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Tziporah Zions/2 min read

Custom Particle Emitter Tutorial

Particle Emitter Tools

CC Particle World

Built-in 3D particle system. Customize physics, color, and life.

Custom Source Layer

Use any layer as the particle (logo, image, text).

Emitter Position

Animate emitter to move particle origin through the comp.

Birth Rate

Control how many particles spawn per second.

Master After Effects at Noble Desktop

Noble Desktop's Video Editing & Motion Graphics Certificate teaches After Effects alongside Premiere Pro and Cinema 4D.

Find out how to create particle effects such as smoke and sparks using After Effects's Particle Emitter tool.

Link to file: https://www.Noble Desktop.com/downloads/excel-videos/Tutorial-55-Custom-Particle-Emitters-projectFiles.zip

ASSET CREDIT Beehive Vectors by Vecteezy Bee graphic

Beehive Vectors by Vecteezy Beehive graphic

Flower vector created by pch.vector Garden graphic

Creating the Emitter

  1. Drag and drop the Bee file into the layer stack.
  2. Go up to Layer > New > Solid.
  3. Create a new, pale yellow Solid layer. Name it Bee Swarm.
  4. Go to Effects and type in CC Particle World. Apply to Bee Swarm layer.
  5. Turn Visibility off on the Bee layer.

Customizing the Emitter

  1. In the Effect Controls panel, toggle open the Particle options.
  2. Set Particle Type to Textured Square.
  3. Toggle open Texture. In the first dropdown list, set Texture Layer to Bee.
  4. Change Birth Size to 1.
  5. Change Death Size to 5.
  6. Change Max Opacity to 100%.
  7. Change Birth and Death Color to light yellow.
  8. Toggle open Physics. This is located right above the Particle options.
  9. Change Animation to Direction Axis.
  10. Velocity should be 0.95.
  11. Gravity should be set to 0.250. Hit the stopwatch next to the word Gravity to set a keyframe.
  12. Move the Playhead a few frames in, to 0;00;02;23.
  13. Change Gravity to -0.500
  14. At the top of the Effect Controls, change Birth Rate to 1,000.
  15. Toggle open Producer.
  16. Change Position X to -0.40.
  17. Change Position Y to -0.09

Animating the Object

  1. Double click the Bee layer to go inside of it.
  2. Move the Anchor Points on each wing over to their respective bases. The Anchor Point should cover the intersection between wing and body.
  3. Place the Playhead at the start of the Timeline.
  4. With both layers selected, hit R for Rotation.
  5. On the left wing, set Rotation to -24. Hit the stopwatch to set a keyframe.
  6. The right wing’s Rotation is 33. Hit the stopwatch to set a keyframe.
  7. Move the Playhead to 0;00;01;00.
  8. Change the left wing’s Rotation to 50.
  9. Change the right wing’s Rotation to 33.
  10. Move the Playhead to 0;00;02;00.
  11. Change the left wing back to -24.
  12. Change the right wing back to 33.
  13. ALT-click the stopwatch on the left wing Rotation. Type in “loopOut()” in the Expression bar.
  14. Do the same for the right wing.
  15. Click on Main Comp in the Project panel to return to the final animation.