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Animation TIP - Vignette in After Effects
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Overview
- You will need a copy of Adobe After Effects, Illustrator & Photoshop CC 2017 or above. 90% of the course will be done in After Effects but a few things are better done in Illustrator & Photoshop. A free trial can be downloaded from Adobe.
- No previous motion graphic skills are needed.
- No previous After Effects, Illustrator or Photoshop skills are needed.
- 48 lectures 5+ hours of well structured content.
- You'll learn to take Excel spread sheets and animate this in After Effects.
- You’ll learn how to make animated pie charts, line charts & bar graphs.
- You’ll learn how to create percentage counters.
- You’ll learn how to animate icons making beautiful infographics.
- You’ll learn how to create 'voice over' infographics.
- You’ll learn all the animation techniques needed to bring your data to life.
- You will have the finished files so you never fall behind.
- Downloadable exercise files & cheat sheet.
- Forum support from me and the rest of the BYOL crew.
- Techniques used by professional motion graphic designers.
- A wealth of other resources and websites to help your new career path.
- No previous After Effects experience is necessary.
- This course is for people completely new to After Effects. No previous animation or motion graphic design experienced is necessary.
- This is a relaxed, well paced introduction that will enable you to produce impressive video for your business or organization. Only basic computing skills are necessary - If you can send emails and surf the internet then you will cope well with our course.
- There is a 100% refund if you don’t find this course useful. Just message me, no questions asked, I’ll refund your payment in full.
Course duration 5.5 hours + your study.
Daniel Walter Scott
Founder of Bring Your Own Laptop & Chief Instructor
I discovered the world of design as an art student when I stumbled upon a lab full of green & blue iMac G3’s. My initial curiosity around using the computer to create ‘art’ developed into a full-blown passion, eventually leading me to become a digital designer and founder of Bring Your Own Laptop.
Sharing and teaching are a huge part of who I am. As a certified Adobe instructor, I've had the honor of winning multiple Adobe teaching awards at their annual MAX conference. I see Bring Your Own Laptop as the supportive community I wished for when I was first starting out and intimidated by design. Through teaching, I hope to bring others along for the ride and empower my students to bring their stories, labors of love, and art into the world.
True to my Kiwi roots, I've lived in many places, and currently, I reside in Ireland with my wife and kids.
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Transcript
Hi there, in this video we're going to apply a Vignette. A Vignette looks like this, around the outside. Turn it off, boring Vignette. Awesome. Let's go and do that now.
It's not really an animation trick. Just looks cool when you're dealing with Motion Graphics and Infographics. So Vignette, it's easy to apply. The first thing we need to do is create what's called an 'Adjustment Layer'. Adjustment Layer is an invisible layer that we can apply effects to. And we're going to apply a Vignette to this one.
So, to find it, we're going to go to our 'Effects & Presets'. And in here, we're going to type in something called 'Lumetri'. If you start spelling it, you'll get there. Lumetri Color is the thing we want. And click, hold, and drag it. It's probably best to drag it to the actual layer itself so you know you got it on the right spot.
And one of the options in here, under 'Vignette', is the 'Amount'. We're going to drag it to the left and you'll notice in the background there, I'm at -1.7 and we've got a kind of a Vignette. Whether you like this or not, I love it. I love it, gives it that kind of film quality look. So to turn it on and off, you see, where it says 'fx', turn it on and off. You can have a white one. If you drag it to the right hand side, it's going to be a little slow. Not sure when-- it's like the heavenly glow. Never used that one. -1.7. That looks good to me. That is how you apply a Vignette.
If you're sitting there thinking "Why did we make it dark around the outside?" you're probably not a Vignette person, I'm a Vignette person. Watch any of my videos. Everywhere, I overcook it, and overdo it. One day I'll get it out of my system. Before we go, let's rename this Adjustment Layer. I'm going to call this one 'Viginitte'. I can never spell Vignette. Is that close? I don't know. That's close enough.
Now the only problem with the Vignette is it needs to be at the top, the whole time. But as you keep adding things you'll potentially add stuff above it. And what happens is, say that I get this underneath the Icon, you'll see, the Icon is not affected by the Vignette. This Adjustment Layer affects everything underneath it but not anything above it. So just be careful of that. All right, let's get our next tip.
How do you add a vignette in After Effects?
Create an adjustment layer, apply Lumetri Color from Effects & Presets, then open its Vignette controls and reduce Amount to darken the edges. Try an Amount of -1.7 as a starting point. Keep the adjustment layer above every layer you want the vignette to affect.
How to Add a Vignette in After Effects with Lumetri Color
Key Takeaways
Add a vignette using Lumetri Color on an adjustment layer.
Use a negative Amount for dark edges or a positive Amount for light edges.
Toggle the effect off and on to judge the difference.
Keep the adjustment layer at the top if you want the whole composition affected.
A Simple Finishing Touch for Motion Graphics
A vignette changes the brightness around the outside of your composition. The version I love darkens the edges, giving the image a little more of that film-like quality.
This is not really an animation trick. Nothing needs to move. It is simply an easy finishing touch that can look great on motion graphics and infographics.
Am I a vignette person? Absolutely. I probably overdo it. Whether you like that darker border is a matter of taste, but the setup is quick enough to try and compare for yourself.
1. Create an Adjustment Layer
In After Effects, choose Layer > New > Adjustment Layer.
An adjustment layer is an invisible layer that holds effects. Rather than applying the vignette separately to each piece of your composition, you can apply it to this one layer.
The important bit is its position in the timeline: an adjustment layer affects the layers underneath it, not the layers above it. Put it at the top for now so the vignette can affect the whole composition.
2. Apply Lumetri Color
Open the Effects & Presets panel.
Search for Lumetri.
Find Lumetri Color in the results.
Drag the effect directly onto your adjustment layer in the timeline.
Dragging it onto the actual layer is the safest option. You know exactly where the effect is going, rather than accidentally applying it to another element.
3. Adjust the Vignette Amount
In the Lumetri Color effect controls, expand Vignette. Find Amount and drag its value to the left.
As the value becomes negative, the outside of the image darkens. For this example, -1.7 gives a result I like. Treat that as a starting point rather than a number you must use on every project.
A negative Amount darkens the edges and gives the composition a more film-like finish.
Drag Amount to the right into positive values and you get the opposite: a light vignette. It has more of a heavenly-glow feel. That is not my preference here, so I would bring it back to -1.7.
Negative Amount: darkens the outside edges.
Positive Amount: lightens the outside edges.
4. Compare the Effect On and Off
Use the fx switch beside the effect to turn it off and back on. This gives you a quick comparison without changing your Amount setting.
I love the extra character a dark vignette adds. If your reaction is, “Why make the outside darker?”, you might simply prefer the composition without it. That is fine. The comparison is there to help you decide, not to convince you that every design needs dark corners.
5. Rename the Layer and Check Its Position
Rename the adjustment layer Vignette so its purpose is obvious when you return to the timeline.
Then keep an eye on the layer order as you add more elements. New layers can end up above the adjustment layer, which means they will not receive its effect.
For example, move the Vignette layer below an icon layer and the background will still be affected, but the icon will not. If you want both to receive the same treatment, move the Vignette layer back above the icon.
The final check is simple: set an Amount you like, compare the effect on and off, and make sure everything you want affected sits underneath the adjustment layer.
Key Terms
Vignette
A change in brightness around the edges of an image. Here, a dark vignette provides the film-like finish.
Adjustment layer
An invisible layer used to apply effects to layers beneath it. Layers above it remain unaffected.
Lumetri Color
The effect used here to create the vignette. Its Vignette section includes the Amount control for darkening or lightening the edges.
FAQs
Why is my vignette not affecting an icon or graphic?
Check the timeline order. If the icon or graphic is above the adjustment layer, the vignette will not affect it. Move the adjustment layer above that element to include it.
What vignette Amount should I use?
The example uses -1.7 for darkened edges. Start there, then adjust to taste and use the fx switch to compare the result with the effect disabled.
Written by Daniel Walter Scott — Founder of Bring Your Own Laptop & Chief Instructor
