In this tutorial, I will be explaining you how to create some extruded stroke effects only using After Effects. This effect can be used effectively on any logo. You will have the freedom to choose between the extruded layers, animated strokes, and flat layers. Additionally, I will show you how to fake the flare effect to give more depth to the result.
1. Creating the Base of the Logo
Step 1
Create a new composition.
Step 2
Make a new Adjustment Layer.
Rename it to Controllers.
Step 3
Apply a Checkbox Expression Control on this layer.
Step 4
Duplicate the Checkbox Control 12 times and rename them accordingly as you can see from the picture.
Step 5
Make another composition for your logo.
Step 6
Insert your logo.
I have used this logo for the color patterns which will be required in the next steps.
Step 7
Again, make another composition for the color layers.
Step 8
Drag your Logo composition twice into this composition.
Step 9
Apply the Color Range effect on the top layer.
Step 10
Select only the white color on the logo.
Step 11
Choose Alpha Inverted Matte from the bottom layer.
Step 12
Pre-compose these two layers and name it White.
Step 13
Drag in two more copies of the logo composition.
Step 14
Again, apply the Color Range effect on the 1st Logo layer and this time select only the black color.
Step 15
Select Alpha Matte from the bottom logo, Pre-compose them and name it Colors.
Step 16
Drag one more layer of Logo composition and apply the Fill effect to it.
Step 17
Now, Pre-compose it and name it Black. It’s important to select the white color as the Fill effect.
Step 18
Drag two more layers of the Logo comp under these layers.
Step 19
Repeat the actions of Step 14 to select the black color, but select Alpha Inverted Matte.
Step 20
Pre-Compose and name it Only Black
Step 21
Duplicate the Color layer and White layer. Now you should have a total of 6 layers in this comp overall. Rename them accordingly.
Step 22
Search for the Vegas effect in the effects panel.
Step 23
Apply it on the first White layer and keep the following settings.
Step 24
For setting up the key frames in the timeline, use the following settings.
Step 25
Apply the Vegas effect on the second Colors layer and use the following settings.
Step 26
Again, for keyframes in the timeline, use the following settings.
Step 27
Apply the Vegas effect on the third Black layer along with the following settings.
Step 28
Use the following settings for the key frames in the timeline.
Step 29
Alt-Click the stopwatch of Opacity to bring up the options of the first White layer and use the following expression.
c =comp("Main Comp").layer("Controllers").effect("White Stroke")("Checkbox")
if (c==1){
opacity=100
}else if (c==0){
opacity=0}
Step 30
Repeat the previous step on each layer one by one and use the expressions as mentioned.
For Color
c =comp("Main Comp").layer("Controllers").effect("Color Stroke")("Checkbox")
if (c==1){
opacity=100
}else if (c==0){
opacity=0}
For Black
c =comp("Main Comp").layer("Controllers").effect("Black Stroke")("Checkbox")
if (c==1){
opacity=100
}else if (c==0){
opacity=0}
For Only White
c =comp("Main Comp").layer("Controllers").effect("Only White")("Checkbox")
if (c==1){
opacity=100
}else if (c==0){
opacity=0}
For Only Color
c =comp("Main Comp").layer("Controllers").effect("Only Color")("Checkbox")
if (c==1){
opacity=100
}else if (c==0){
opacity=0}
For Only Black
c =comp("Main Comp").layer("Controllers").effect("Only Black")("Checkbox")
if (c==1){
opacity=100
}else if (c==0){
opacity=0}
With these steps completed, we are done with base settings of our project.
2. Setting Up the Main Composition
Step 1
Drop this Color layer comp into the Main composition. Rename this to Top. Make a new Solid and apply the Ramp effect to it along with following settings.
Step 2
Copy the top layer and rename it to Logo 001. Make them 3D layers.
Step 3
Apply the Fill effect on Logo 001.
Step 4
Bring up the Opacity options and paste the following expression on Logo 001.
c =thisComp.layer("Controllers").effect("Extrude")("Checkbox")
if (c==1){
opacity=100
}else if (c==0){
opacity=0}
Step 5
Bring up the Position options of the Logo 001 Layer and paste the following expression.
offset=1;
p=thisComp.layer("Top")
offsetInterval=Math.abs(index-thisComp.layer("Logo 001").index);
[p.position[0],p.position[1],p.position[2]+(offset*offsetInterval)];
Step 6
Now make 50 duplicates of the Logo 001 layer.
This will fake extrusion on the logo.
Step 7
In the previous section, we made 3 layers named Only Color, Only Black & White. Insert them under the Logo 001 layer and make them 3D layers.
Step 8
Bring up their Opacity options and paste the following expressions one by one.
For Only Color
c =thisComp.layer("Controllers").effect("Logo BG Color Colors")("Checkbox")
if (c==1){
opacity=100
}else if (c==0){
opacity=0}
For White
c =thisComp.layer("Controllers").effect("Logo BG Color White")("Checkbox")
if (c==1){
opacity=100
}else if (c==0){
opacity=0}
For Only Black
c =thisComp.layer("Controllers").effect("Logo BG Color Black")("Checkbox")
if (c==1){
opacity=100
}else if (c==0){
opacity=0}
Step 9
Bring in one more Logo layer, make it a 3D layer, and bring up its Opacity options to paste the following expression.
c =thisComp.layer("Controllers").effect("BG Logo")("Checkbox")
if (c==1){
opacity=100
}else if (c==0){
opacity=0}
Step 10
Apply a Position Expression Control on the Controller layer. Insert one more Logo layer and rename it to Shadow.
Step 11
Bring up its Opacity options and paste the following expression on Shadow layer.
c =thisComp.layer("Controllers").effect("Enable Shadows")("Checkbox")
if (c==1){
opacity=100
}else if (c==0){
opacity=0}
Step 12
Apply CC Radial Blur and the Tint effect with a black color on the Shadow layer. Pick whip the Position of CC Radial Blur to the Shadow Position on the Controller layer.
Step 13
Now make few copies of the Shadow layer and change the settings slightly as you can see from the pictures below.
Step 14
Copy the Position of Logo 050.
Paste it on these layers.
Step 15
The project is apparently ready. Lets check some settings. I will use some different Checkbox settings to give it different looks.
Step 16
As you can see, we can achieve some very different looks with these Checkboxes. Now we can also change the direction of the shadow by altering the Shadow Position option.
Step 17
Here are some examples.
3. Making Flares
Step 1
Make a new Solid bigger in size than the size of the composition.
Step 2
Apply a Mask to it.
Step 3
Use the following settings.
Step 4
Here is a preview of the flare, but its not looking good yet.
Step 5
Make few copies of the Flare layer and change the settings slightly.
Step 6
Let’s have a look now.
Step 7
So the flare is looking better than before but the shadows are not looking real. Let’s change their position.
So now we are done with the tutorial. We have seen some tips to achieve different looks for your logo, shadow, and flare. You can always improve these settings by applying further adjustments in your own project.
Conclusion
In this tutorial we learned how to achieve a stroke effect on different parts of the logo and animate them. Additionally, we created extrusions, shadows, and flares to give it a more photo realistic look so the end product looks great. I hope you have learned some useful tips… until next time!
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