This is the third of a 3-part series on how to replicate the Priori Incantatem effect from the Harry Potter films. Our final tutorial will take a look at making the effects fit into the shot. We will make our particles glow and give them a bit of color, as well as adjusting brightness, matching grain and adding heat distortion. There are a lot of possibilities for extending the effects in this shot, I encourage you to explore these ideas further and leave a link in the comments section below.

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This is the second of a 3-part series on how to replicate the Priori Incantatem effect from the Harry Potter films. In this part, we will explore how lights work alongside Trapcode Particular to give us more control of the direction of the particles’ motion. We will finish off the animation of our particle effects, and create the beams of magic squirting out the end of the wands.

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This is the first of a 3-part series on how to replicate the Priori Incantatem effect from the Harry Potter films. In this part, we will take a look at matchmoving our shot and using the data to create a 3D camera inside of After Effects, as well as starting to create the particle animation. Along the way, we’ll also go through a few quick tips on how to speed up workflow by using expressions to automate animation.

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If you’re wanting to help to save Sarah Connor then maybe this tutorial will give you an insider’s perspective on what to do. Here is the Final Day of this 3 Part Series by Ben McEwan. You can view Day 1 here and

Day 2 here.

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If you’re wanting to help to save Sarah Connor then maybe this tutorial will give you an insider’s perspective on what to do. Here is Day 2 of this 3 Part Series by Ben McEwan. You can view Day 1 here.

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If you’re wanting to help to save Sarah Connor then maybe this tutorial will give you an insider’s perspective on what to do. Ben McEwan has created a 3 Day Series crammed full of useful expressions to create the UI found in the Terminator. He’ll skim over some of the basics of shape layers, as well as touch on some more advanced stuff like displacement mapping.

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You’ve surely seen a “light painting” photograph by now. Sprint made it very popular in their latest advertising campaign, but it’s been around for a long time, Picasso made a light painting in 1949. In this tutorial Ben shows us how to easily recreate this effect using particles in After Effects.

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