the software we have discussed here (@ €299; educational version @ €199), it does give you two licenses – possibly the freedom to maintain a Desktop and Laptop version at the same time. The interface does a lot by way of access to necessary functions and somehow feels a little bit better than a lot of competitors. This is partly because of the large preview screen as well as a fairly big (but not overwhelming) set of controls along the large left-pane.

Support for 10-layer video results in a rich composite output stream. Naturally each layer can be adjusted individually and in real-time, including the filters. And the rendering engine is optimized to run fairly fast – once again providing you with a flexibility that will enhance your creativity. Most features are pretty standard or are available as add-ons, such as sequencing and SMS-to-screen, the only thing that is lacking is the output options – For example there is no support DV/DMX output. Once you spend a little time bringing up the software up to your needs, you can be on your way. During that initial phase of discovery, another key thing is making the controls more flexible. Here, Modul8 easily outdoes everyone else, associating a keyboard stroke to a certain control is as easy as selecting the control (clicking) simultaneously with the desired key. In just a few minutes (or seconds, if you are one of those key-whizzes and know exactly what combinations will work for you) you can have an easy control set exactly customized to your needs.

The latest version if 2.6 and it comes with full FreeFrame and MIDI support (in fact MIDI signals can be configured to control the interface in a way similar to key-strokes) as well as for CoreImage filters; requires a 1GHz CPU, with Mac OSX 10.4.8/QuickTime 7.3.1 or higher, 1 GB RAM and AGP/PCI-Express Graphics with 64 MB VRAM; and the demo version is available here.

VVVV

A PC-based tool, VVVV is described by publisher as a “toolkit for real time video synthesis.” One of its most important features is its ability to simultaneously handle/manipulate a large number of objects. They call this feature spreading, i.e. spreading different parameter values across the large set of objects. This makes it easy for someone looking to use a large number of objects at the same time, and make behave in a certain way in real-time. VJs will appreciate the feeling of power that will inevitably strike them when they use “spreading.”

However, if you are a not so techie person, at first glance at the sheer number of options can overwhelm you. This is not to say that this is a big negative – the available functionality is certainly one of the things going for VVVV; but because of this large set of functions some time should have been spent improving interface design.

Professional VJs who like to tinker with every aspect of their A/V presentation will of course get over the interface hitches, and will love the Visual Programming Interface offered by VVVV, and the best thing is that prototyping and development takes place at runtime/real-time unlike other software that may implement these as separate modes or cycles. It is a great tool for 2D & 3D modeling and much more than VJ software, it is actually even a shoo-in for scientific applications. This makes it well-worth the €500 price tag, and best of all, VVVV is free for non-commercial use.

VVVV will handle as many as channels, layers and effects as your hardware can support, thus not applying any limitation of its own. While there is standard MIDI & FreeFrame support, VVVV does not have support for automated mixing.

MXWendler

Device+Context, the publishers, intend to offer MXWendler as a comprehensive solution for anyone looking for powerful A/V rendering and manipulation services. This naturally includes corporations in addition to artists. Apart from Stage Designer which is MXWendler’s software piece, the publishers also offer FXServer which is optimized to work well with the software. The hardware and software are pricey (hardware available at a €350 rental basis and an unquoted buying price; software is in excess of €850) and obviously the complete solution is not meant for a normal VJ. For the VJ there is the option of licensing the software on a monthly basis (@ 10% of list price) or take advantage of a 20% discount (only if you make less than 25000 €/year) to buy a Stage Designer Entropy Pack (3 options included; €850) or Stage Designer Eventdriver Pack (all options included; €2450). Go here for more pricing information.

MXWendler supports 10 layer video editing, 4 external video streams, with a maximum of 24 clips loadable simultaneously: each individually controllable. Its sleek interface makes it a joy to work with, and there is never any sense of clutter or incomprehension while working with it. Most features that come in other packages are standard on MXWendler and this is not surprising given how expensive it is (exceptions: no automated mixing, no SMS-to-Screen, no DV output, and most importantly NO FREEFRAME SUPPORT). The design philosophy is similar to VVVV, with a single real-time system and an output correction engine ensures that real-time multi-screen output is seamlessly achieved. You can view “555 KUBIK” installation to get a glimpse of its power.

The software is optimized for NVIDIA graphics cards (ATI is also supported). It works with 1 GB RAM (4GB recommended), 512 MB VRAM, and Mac OS X 10.4/Windows XP or later. There is no trial version.

Salvation

Harrison Digital Media’s Salvation is a Mac and PC based video processing and visual programming tool. It allows you to mix and manipulate as many video layers and effect as your hardware will allow. It comes with a GLSL pixel programming interface that can be used to create a host of unique effects – along with the multiple layers and individual manipulation of each, this promises practically limitless creativity on the part of the VJ. However, strangely, the output capabilities of that VJ will be somewhat limited because Salvation neither comes with DV output nor DMX. This is a severe limitation for software priced at $500.

The multiple windowing approach to the user interface, in turn, makes the software little confusing and cumbersome to use. But simplicity lies in its visual programming environment. Everything else is what you would expect from a professional software in this price bracket – FreeFrame & MIDI support, full LFO and automated mixing options, and SMS-to-Screen+Live-Text-Creation, among others.

They also have a video mixer called Salvation MX and it has 2 video channels (A and B; each can be manipulated) with the output being a composite. Salvation MX is available for an additional $49.99.

Salvation requires a 1GHz CPU, 256 MB RAM, OpenGL 2.0 Graphics card, and at least Windows XP. Trial version is available for 60 days.

Aestesis Electronika

The above mentioned options are great, but there are those of us out there who would just like to be able to do things for fun, as an enthusiast, without shelling out $ (or €). For their consideration there is the free Aestesis Electronika (for PC only) – although not in the big league by any means, it still offers a pretty decent set of features, including FreeFrame & MIDI support, the ability to select from up to 30 clips at a time, along with customization options. A rear view offers up the reverse side of your console/deck and there you can connect a number of A/V virtual wires to get the effects that you desire. If you’re a beginner, start here and work your way up. Check out the basic documentation and tips on the wiki.

Using only the tools available in After Effects, you will learn how to create a audio reactive seismograph. Also you will learn to sync it to rhythm of music using a free After Effects preset. There are lots of ways to do this, some requiring lot of scripting. This is the one of the easiest way to do it in After Effects without any third-party plug-ins. But we would like suggest you to use 3D software, if you have one to do such complex motion graphics. It will give you more control and you will finish it much faster than creating it in After Effects. But for now let us start with After Effects.

Preview

Step 1

Create a new composition “Time” of time equal to your audio track. Create a new solid and add two slider controls to it. Name the first one “Time Multiplier” and the second “Output Time”.

Step 2

Add this little expression to the “Output Time”. Set the value of Time Multiplier to 20, only for this tutorial. You can adjust it later according to your requirement. To get expression input box hold ALT key and click on the stopwatch icon. You can use pick whip tool instead of typing it.

effect("Time Multiplier")("Slider")*time

Step 3

Create a new composition with the name “Paper” and of size 2000*1000.

Step 4

Create a white solid “paper” of composition size. Add grid and fractal noise effect to it. Set the values as shown in the screenshot to give it a look of a graph paper. Or you can skip this step by using premade paper texture. Using premade graph paper texture (JPEG, PSD, PNG) you can render it much faster. Fractal noise effect uses lot of CPU power. And you will be duplicating the paper layer many times and to render it, will take lot of time. So it’s better to use premade texture. Just import your image file and add the expression and that’s it. Only see that edges blend with each other. But the best option would be to use a looped video composition of graph paper moving.

Step 5

Create a new camera and place it below the layer.  Layer->New->Camera

Step 6

Select the solid layer “paper” and press P to get the position parameters. Now add this expression to the position.  

temp = (index-1)*2000;

value+(0,0,temp)

Now every time you duplicate the layer, the next layer will automatically will be positioned at +2000. 2000 is value of width of this composition. Thinking why duplicate layer and why not create a layer of size you need. Doing it this way gives you flexibility. The length of “paper” depends on the speed at which it is moving and the total time of the audio track. So in case you replace the audio track, you just need to duplicate the “paper” layer to fill the blank space. You will understand it more once we animate the camera. Make sure that the camera layer is placed under the paper layer.

Step 7

Select the camera layer and add this expression to the anchor point and position.

x = comp("Time").layer("White Solid 2").effect("Output Time")("Slider");

value+[x, 0,0]

Camera will now move from left to right.

Step 8

Create a new composition “Graph”. Add the audio track to this composition. You can view the waveform by pressing “LL” on keyboard.  Convert audio to keyframe. This automatically creates a new layer with keyframes of all the audio channels in it.

Choose “both channels” and add this little expression to slider control. The values depend upon your audio track. Add this expression to the slider

linear(value,5,70,0,150)

It will map the values from 5 to 70 to 0 to 150. You can choose the value according to the amplitude of your audio track. Use graphical keyframe editor to see the values.

Step 9

Create a new solid with name “Diagram”. The width of the solid should be more than or equal to that of x position of camera in the “paper” composition at the last frame. After that adjust the position so that left side of the solid layer is aligned with left side of composition.

Step 10

Add an expression to the position of the layer diagram.

p = comp("Time").layer("White Solid 2").effect("Output Time")("Slider")*(-1);

value+[p, 0]

Step 11

Add write-on effect to the diagram layer. Set the values as shown in screenshot.

Step 12

Add this expression to the brush position of write-on effect.

x = comp("Time").layer("White Solid 2").effect("Output Time")("Slider");

y = thisComp.layer("Audio Amplitude").effect("Both Channels")("Slider");

value+[x, y]

Basically this takes time value from the “Output Time” layer and assigns it to X position, while Y position is driven by the audio keyframes. Turn off write-on effect for temporary as it slows down previews.

Step 13

Create a new composition “Needle”. Enable grid from view->Show Grid. Create a solid “needle” of the composition size and draw the needle using pen tool. You can also draw a traditional seismograph needle.

Step 14

Add this expression to position of the layer. Needle will move along Y axis with the write-on brush.

temp = comp("Graph").layer("Diagram").effect("Write-on")("Brush Position")[1];
value+[0, temp]

                  OR

Add this expression to rotation of the layer. It calculates the angle by which the needle has to turn when the write-on brush moves. Though x value changes with respect to time, when you consider x position of all three points at any time, it’s basically same as at time 0. Since only the Y position of brush is changing and not x position and therefore you will have to compensate for the error. In simple needle is performing a circular motion whereas the motion of the brush point is in straight line. It’s totally up to you to use it.

point1=comp("Graph").layer("Diagram").effect("Write-on")("Brush Position")[0],comp("Graph").layer("Diagram").effect("Write-on")("Brush Position")[1];

p2x=comp("Graph").layer("Diagram").effect("Write-on")("Brush Position")[0]-transform.anchorPoint[0];

point2=p2x,transform.anchorPoint[1];

q=396;

l=comp("Graph").layer("Diagram").effect("Write-on")("Brush Position")[1]-q;

pi=Math.PI;

r=length(point1,point2);

c=2*pi*r;

theta=(360*l)/c;

value+(theta)

Step 15

Create a new composition with same settings as the previous one. Create a new solid and draw a pointed end of the needle using pen tool.

Step 16

Give your needle a nice metallic look using a gradient. Do the same for the tip.

Step 17

Create a new composition and add “Paper”, “Graph”, “Needle”, and “Tip” to it. Create a new camera and turn on the 3D switch for all the layers.

Step 18

Position the camera and all the layers as shown in the screenshot. Arrange all the composites in 3D space. Place "Tip" below and at end point of the needle. Do not change the size of the needle composition layer from the final composition. Instead change it through “Needle” composition. If you do not you could be out of sync to the moving brush as we have used the expression in that composition.

Step 19

After positioning the tip properly in the 3D space, add this expression to its position.

y = comp("Graph").layer("Diagram").effect("Write-on")("Brush Position")[1];

value+[0,y,0]

Step 20

Position your camera to get a nice view.  Don’t forget to turn on depth of field of the camera. Add a light source, a background layer and a shadow. Turn on the motion blur switch for “tip” and “needle” layer.

For Rhythmic Seismograph

The above animation is driven by the sound amplitude much like the real seismograph that captures amplitude of seismic waves (that is you get exact representation of audio waveform). After all seismograph are used to measure the ground vibration and not for sound. But the working principle is the same. Instead of ground vibration we have sound as for the input. If you like to make it react to rhythm or beat then you will need free Spectrum Analysis Preset from Satya Meka or Trapecode Sound Keys Plug-in.

Step 1

For this create a new solid “audio spectrum” and add Audio spectrum preset to it. Set the values as show in the screenshot. The technique is the same even if you use Trapcode sound keys. For this create new solid layer "Audio Spectrum" inside graph composition and the audio spectrum to it. Increase the height and adjust the frequency bands. See the screenshot.

Step 2

Create new layer "keyframes" and add the spectrum analysis preset to it. Choose the spectrum layer and watch the spectrum while you can hear the audio (hit NUM 0 key on keyboard). You will see that specific sound have specific frequencies which you can easily choose by moving the box. You will see that the range value changes as there is change in the frequency. And hence you can convert it to keyframes and utilize it for animation.

Step 3

After choosing the sounds convert the range value to keyframes. For this select the Final Range value slider and go to Animation->Keyframe Assistant->Covert Expression to Keyframe

Step 4

Now all you have to do is use these keyframes instead of previous one to drive your animation. Also linearize the keyframe value to your range, same way as we did before. Once that is done add this expression to the position of write-on effect.

x = comp("Time").layer("White Solid 2").effect("Output Time")("Slider");
y = thisComp.layer("keyframes").effect("Final Range Value")("Slider")
value+[x, y]

And with few minor adjustments you are done. And in case you do not want go through all these steps or do not want to waste your time then use the After Effects CS4 Project file.

Project Files

Project file will be up soon.

Quartz Composer is a powerful tool for processing and rendering graphical data. You can use it easily for manipulating any type of graphics in real time. It uses node based visual programming language and can be easily adopted by non-programmer due to it simplicity. It uses OpenGL, OpenCL in new Mac OS X, Core Image, Core Video, JavaScript, and other technologies. You can drag and drop, link nodes and play with values to create amazing graphics. Using Quartz Composer you can create Screen Savers, iTunes Visualizers, UI for applications, by conjunction with Cocoa. To use Quartz Composer, install Xcode developer tools from your Mac OS X disc.

In this round-up we present best Quartz Composer tutorials for Developers, Visual Effects Artists, Motion Graphics Designers and VJ`s. And Before you begin with any of these tutorials, please read Quartz Composer Programming Guide.

Basic Tutorial on Images and Directories in Quartz Composer

Particle Effects Following Mouse Input

Gradient Image Reflection

Light Ray Text Effect

Double Helix
How to create a rotating double helix in 3D with Quartz Composer.

Turn Quartz Composition into a Standalone Application.

Dashboard Widget

Tutorial to create Mac OS X dashboard widget with Quartz Composer.

Screen Saver
Tutorial shows how to create your own screensavers using Quartz Composer.

Lightning and Audio Reactive Movements

Lighting the 3D Cubes and use audio to make it interactive.

Bouncing Ball
This video tutorial shows the basic steps of how to make a ball bounce to the beat of the music.

Webcam Audio Visualizer Art

Music Visualizer
Tutorial for creating music visualizer.

When your digital photos are displayed like Polaroid, they look more eye-catching. But did you ever used it for videos? This tutorial will teach you to create a simple Polaroid effect which will give your video a vintage look.

Download Preview

Step 1

Create a new composition – 720*720 of 50 seconds and name it as video.

Step 2

Import your footage to after effects and drag and drop it to timeline. Scale it to fit the screen.

Step 3

Add curves to adjust the footage.

Step 4

Add noise effect and set noise amount to around 11% and uncheck the use color noise option.

Step 5

Add fast blur and set blurriness to 0.9

Step 6

Create adjust layer of comp size and set blend mode to soft light. Add video as the parent for adjustment layer. Add ramp effect to it. Adjust the values.

Step 7

Create a new comp of size 750*900 and name it as Polaroid. Create a white solid and name it as paper. Add the video composition layer to the new composition.

Step 8

Adjust the video as shown below.

Step 9

Add the texture to the timeline. Scale it to fit the comp size and set the blend mode to multiply and change the opacity to around 70%.

Step 10

Next create a new comp for final video.

Step 11

Add new solid and add the Polaroid comp to timeline. Scale and rotate the Polaroid according to your need. Add drop shadow effect to Polaroid comp. Set distance to 0 and softness to 100.

Step 12

Add a light layer. Layer->New->Light. Note you have to change the remaining layers to 3D for light layer to function. Change the intensity and the position accordingly.

You will get something like this

Step 13

Add an expression to the opacity of the Polaroid layer to make it look like projector flicker.

opacity.wiggle(5,50)

Step 14

Add camera Layer-> New->Camera. Choose 24mm –preset.  Change the camera orientation as shown in the screenshot. Do not forget to adjust the position and scale value of the background layer so that it is little bigger than the composition size.

Step 15

Turn off 3D switch for the Polaroid layer (but don`t forget to turn on the switch later) and add key frame to change the rotation. Use graph editor to give it more realistic movements.

Download Project Files

In this tutorial we will create beautiful dissolving painted letters which are enclosed within a glass.

Preview

Download Preview

Step 1

Create a new composition of about 5 seconds. I used 720*576. You can use your own custom settings but for time being use mine.

Step 2

Create a new solid layer of black color, make it composition size and name it as ‘Text’. Add basic text effect to it and set the value as shown in the screenshot.

Step 3

Select the basic text effect in the effect panel and set the size to 94 and fill color to white.

Step 4

Add 4-color Gradient effect to the Text layer. I used these colors #FA0900, #FCDE31, # 1F641A, #02529B. Change the colors and Set the points as shown in the screenshot.

Step 5

Add Fast blur effect to the same layer and set the Blurriness value to 1.5. Add Level s for more color adjustment and use the values as shown in the screenshot.

Step 6

Create a new composition with the same settings as previous one. Create a new solid layer – composition size. I used-#147674. Go to layer transform properties and set values as shown in the screenshot.

Step 7

Choose the same solid layer and create a new mask. Layer -> Mask->New mask. Change the mask values to following.

Step 8

Now comes the animation part. Go to Layer`s transform properties and click the stop watch for position. Keep the first key frame position value same but change the last one.

Step 9

Add fractal noise effect to the layer. Set the value as shown in the screenshot.

Step10

Go effect properties of the layer and click stop watch icon on offset turbulence, opacity and evolution. Set offset turbulence, opacity and evolution values to 2.8, 0% and 2x respectively for the last key frame.

Step 11

Create a new comp with same settings as the previous one and create a red solid #960002. Set the transformation values.

Step 12

Go to layer transform properties and click stop watch for position. Change the position value for the last key frame.

Step 13

Create a new mask for adjustment and change mask properties to values shown in the screenshot.

Also adjust the mask such that it is slightly inside the layer.

Step 14

Add fractal noise to the layer and change the values to following

Step 15

Add a key frame for evolution and change last key frame value to 2x.

Step 16

Create a new comp, again with the same settings. Create a new solid layer – Color #FC0000. Add fractal noise effect to it. Set the values as shown in the screenshot. Also add key frames for evolution. I have used 0x for the first and 2x for the last one. You can entirely vary the key frame time.

Step 17

Create a new comp and add all 4 compositions to new composition and hide all composition expect the first one.

Step 18

Add the background image below the layers and adjust the size by changing scale. Add levels to the image layer. You can also use curves to adjust the image.

Step 19

Create a white solid layer of composition size and place it above background image layer.

Step 20

Add Displacement Map effect to the white solid and set the values as shown in screenshot. Hide this layer.

Step 21

Create another white solid layer Name it as ‘water’ and place it below previously created white solid. Select the layer and choose track matte to alpha inverted matte of white solid 1 (Press f4 to toggle between modes). Set opacity of the layer to 10%

Step 22

Create a new white solid layer and place it below water layer and name it white solid 2. Add displacement Map effect to it. Set the values as show in the screenshot and hide the layer.

Step 23

Create a new white solid layer and name it water2 (Press f4 to toggle between modes). Set track matte to track matte alpha inverted matte of white solid 2.

Step 24

Add displacement Map effect and set below shown values.

Step 25

Select the layer and turn on the adjustment switch on (Press f4 to toggle between modes).

Step 26

Select comp1 and add Compound Blur effect to it. Set blur layer to comp2 and value of maximum blur to 100.

Step 27

Select the comp1 layer and add displacement map effect to it. Change the values to following.

Step 28

Duplicate the displacement Map effect – CTRL+D for the same layer and change the values.

Step 29

Add Drop shadow effect to the same layer – comp1. Set these values.

Step 30

Create a white solid and name it ‘Reflection’. Set opacity to 15%. Now to add the glossy look to the video, take the pen tool and draw a mask.

Step 31

Select the reflection layer and press m to show mask. Choose subtract and lock the mask.

Step 32

With the pen tool create another mask inside the first one.

Step 33

Add ramp effect to the Reflection layer. Set the values.

Step 34

Create a black solid layer and set opacity to 25%. Add an elliptical mask and feather the mask around 143 pixels.

Go to mask options and change to subtract.

And you are done. Play with the settings to get better results. Remember that there are no limits to what you can do and where you can reach with it. Come up with your own ideas and let us know. For the lazy ones we have included free project file for download.

Project Files