Tutorials > Burn Transition | After Effects Tutorial

Burn Transition | After Effects Tutorial

In this tutorial, we’ll check out an After effects setup for a high quality burning transition effect. Using only native effects in the program, we’ll generate glowing embers, trailing smoke, heat distortion, and more.

Need the After Effects file created in this tutorial? Help support the Texturelabs project by becoming and Expert supporter on Patreon. Return to this page, then link up your Patreon account with the Texturelabs site by clicking the orange lock at the top of the page!


PROJECT SETUP
1920x1080 24fps 16bit

PROJECT MAP (Layers are arranged as they would be in the project)

BURN OBJECTS (Precomp):
1) Adjustment Layer
Fractal Noise Effect - Contrast 10, Brightness 30, Scale 3

2) White Text Layer



TRANSITION MATTE (Precomp):
1) Adjustment Layer
Brightness & Contrast Effect - Contrast 99%, Use Legacy On

2) BURN OBJECTS PRECOMP - Overlay Blending Mode
Gaussian Blur Effect - Blurriness 40, Hue Saturation - Saturation -100

3)Solid - Overlay Blending Mode, 25% Opacity
Fractal Noise Effect with scale 200

4) White Solid - Scale 200%
CC Burn Film Effect - Burn keyed from 0 at frame 30 to 100 at frame 130
Solid Composite Effect set to black



MAIN COMP:
1) Adjustment Layer
Transform Effect - Scale keyed from 110% at frame 0 to 100% at frame 120
CC Vignette Effect - Amount 250
Noise Effect - Amount of Noise 5%
Gaussian Blur - Blurriness 2
Unsharp Mask - Amount 100, Radius 1.5

2) Adjustment Layer - Screen Blending Mode, Opacity 15%
Gaussian Blur - Blurriness 200

3) Black Solid - Opacity 100% at frame 0 to 0% at frame 40

4) Adjustment Layer
Displacement Map - Displacement Map Layer DISPLACEMENT REFERENCE, Effects & Masks, Horizontal 20, Vertical 10

5) DISPLACEMENT MAP REFERENCE (TRANSITION MATTE PRECOMP) - Visibility turned off
Fast Box Blur Effect - Blur Radius 25
Invert
Shift Channels Effect - Take Alpha from Luminance
Fractal Noise Effect - Complexity 4

6) EMBERS (TRANSITION MATTE PRECOMP) - Screen Blending Mode
CC Wide Time Effect - Forward Steps 0, Backward Steps 60
Solid Composite - Black
Fractal Noise - Contrast 220, Brightness -90, Scale 40%, Opacity 50%, Multiply Blending Mode
Brightness & Contrast Effect - Contrast 100%, Use Legacy On
Fractal Noise Effect - Contrast 200, Scale 10%, Blending Mode Multiply
Turbulent Displace Effect - Size 50, Offset Turbulence - expression “[time*65,540]”, Evolution - expression “time*200”
Set Matte Effect - Take Matte from Layer BURN OBJECTS
Set Matte Effect - Take Matte from Layer DARKEN BURN / TRANSITION MATTE, Luminance, Invert Matte On
Tritone Effect - Hilights FFDD83, Midtones 8D3F18
Glow - Radius 50, Intensity 3

7) SMOKE (TRANSITION MATTE PRECOMP) - Screen Blending Mode, Opacity 20%
CC Wide Time Effect - Forward Steps 0, Backward Steps 10
Set Matte Effect - Take Matte from Layer BURN OBJECTS
Set Matte Effect - Take Matte from Layer DARKEN BURN / TRANSITION MATTE, Luminance, Invert Matte On
Fast Box Blur Effect - Blur Radius 10
Solid Composite Effect - Black
Fractal Noise Effect - Fractal Type Dynamic, Scale 300%, Complexity 10, Sub Influence 90%, Sub Scaling 65, Sub Rotation 100, Evolution - expression “time*200”, Blending Mode Multiply
Turbulent Displace Effect - Displacement Twist, Amount 40, Size 50

8) FIRE EDGE (TRANSITION MATTE PRECOMP) - Add Blending Mode
Invert Effect
Turbulent Displace Effect - Size 20
CC Composite Effect - Composite Original Multiply
Fractal Noise Effect - Contrast 200, Brightness -25, Sub Influence 200%. Blending Mode Multiply
Set Matte Effect - Take Matte from Layer BURN OBJECTS
Tritone Effect - Hilights FFDD83, Midtones 8D3F18
Glow - Radius 50, Intensity 3

9) DARKEN BURN / TRANSITION MATTE (TRANSITION MATTE PRECOMP) - Linear Burn Blending Mode
Fast Box Blur Effect - Blur Radius 30, Repeat Edge Pixels On
Levels Effect - Gamma .6
Hue Saturation Effect - Colorize On, Hue 30, Saturation 15, Lightness 15

10) BURN OBJECTS (BURN OBJECTS PRECOMP)
Set Matte Effect - Take Matte from Layer DARKEN BURN / TRANSITION MATTE, Use for Matte Luminance

11) Black Solid (Background)


*Optional: If you want to use a background other thank black, here are a few settings:
DARKEN BURN / TRANSITION MATTE LAYER: After the other effects, use Set Matte Effect - Take Matte from Layer  BURN OBJECTS, Effects & Masks, Alpha Channel
DARKEN BURN / TRANSITION MATTE LAYER: After the other effects, use Levels - Alpha Gamma at 2.00
Turn off all Adjustment Layers and Black Solid Layer, but copy the Displacement Map Effect with the same settings to the BURN OBJECTS layer and the FIRE EDGE layer


*To make the graphic fully keyable (transparent background)Use the additional settings listed above, plus:
DARKEN BURN / TRANSITION MATTE: Turn on Preserve Underlying Transparency checkbox (in between Blending Mode and Track Matte in timeline panel)
FIRE EDGE: Turn on Preserve Underlying Transparency checkbox
SMOKE: After the other effects, use Set Channels - Red Green and Blue Source set to Full, Alpha Source set to Luminance
EMBERS: Immediately before the Tritone Effect, use Linear Color Key with Key Color set to black