How to do practical lighting and VFX lighting in After Effects?

Report · Jun 13, 2019

So I have a bit of an unusual question.

I’m currently brainstorming video projects. One of my ideas is to have a person pick up a class jar with a 3D model of the sun (from Blender), look at it, then put it down.

For the light coming off of the sun in the jar, I want to do a combination of practical lighting (via a small LED light source) and VFX lighting in After Effects.

One of the main issues that bothers me is where should I place my LED?

Initially, I was thinking of placing it outside of the jar, but then I thought it wouldn’t look like the light was actually coming from the jar. Instead you would be able to tell that the LED was shining outside of the jar (from the reflection of the glass and/or metal top).

Then I thought about placing the LED inside the jar and masking it out with After Effects. But the only problem with that is that the person in the video will be picking up the jar and moving it. So because of that, I was worried about whether It’s even possible to mask the object seamlessly out of the video as it’s moving.

Do you guys think it’s manageable to mask this LED out of a moving jar with After Effects?

And if not, how should I position my LED when shooting so that the light is coming from the sun inside the jar?

Report · Jun 13, 2019

This kind of shot can be enhanced by on set lighting but you will need at least 4 layers in an AE comp to pull it off. At the very least you will need one layer for the glowing sun just above the original shot, one layer for lighting effects created from something as simple as light yellow solid with an oval mask and a lot of blur to 3rd party effects like Knoll Light Factory, then a copy of the original footage with the appropriate roto work to separate foreground elements from the background so they are not lit up by the light effects. If the camera is moving you are going to have to throw some kind of motion tracking into the workflow.

You will have to be careful when looking for tutorials that give you some direction. Make sure you vet your trainers. Here's a good place to start with Andrew Cramer: advanced_electric_fx It will show you how to create interractive lighting effects.

Here's another one: 3D Light Casting Create an energy-ball that re-lights the road surface with even more ideas.

This one from Red Giant shows some advanced stuff but there is a section on camera tracking and creating masks for lights that may be of some use to you: Cheap Tricks #4: Aquaman Underwater Effects - Part 1

My point, the best and most efficient technique depends on your shot. The better you plan your shot the easier it is to pull off the effect. While trying to put an led inside a jar may help a bit, you are going to need to do a lot more work to sell the idea.

Spending a couple of hours with these tutorials will give you a good idea and introduce techniques for efficiently creating masks, separating foreground and background elements, and using blend modes and blurs to create lighting effects.