Join Chris Meyer for an in-depth discussion in this video Animating the Stroke effect, part of After Effects Apprentice: 15 Creating a Sports Opening Title.
In the previous movie we copied the paths from Illustrator and applied them to…the same layer in After Effects, and they appear as masks.…The next step is to apply the Stroke effect.…You will find that under Effect > Generate > Stroke.…The default settings applies a white color stroke with a 2-pixel border, and it…only applies it to the first path that it sees.…Now we would like to apply the stroke to all of these paths and animate them sequentially.…So make sure you toggle on All Masks, and let's select a different color--…something we can see, like a bright red.…
That should make this Stroke Effect easier to see.…You can also toggle off Mask Visibility if you'd like to see the layer more clearly.…So let's review what the Stroke effect is actually doing.…It's rendering a stroke using the masks, and it's placing the stroke on top…of the original layer.…If you reduce your Brush Size, you can see that the black stroke is underneath.…But the Stroke Effect allows you to regenerate that stroke using whatever color…
Chris Meyer
Trish Meyer
Updated
11/11/2016Released
4/10/2012The After Effects Apprentice series was created by Trish and Chris Meyer. These tutorials are designed for After Effects CS4 through CC, and can be used on their own or as a companion to the Meyer's book, After Effects Apprentice.
- Building a 3D world
- Working with layered Illustrator files
- Synchronizing to music
- Using text animation presets
- Rendering strategies
- Working with widescreen video, including 4:3 center cut and safe area considerations
Skill Level Intermediate
Duration
Views
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Introduction
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Welcome1m 27s
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1. The Floor
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Creating a radar sweep5m 13s
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Adding lightning3m 37s
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2. The Video Wall
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Building the video panel4m 34s
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Stylizing the footage2m 15s
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Duplicating precomps3m 37s
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3. The Dial
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Importing Illustrator files5m 47s
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Working with paths and masks4m 54s
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Animating the Stroke effect4m 20s
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Tinting the event names2m 42s
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Wiggling the rings3m 39s
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4. Creating the Main Composition
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Starting a new composition1m 48s
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Spotting music5m 55s
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Building the floor5m 27s
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Adding a video panel3m 40s
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Creating a reflection7m 47s
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Adding the dial4m 7s
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Arranging the frame4m 51s
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5. The Camera Move
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Setting up the final pose4m 28s
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Keyframing the camera4m 54s
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6. Creating a Title
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Adding a text layer5m 16s
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Using text animation presets3m 16s
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Customizing the preset6m 7s
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7. Lighting and Shadows
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Adding a Spot light3m 41s
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Casting shadows3m 15s
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8. Further Polish
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Improving consistency2m 44s
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Adding a 2D background4m 29s
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Tying up loose ends4m 55s
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9. Finishing the Comps
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Overview of Main Comp 23m 32s
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Grouping layers4m 39s
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Animating the swivel9m 2s
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Assembling the final comp3m 25s
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10. Client Changes
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Keyframing the camera3m 21s
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Retiming a video source7m 34s
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11. Render Strategies
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Exploring render settings2m 48s
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Outputting for archiving1m 15s
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Outputting for web2m 23s
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12. Bonus: Creating the Ring inside After Effects
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Creating the inner ring5m 19s
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Creating the outer ring3m 9s
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Creating the text ring4m 21s
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Video: Animating the Stroke effect