Tutorial Details
- Program: After Effects, Trapcode Particular
- Difficulty: Beginner
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.
This effect is loosely based off the traditional method of shooting still photographs with a slow exposure to capture the motion path of a light. This tutorial is filled with many small tips and tricks for Adobe After Effects to enhance the average user’s knowledge and speed up their workflow. If you would like some footage to experiment with, you can download the footage here
Preview
RSS readers: click post title to view preview video at AETUTS.
Download
Preview
View Tutorial
RSS readers: click post title to view preview video at AETUTS.
Instructions: Click ‘View Full-screen’ button (bottom right corner) to see this HD tutorial at maximum size. Click screen to pause, click again to play.
Download
Tutorial
Requirements:
Trapcode Particular (download the trial version here)
Enjoyed this Post?
Subscribe to our RSS Feed, Follow us on Twitter or simply recommend us to friends and colleagues!
By Ben McEwan
Premium Members
Source Files, Bonus Tutorials & More for all relevant Tuts+ sites in one subscription. Join Now
Related Posts
Premium Membership
Source Files, Bonus Tutorials & More for all relevant Tuts+ sites in one subscription
How to Be a Rockstar Freelancer
Use your motion graphics skills to build a freelance business with this authoritative guide on freelancing written by the authors of the super popular FreelanceSwitch blog.
Motion Profile only $15.00 
Celebrity Titles only $20.00 
Reel 2010 - More
After Effects Basix
Just getting started? Start with our basix tutorials on the fundamentals. View All Basix Tutorials
Other Plus Sites ...
aetuts+ audiotuts+ vectortuts+ tuts+ phototuts+ cgtuts+ nettuts+ psdtuts+ activetuts+ mobiletuts+Create a Tutorial, Get Paid!
Have something to teach the world? Want to earn money doing it? Tutorials, screencasts, and articles published here on Aetuts+ are largely contributed by readers just like you! We'll pay you great money for good content. Find Out More
my work
Thank you for this tutorial
foxnett.netsons.org
Hey this is Obaid alokozay form Afghanistan
and want to tell this that
i thing the best is your site
thanks from good doing for people and i am thankful specially from
Andrew Kremer
bests wishes
Hi people from all over the world.
We all have a common love ….AE and we are starving for great tutorials.
That’s why we all visit the coolest sites to get inspired and learn things.
Andrew Crammer Is EXCEPTIONAL and many other guys(not to be mentioned here) but I REALLY appreciate each and every one who is conducive to AE people’s progress by any means.
Instead of hurting people who contribute to the prevalence of AE capabilities ,it certainly would be better encourage them and egg them on keeping up the good work.
It’s not our business to criticize people,,,,,,OUR BUSINESS IS ONLY TO LEARN.
Congratulation Crammer or Ben or Eran Stern or……..
Thank you all for getting us one step further..
Otimo parabéns
hi, please upload the footage to another upload center…
if you can give a direct link that’s better.
but connection speed is low and i cant download from file front…
I cant download Tutorial file!
when download progress reaches 98% my download manager stop downloading and that was closed… what i should to do?
i try downloading with two pc’s and with that two pc’s download having error
Help Me Plz!!!
i bought particular and installed the program but how do i put it on the after effects
Check out this tutorial: http://ae.tutsplus.com/tutorials/beginner-series/after-effects-for-beginners-effects-animation/
Thanks a ton dude!
Awesome! I learned al ot! Thanks!
hi,
I an wanting to make a complex video light effect.(with a lot of movement) Isn’t thr a way to do it live while moving and painting..Or is this the only way.
thanx
NICE!
Clean your room.
Hi people from all over the world.
We all have a common love ….AE and we are starving for great tutorials.
That’s why we all visit the coolest sites to get inspired and learn things.
Andrew Crammer Is EXCEPTIONAL and many other guys(not to be mentioned here) but I REALLY appreciate each and every one who is conducive to AE people’s progress by any means.
Instead of hurting people who contribute to the prevalence of AE capabilities ,it certainly would be better encourage them and egg them on keeping up the good work.
It’s not our business to criticize people,,,,,,OUR BUSINESS IS ONLY TO LEARN.
Congratulation Crammer or Ben or Eran Stern or……..
Thank you all for getting us one step further..
Thank you for this tutorial
soy de perú y gracias por ese tutorial esta busimo
buen tutorial, very good friend!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
very nice
its really a helpful tutorial you had made for the beginners…. Thanks a Lot Sir.
very nice! thank you..
BEN hello I do not speak English to translate this case tambein need your help friend, I started your tutorial but the moment is that you apply the truth a zero and moves the flcha the option that comes down to the xy pocision no effect that I stride I leave that option and really not to do that by running the video did not I get in the way that goes straight up in the tutorial normal particles but everywhere I do help me
I’m sorry, I don’t understand what you’re asking.
i did the tutorial but i have a giant red “X” through my video, any reason why? is it because I chose the “trail” version the “particular” effect from the website? like a watermark or something till i buy the actual product?
I have the same giant X …. any answers?
You’ve only got the trial version of Particular. You’ll need to pay for a licence key to remove that..
search here
http://bassualdo.blogs.linkbucks.com/
I have the same giant red X … can anyone explain why?
Your Trapcode Particular is unregistered. The download from Trapcode’s website is a free demo. The plugin is pretty cheap to buy for what it can do!
i dont know how to do in 5’50′ .just set the mask’s key. it’s all show in font and in last….
i can’t follow you without captions.can you send me one?
Hi Ben.
When I was adding key frames for the null object, the previous key frames block the view of where I move the null object and cause mishaps. How did you make it so that when you move the null object to make key frames, the previous ones don’t block your view?
Thanks!
Ryan,
There’s a little slider on the bottom of the timeline with a picture of a small mountain on the left, and a bigger one on the right. Sliding it to the right will zoom the timeline in so you can see what you’re doing a lot better…
Alternatively, the shortcut to zoom in is the + button, and to zoom out is the – button (the one’s near enter and backspace, not on the numpad).
Hope that answered your question.
Awesome
!!! Nice tutorial 
Aright just gut the full the program as a present… i am going to try this …prepare for question because i know i am going to be lost like crazy……XD great tutorial still………
This is not a entirely tutorial related question, but what camera do you used to film yourself? Thanks
Great tut, although you could have enhanced it further by setting the size over life of the particle streak to a downwards slope in particular and also created some small particles coming off the main streak.
i have NO ! idea what your talking about, i got lost throughout this whole video, can you make one for me ? :[
wew so hard to make…but i learned a lot dude..tnx^_^
Hi Ben, I am Spanish, so I have a problem: I do not understand what you say in the video. Especially when you select the XY position, because by not understanding what you say, I just do what I see in the video and I do not listen. Could you describe the steps to complete the tutorial written instead of spoken? please!!!!
Hi Ben.
I have managed to make the video but I only need one thing you do not explain: As fades the end of the line of light. If you read this please you Tell us it
Please!!!
Hello, this is the thing you use:http://www.redgiantsoftware.com/products/all/trapcode-particular/ ?
The one to 399?