Create dynamic sparks on raster text perimeter.

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In this tutorial we will familiarize you with AlphaStar - Starsfall plug-in module from our plug-ins bundle AlphaStar. This module lets you create beautiful particles systems which consist from myriads of lights, stars, sparks and etc. In this simple lesson you will know how to add dynamical lighting objects on edges of any opaque object, like text, typing, subscribe, logo, silhouette or something like it. Also you will know how to adjust basic parameters of our plug-in and you will understand the main idea how to use them and which parameters are responsible for what effects.

1. Create/open composition.

2. Create a new text layer. Select in menu Layer/New the item Text (Ctrl+Alt+Shift+T)

3. Adjust text size and position as you need.

4. Apply AlphaStar - Starsfall effect from menu Effects/AlphaPlugins. You can see a black screen with several brightly stars. Now you should adjust a source for stars particles system.

5. Insert the time slider in the first frame. It is important. Because a particles' flying is calculated in sequence, frame by frame, thus for correct preview rendering I recommend always to start preview rendering from first frame.

6. Look at AlphaStar - Starsfall parameters list in Effect Controls window. In Emitter list you can see a dropdown list Standard path. Select in this list the item Contour alpha channel. Now your raster text will be automatically traced and vector contour will be constructed..
7. Select in Orientation dropdown list the item Perpendicularly (or Perpendicularly opposite, if you want).

8. Now we want that particles flied around the text perimeter. For this we should select a flight speed so that the stars don't fly too quickly. Set Initial speed as 1.0.

9. To increase a drawing speed you can use a fast drawing mode for stars while you are adjusting parameters of particles system. In list Geometry find the parameter Type and select in this dropdown list the item Dots. Now instead complicated stars your particles will be drawn as simple dots. It lets you adjust particles movement without particles appearance.

10. Now we should adjust additional random movement to make our particle system more interesting. In the list Emitter find the parameter Oscillation and set it as Round (or Round synchronously).

11. Set Amplitude of oscillation as 30 and Frequency of oscillation as 50.

12. Also you can increase Time life for particles in the sublist Terminate, if you want.

Now it is time to adjust the appearance of our stars. Our plug-in has beautiful tools for quick parameters adjusting. The special Presets mechanism can make your work with our effect easier and productivity.

You can see a set of buttons with pictures. Just click on any button and plug-in parameters will be changed to reproduce results as it is presented on button's pictures.

If you want then you can use a preset as it is or you can take a preset as a base and make a little adjustment to a few parameters. Or, if you want, you can fully adjust all stars' parameters as you need to.

13. Go to Geometry parameters list.

14. Select Type list as Type 1. As you can see, the lot of lightings' types is possible.

15. Set Size of stars, for example, as 10. Size dispersion, Size oscillation and Size jittering will control sizes randomly distribution and size dynamical changing during flight.

16. Set Width of stars as you want. For example as 60.

17. Adjust Rays count of stars and Rays count dispersion.

18. Your stars can blaze more intensively if you set Size jittering and Angle jittering as 50, for example. Set these parameters about 0 and your stars will shine more calmly.

Now go into sublist Additional elements and we will decorate our stars with some additional details.

19. Set Type of halo as Normal.

20. Set Size of halo as 50 and Volume of halo as 35.

21. If you want then you can add other additional elements like lighting rings or rainbow blinks. You can add in this sublist of parameters in Additional elements.

22. Volume, Size and Colour dispersions let you randomly spread for additional elements' parameters.

Now we are ready to adjust very important properties of stars - colour. You can see a list of parameters Colour. There are many possibilities with colour adjusting but for our case we will change only one parameter Colour dispersion.

23. Set this parameter as 90 or 100 to make our stars multicoloured.

24. Also you can increase Value parameter to make stars more brightly. Set, for example, this parameter as 110.

25. The last parameter that we will adjust is indeed the last in the list of plug-in parameters. Select in Mix with original dropdown list the item Add. Now a stars result picture will be added on an initial picture. Indeed, After Effect has beautiful means for layer mixing. And you can simply use Mix with original parameter in Replace mode. For follow compositing you can use standard After Effects tools in menu Layer/Blending Mode.

It was very simple.

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As variant.AlphaStar - Starsfall has indeed infinity possibilities for a lighting particles movement adjustment. Change few parameters and you will have very different results. For example. Set Orientation parameter as Along in Emitter parameters list.

Set Initial speed as 7. And set Oscillation as None.

Render your composition.

As you can see the character of movement has become defferent.

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In this tutorial we have studied several basic approaches how to work with plug-in module AlphaStar - Starsfall. You study how to create a particle system of lighting objects and how to adjust a movement of parameters. Also now you know how to set lightings' appearance and colours. Of course, this tutorial touches only few basic features of this all power tool but this lesson gives a presentation about our plug-in possibilities.

See also In this tutorial you will know how to create amazing stars trace after a wizard wand movement. For reproducing this tutorial you should use AlphaStar - Starsfall plug-in module for After Effects. This lesson is very good illustration of this plug-in's possibilities and you can see that the work with this software is very simple and easy. See tutorail... In this tutorial you study how to create very interesting and popular effect like rays which are lighting at the back of text, typing, silhouette or any another object. You can animate the source of light movement and receive very impressive effect with dynamical rays. See tutorail...

You can download the freshest release of AlphaStar plug-ins bundle for After Effects here