Organizing Plates and other elements
To get started, import your background plate into After Effects. You can drag and drop it into the timeline. If a dialog box opens, set the elements like length and size here, and give it a name. Use a name to help you stay organized, in case you end up with lots of layers. This is likely to be at the bottom of the stack. This is also a good time to add any other elements, such as particles to add rain.
Defining the lightning’s path
Make sure nothing is selected, otherwise you’ll create a mask, and then press ‘G’ to begin using the Pen tool. Now draw a rough path for your lightning strike. You can tweak this later on, but for now define a general direction and add a few points to offer some interest. It’s worth looking up references if you’re going for realism. We’ll add Sub-paths for details later, as lightning rarely has a single bolt, but it’s much easier to duplicate and tweak a finished path. Rename this layer to "lightning".
Timing the bolt
We need to animate the lightning, so select the shape layer and open it up so you can see the path. Click on the Add button to bring in a Trim Path. Here you can add keyframes to the start and end of the lightning. Again, references are useful for this. Often the starting point will need to animate down differently from the end, or you’ll have an odd, disconnected bolt. Easing the end keyframes works well too. To do that, select the frames on the timeline and press F9.
Starting and ending the glow
To help the lightning sit better in the scene, you’ll need to add some lighting where it leaves the clouds and hits the floor. There are many ways to do this, but an easy one is to make a Solid with the same color as the lightning. Add a mask with a roughly oval shape and a large Feather amount, then add a Glow to it. Hit ‘M’ to open up the Mask properties and keyframe the opacity so the light patch is strongest at the moment of impact. I duplicated my layer and tweaked the masks to create a central hotspot.
Binding it all together
Now the lightning is done, all that’s left is to add a few last effects to bring it all together. Create an adjustment layer and add a Lens Blur. Use a rectangle mask with a high Feather amount to add some foreground blur, which helps keep the eye towards the middle of the scene. Create a second adjustment layer and add a Film Grain to it. The default settings can be a bit much so lower them, then add a Lumetri effect, and using Curves add a gentle S-curve before lowering the highlights and lifting the blacks as you desire. This will depend on your background layer.
Rendering it out
The final step is to double check the timings of your keyframe, then render it out and bask in the glory of a job well done! Go to Composition > Add to Render Queue, then select your output format, name and location, and click on Render. Once this is done, you’ll probably want to tweak timings, as After Effects never seems to quite get the playback at the speed your end results will be. Rinse and repeat and you should be golden. Your shot is finished and can be sent to the edit.
Conclusion
In this tutorial, we have covered the steps to create a simple and realistic lightning effect in After Effects. We have used the Pen tool to create a rough path for the lightning strike, animated the path using Trim Paths, and added a glow effect to enhance the overall appearance of the lightning. We have also used adjustment layers to add some finishing touches, such as Lens Blur and Film Grain, to the final result.
FAQs
Q: What is the best way to create a realistic lightning effect in After Effects?
A: The best way to create a realistic lightning effect in After Effects is to use the Pen tool to create a rough path for the lightning strike, animate the path using Trim Paths, and add a glow effect to enhance the overall appearance of the lightning.
Q: How do I add a glow effect to my lightning?
A: To add a glow effect to your lightning, create a Solid with the same color as the lightning, add a mask with a roughly oval shape and a large Feather amount, and then add a Glow to it. Keyframe the opacity so the light patch is strongest at the moment of impact.
Q: How do I render out my final result?
A: To render out your final result, go to Composition > Add to Render Queue, select your output format, name and location, and click on Render.
