Solid layer changing color

[Theux]

I am having a problem where a solid layer is changing color when I use the blending mode "Screen".

The solid layer is modified with the Saber plugin and all of the other layers are made with illustrator.

Is there a way to workaround this problem so that the "sun" keeps the orange color without turning white?

[Mylenium]

Well, then don't use blending modes. You get what you asked for. The only way around it would be to pre-compose and use multiple duplicates of layers combined with effects like Calculations or Channel Combiner that can mimic blending behaviors without actually blending the entire layer. Generally speaking, though, most likely it realyl simply comes down that you are trying to do everything at once and are not structuring your work with pre-compositions etc., which rarely ever achieves the ultimate result.

Mylenium

[Theux]

I get your point. But when following tutorials connected to the Saber plugin, the correct way is to use the blending mode and for them, it does not change their color.

I have just started using after effects and I have only used it for 6 hours in total and this is just me trying to experiment with the software Excuse my inexperience.

The whole project is composed on an iPad using Adobe Draw. I have then saved it as an .ai file on the computer and then I started a new project in after effects and imported the whole .ai project. I am animating different layers in the composition, will this be a problem if I precompose the whole project? Will this make all of the layers a single layer?

[Dave Merchant]

So many people use "screen" to put light emission layers into compositions, but that's just wrong. It comes from kicking tires in Photoshop and guessing it looks like it's the one to use, or watching tutorials from someone who did the same.

The correct way to composite lighting components is to use linear color mode (enabled in After Effects through the project settings, and in Photoshop by switching to 32-bit) then blend your layers with LINEAR ADD.

[Theux]

Thanks! Seems like you understand what I'm facing here.

Once again, excuse my inexperience. I am a total newbie to After Effects and I'm doing my best to learn.

When I chose the project settings I can't find the linear color mode. I only found one option where I could change the bits and then change the workspace. When trying some settings there, I could not find Linear Add either. What am I doing wrong? Can I change project settings in an already existing project or are some values locked?

[Dave Merchant]

To do it properly, use Project settings > Color Settings > Linearize Working Space (and when working with 'overbright' layers and light emitters switch to at least 16 bits per channel).

If a project is already ongoing and has synthetics (solids, text, etc) then switching to linear will break them. In that case, use 'Blend Colors Using 1.0 Gamma' instead, but it may not work with all effect and plugin types.

'ADD' is the first option in AE's blend mode group 3. In Photoshop it's specifically called 'LINEAR' in an attempt to explain what you need to use it with. AE assumes you know.

Before tying yourself in knots, read https://helpx.adobe.com/after-effects/using//color-management.html

[Theux]

Thanks for the response.

I switched to 32 bits per channel and I had to choose a working space to be able to choose the linearize working space. I did choose sRGB IEC61966-2.1 which is supposed to be good for cartoons. I did do this in a completely new project. Also, I turned off "Use Display Color Management"

This is the best result so far but still, it's far away from what I really want.

[Dave Merchant]

Show us your layer blend modes. That looks like it's still on "normal"

[Theux]

Yes, that one is on normal because when I choose "add" it looks like this.

[Rick Gerard]

Why is your solid layer Yellow? Any layer you plan on using the add or screen or any other blend mode that you want to use to add color. Unless you are doing something really odd with the Saber effect it should not make any difference but it is not a good practice to use a colored layer when you want to use blend modes. Black for additive blend modes like screen/add, 50% gray for blend modes like Overlay, and white for blend modes like Multiply.

What have you modified in the layer that is giving you problems? Just showing the blend modes does not reveal very much about your workflow or help us find a solution to the problem. We don't know anything about the layers below Layer 1. Layer 2 also has an effect applied. What is that effect?

Try deselecting all layers, press the U key twice and look for modified properties. If a layer has FX on it start by turning off the FX in the timeline or the Effects Control Panel. If a layer has effects applied but pressing the U key twice doesn't show the effect then it has not been modified. Hold down the Shift key and press the E key to reveal all effects in the layers.

If you still can't get the teal background to go away start turning off layers to see what is causing it.

I think the problem probably comes from your settings in the Saber effect or you have added another effect to that layer. The fastest way to figure out if settings in Saber are the problem is to just reset the effect. The other problem is that the Saber layer is probably not filling the composition. Any glow that you have extended to the borders of the layer are going to have a hard edge.

Here's a screenshot of a fouled up Saber setup blending over a shape layer. All modified properties are revealed. The edge and the blue color come from jacking up the settings you see for Saber. The hard edge comes for the layer being out of position. Your problem is probably caused by the same thing.

I hope this helps.

[Theux]

Hello Rick,

Thanks for responding!

The solid is yellow because the tutorial that I watched said that the solid color didn't make any difference. Thank you for clarifying which colors are used for the solids when using different blend techniques.

I haven't modified anything in the layer that is interfering with the Saber solid layer. I sent that specific screenshot because Dave asked me to show the blend modes

Layer 2 just has keyframes connected to it making it move back and forth. You can see it's a tree in the picture that will "wiggle" in the wind. The same goes for the other layer with an effect. It's the same thing used for the bush. I use the puppet pin tool.

I did set up the Saber effect according to several tutorials for making the "sun effect" so I can't answer if I have done anything wrong. In the tutorials, however, they do not have the same problem as me. Everything in this picture is drawn with Adobe draw on iPad and then sent to Illustrator which is then imported into after effects. I have even tried doing this sun effect on a new composition without any effects.

The teal background is supposed to be there. It's supposed to represent the sky.

I can't seem to figure out what's causing the problem with the colors. The color on the sun on this picture is the best I have managed to do with all the other tips mentioned in this thread.

[Rick Gerard]

The layer that contains the sun you made with Saber should not move unless it is much larger than the composition. The edges of that layer cannot extend into the frame unless your sun's glow does not extend to the edges of the layer. Solo the layer, enable the transparency grid so you can easily see the edges of the layer and check the black levels using the Info Panel.

If the teal color comes from a layer in the comp and it's the lighter color above the sun that is causing the problem, and that lighter color is the same size as the layer you used to create the sun then your problem is in the settings for Saber. Start resetting them. You didn't show us the modified properties of the Saber layer.

If you still can't figure things out create a 50% gray solid the size of your composition and put it directly below the Saber layer. Make sure the gray layer's blend mode is set to Normal and it fills the comp completely. Then turn on the Saber layer and set the blend mode to add or screen. You should see a color change for everything that is not black. If the whole layer changes color then It's your Saber settings. The glow effect extends all the way to the edges of the layer. If you want to maintain some yellow in the center of the sun then it's the color settings for that part of the layer. Yellow + teal could easily make 100% white. Red @ 255 + Green @ 255 = Yellow. Blue @ 255 + Green @ 255 = Teal. Add them together and you get Red, Green, and Blue at 255 which equals white. If you want your yellow sun to stay yellow when it is blended with teal you'll need to adjust the color values so you end up with less green. That's how blend modes work. They add, subtract or multiply color values.

If you want to maintain the nearly perfect 100% teal sky color and get some yellow in the center of the sun you'll have to use a plug-in called Unmult, free from Red Giant, to extract an alpha channel from the Saber effect. You can find it for free in the Legacy downloads section of their website. There are other solutions for extracting an alpha channel from black but Unmult is the beast and easiest one to use. Unmult also comes with Red Giant Universe.

If it indeed a yellow center for your sun that you want and you had explained that in your first post the answer could have come in much less time. The frame around the top layer is easy, the layer is not big enough, the color problems are a little more complicated.

[Theux]

Thanks for the response, to all of you.

And thanks for a bunch of helpful tips. It really helps me understand how everything connects. As I mentioned earlier, today is my first day using After Effects so it's a lot of information to take in. I have never used any program of this type before.

To be honest, I did not know "what I wanted". I just wanted a good looking sun (according to me ) and I wanted to understand why different things occurred when doing specific things. I tried a lot of your tips and I tried with the solid gray so I got a hang of how that works, I think. One thing I tried was the tip regarding not to move the layer with the saber effect. And I can't understand some things you mentioned there so I need to take some time googling what they mean. Like "solo the layer" and such. I moved the sun with the position tracker in the plug-in instead but that made the glow effect get cut out instead of going outside the edges like before.

But what made me "solve" my issue was when you mentioned the color of the core. Nowhere could I find a way to adjust the color of the core but I knew there had to be some sort of way to do it. I adjusted a couple of settings on the Render settings panel in the saber effect and this made the sun look a lot better because a problem for me was in fact that the core was white. I also got the Unmult plugin which helped as well. The only problem left is how I can make sure that the glowing effect does not blend so much with the teal background.

In a little while I will animate some stars and with everything I learned today, I think I will achieve a good result. Those stars will also be made on a very dark background so I think it will be easier

As mentioned, all of this is made in Adobe Draw and hand-drawn, even the backgrounds, so the starting position with the project is a lot different than if you would have created everything in Illustrator.

I have a long journey ahead of me with AE but I am willing to learn and I find all of this to be a lot of fun

[Rick Gerard]

Glows blend. That's what they are designed to do. They are simulating natural lighting effects. If you want a more cartoon sun then you should probably draw it with shape layers or even multiple shape layers. You won't have to worry about using Unmult because Shape Layers come with transparency built in. You could even add a little blur or fill the center with a gradient. Something like this:

You can animate any of the parameters and end up with a sun that more closely matches the style of your animation.

You could also just add a bit of Gaussian Blur to simulate a little glow.

Since you are just getting started I suggest that you start here: Basic AE You also need to be very careful about the tutorials you watch. Most of them I have seen on YouTube lately have been done by amateurs that don't really know what they are doing. Vet your trainers. Make sure they know what they are talking about so you don't develop a bunch of bad workflow habits and waste time going down dead-end production paths.

[Dave Merchant]

Pukkins  wrote

Yes, that one is on normal because when I choose "add" it looks like this.

That blown-out shape is technically correct - you are taking a solid that's almost white, and adding an extremely intense glowing object on top. You aren't viewing the composition in HDR, so once the screen gets to 255/255/255 it stays there.

The oranges in your 'sun' are darker than the sky, so they have correspondingly little effect. You cannot add 'negative' light. Rather than trying to beat the layer blend modes into submission, you should set up all the layers correctly first, then adjust the Saber effect until it looks right. Saber is not a physically correct model of anything, it's just a gizmo to be messed with by eye until something interesting happens.