Good Particle effect plugin?

[Indie767]

Can anyone recommend a good plugin to overlay particle effects over a video layer? 

[Byron Cortez]

En el mismo After Effects tienes el efecto Particle System donde tienes un montón de opciones de partículas. Revísa bien sus opciones de seguro te sirve de mucho.

[Rick Gerard]

What kind of look are you trying to achieve. There are a few different particle effects included in AE. Trapcode, Boris FX, Maxon, and others include a lot of different particle generators. Each has its own advantage and its own look. The best choice depends on your budget and what you are trying to do.

[Indie767]

I want to generate and animate dust particles over video footage. 

[Mohammad.Harb]

This is a free Effects already included with After Efefcts 

you can also try to find a stock video with particles then apply blending modes to, 

[Indie767]

Thanks, I have been playing with CC Particle System. I also looked into Boris Particle Illusion but it is a stand alone tool but it does not have any compositing capability. 

[Warren Heaton]

If using the stand-alone version of BorisFX Particle Illusion, you'll have to render your particle animation and then import that into After Effects.

Per the user documentation, "ProRes is the preferred format, as it’s the only way to embed an alpha channel into the video — select one of the ProRes Presets that contain alpha. (With MP4 you must render the RGB and Alpha as two separate files.)"  (https://borisfx.com/documentation/continuum/bcc-particle-illusion/)

Another option to consider that I don't think has been mentioned yet is stock footage of dust.  It's pretty easy to find clips that are free (https://www.videezy.com/free-video/dust) as well as those that have a fee and then layer that in with a Blending Mode or Magic Bullet Universe Unmult (https://support.maxon.net/hc/en-us/articles/360010345194-Where-can-I-get-Unmult-).  That effect knocks out black.  Unmilt is part of one of their subscriptions, but you could try the free version that was maintained from 2014 to 2017.

[Indie767]

Hi Warren,

Parricle Ilusion's built in template lack animation controls so,I deleted the program. Not a big fan of that software anyway, it's more or less prosumer software as the effects are not realistic. I will try to fake something with the AE particle generators, but I not sure I can do realistic particles effects, so I may have to farm out the shot to a Flame or Nuke artist. 

[OussK]

RED giant particular one of the best particles plkugin for AE, so why you didn't try that?

https://www.maxon.net/en/red-giant-complete/trapcode-suite/particular 

[Indie767]

Hello, Red Giant is not in my budget. I wish it were. I tried tiral version of Boris Continuum / Particle Illusion. A total waste of time. Particle Illusion project setting cannot be changed. It defaults to 331 frame rate (WTF?!) plus you can't edit emitters. Lame! For my budget, AE CC Particle World is light years ahead of Boris Partilcle Illusion. Don't have a clue why anyone would waste their money on Boris. 

[Rick Gerard]

You can generate a dust cloud in AE very effectively using several techniques. Fractal Noise and a distorted track matte with some blur and some blend modes can create a very realistic dust cloud. For larger dust particles you'll need to use some particle system, but realism is going to require more than one layer with particle effects and the use of blend modes and probably track mattes. 

If we saw the scene you are trying to create we could give you some better suggestions.

[Indie767]

Thanks Rick, after much experientation, I arrived to this workflow you suggested. I am still tweaking but getting close the look I want. That said, I don't know why AE has built in animation properties to some of these effects. It is really not helpful. 

[Warren Heaton]

It's always worth hiring a specialist.

Particle Illusion offers a great deal of customization and flexibility.  I'm not sure why you're not seeing that on your end

[Indie767]

Hi Warren, it looks like I am going with Red Giant for my currrent project. Downloaded the trail version last night and I was able to achieve particle effects I envisioned. I'm leery of spending money on Boris Continuum. I just don't see the customization and flexibity of  Particle Illusion. Yeah Red Giant is more expensive but it is a real pro application. Not so sure about Continuum in that regard. 

[Warren Heaton]

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@Indie767 wrote:

I also looked into Boris Particle Illusion but it is a stand alone tool but it does not have any compositing capability. 

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Yes, the stand alone version of Particle Illusion is just a particle editor.

For compositing, we need to use the plug-in version in one of the supported hosts like After Effects, Premiere Pro, Media Composer, Devinci Resolve, Vegas Pro, Nuke, or Final Cut Pro.

[Jose Panadero]

Superluminal Stardust is another option you can check.

[Indie767]

I did look at Superluminal but it only works with 3D models. Does not work with 2D video layers. 

[Roland Kahlenberg]

Stardust works with 3D Models, 2D Layers, 3D Layers, images, videos, Text Layers, Masks etc etc etc. IMO, it's the best particle system for AE in terms of price and versatility. 

[Indie767]

I couldn't get Superlininal to work on my 2D footage. Reached out to thier tech support but no response and that makes me nervous. After mullng all this over, I decided to bite the bullet (pun intended) and purchase Red Giant. Thier particle generator is great and I understand the it's logic over the other options. 

Thanks

[Roland Kahlenberg]

The procedure to using 2D footage as source particles is identical to most, if not all, particle plugins. I'm not certain what issue(s) you faced. Perhaps if you had provided screengrabs and descriptions of issues, someone here could have helped you out. Anyhoo, Red Giant's Trapcode Particular is a great particle system - the only issue I have is with the scubscription payment scheme. 

[arthurh48697603]

I appreciate all your feedback, as I'm up against the same issues.. just want the trapcode particular, nothing else. Can't stand all these cloud subsrciptions.. too expensive because it includes so much stuf I won't use. I would imagine they would understand it's not a good deal, unless you already use the stuff. I'll check out Superluminal.

[Indie767]

I would like to try Superliminal but the plugin doesn't work well on a Windows 10 machine. For next rig, I'll probably go back to Mac. Microsoft isn't really well suited for digial media production. 

[Roland Kahlenberg]

Lots of media/post-pro professionals use Windows. The most critical factor when working with high-level particle systems is your GPU. Off course a well-balanced and performant system on which the GPU is based is also important. HTH