Smart Volume Meter
Learn a smart way of creating dynamic and sound reactive Volume Meter. This tutorial takes this subject further than any other tutorial on the net.
Expressions are the most powerful feature of After Effects in my opinion. After watching this tutorial you will learn how to make your Volume Meter more dynamic by reacting to sound playing in the background while keeping total control over its sensitivity. You might have seen similar tutorials on the net, but I assure you that this one takes this subject a step further and that it’s worth watching.
Download Project File: SmartVolumeMeter.zip (After Effects 7 Pro)
Original tutorial by Talid Al Khatib from CreativeCow.net






Chyba moge napisac po polsku, co??:)
Tutorial swietny. dzieki niemu poznalem moc jaka daje uzycie expression. Mam tylko takie pytanie do Autora: zalozmy ze chcialbym zrobic tak: vumetr ma pewna swoja wysokosc (max wartosc) i ma jednolity kolor (wszystkie paski sa np. zielone). Wartosc amplitudy reprezentowana jest tradycyjnie, czyli pojawiajace sie i znikajace paski, jednakze pojawiaja sie one przez kolor czarny (lub kolor tla) do zielonego. Tzn ze np jak sygnal ma amplitude 80 (max wartosc jest 100) to na zielono pojawiaja sie wieksza czesc vumetru, a wartosci od 81 do 100 gradientowo przechodza od zielonego do czarnego. jak wartosc amplitudy jest np 30, to na zielono pala sie tylko te niskie paski, a np od 31-60 gradientowo przechodzi zielen w czern. Rezzta paskow vumetra jest nie wyswietlana, albo maskowana przez kolor (w tym przypadku czarny).
pzdr i dziekuje za ten VuMetr Tut.
Wiktor said this November 6th, 2007 at 15:45
Hi I want to download this tutorial but there is an error 404 not found please fix this error or reupload the tutorial. Thanks in advance :)
P.S. Great work awesome tutorials keep it up with the good work!
Stefan said this November 13th, 2007 at 14:32
Sorry for the trouble. Already fixed. Cheers!
Maltaannon said this November 14th, 2007 at 21:51
Hi Maltaannon, love your tutorials but for some reason this one seems to end abruptly. I tried viewing it online and downloading it and both stop working around 25 minutes in (right when you go to add the controller adjustment layer to the VolumeMeter precomp) :/ any way to fix it so I can finish watching?
Jordan said this December 16th, 2007 at 3:00
It should be working now.
Maltaannon said this December 16th, 2007 at 7:12
Hi! Very nice tutorial. I have a quick question for you. Is it possible to modify the expression on the mask to move in steps (increments of bar size), thus making each bar step either on/off like a real meter? My math skills are not up to the task ;)
Great work.
DrS said this February 11th, 2008 at 23:24
Yes you can. I can’t give you an expression from on top of my head right now, but I think you could try to use % (modulo operator).
Maltaannon said this February 12th, 2008 at 0:51
hi Stefan!
you can always download online tutorials as long as you get the right tool which is awaiting you to discover.
for this one, the download link is
http://maltaannon.com/wp-content/tutorials/AfterEffects/SmartVolumeMeter/video.flv
iori said this April 17th, 2008 at 11:00
Also… the download link is at the bottom of the video player and in the video player itself - indicated by an arrow pointing down.
Maltaannon said this April 17th, 2008 at 17:53
When I convert my audio to keyframes, I don’t get a x,y value rather a x.y value. How to I correct this?
Chris Pendy said this May 21st, 2008 at 3:38
Hmmm impressive…………most impressive.
Slickluv said this August 17th, 2008 at 0:48
From Argentina, the land of 5 president in a week. Tank you very much.
notelodigo said this October 1st, 2008 at 17:58