Have you ever felt that theres something wrong with this world? Have you ever felt you know something, and that what you know you can’t explain? Now you can. Sort off…

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Some time ago I needed to create the raining code look as seen in “The Matrix” movie, so I started to google for ready to use projects, but found nothing of value that I could use in my work… So I had to create my own. Watch this tutorial to learn all about it.

My first instinct was to use Trapcode Particular along with some custom particles to create the look I was after, but I quickly found out, that it’s just not going to cut it. The raining code has some very distinct look to it and the key to making it look good was to really pinpoint what was happening with the falling letters. Here’s what I found out after watching the original design as seen in the movie:

• There are two types of letters: leading, and following (after vision letters)
• The leading letters are brighter than the others
• The letters fall down in columns at different speeds
• One column can have multiple leading letters falling at different speeds
• Both leading and following letters change chars at random points in time (out of sync)
• The amount of the following letters is random (tail length)
• The letters always move a given amount of pixels (letter height)

As far as everything on the list above could probably be achieved using Particular to create the look, the last point would be really hard to do. In theory all of the points above could be done, however it would take a lot of calculation to get the parameters of Particular just right, so I figured to change the approach a bit, and instead of having a “leading letter particle” spawn “after vision particles”, I decided to build a grid of letters, and then use Particular and Mosaic effect to reveal them. That way I could focus on the look, speed, timing and other “artistic” aspects of the work, and not think about how to set up Particular.

At the end of the tutorial you will also see how to change the color of the leading letters using the Threshold effect. What I forgot to mention is that you can of course play with the Threshold parameter changing the range of letters that are being treated as “leading letters”. Give it a try. It can create some really awesome looks.

Download: Tutorial project file (After Effects CS4)

Check out this amazing CustomEffect for hassle free, custom color, text transform following gradients. You asked for it so here you have it!

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If you ever had to apply a Ramp effect to a Text Layer to make it look hip you know that it can be a nightmare. Not to mention when you have a couple of those Text Layers to handle. But have no fear – TextRamp is here! Check out the examples below.

Some time ago I posted a free solution to this problem, so make sure to check it out before you continue. The old TextRamp tutorial will show you how to create very simple preset that might help in some situations.

But this one… oooooooh… this is serious stuff. CE TextRamp is way more functional and robust than the old solution. You’ve asked me several times to create a CustomEffect that would not only allow to apply a gradient to a Text Layer, but also allow you to rotate and scale the layer with a gradient applied to it. So here you have it. This little baby also handles 3D Text Layers to some extend, so make sure to watch the tutorial and check it out.

Remember that this is not a bulletproof solution. There’s only so much that can be done with expressions and presets, but hey… it works in most situations but there may be times when you need to precompose so be sure to check out the tutorial.

Anyway I’m sure you will find CE TextRamp useful and affortable. Enjoy!

Get CE TextRamp (CS3) for only 14.90 USD

This quick tip will show you how to apply a Ramp effect to Text Layers while avoiding common problems that appear when doing so.

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For those of you who didn’t face the ramp-on-text problem before here’s a brief description. After creating a new Text Layer we get all those handles and layer controls that suggest that the size of the layer is the same as the text itself. The truth is that it isn’t. It seems like After Effects is treating the text as a mask on a solid layer. Therefore when you apply the Ramp effect all the effects controls are relative to your comp size rather than the size of the text. The start and end of the ramp points appear on the top and bottom of the comp instead of on the top and bottom of the text.

Unless you’re planning to do more than one ramped text layer this may not be that much of a trouble. Simply reposition the points to suit your needs. On the other hand if you have a few ramped text layers you need to reposition the ramp points separately for each layer. This can be very annoying, not to mention how messy it gets when you start to animate the Text Layers position.

This quick tip shows you how to build a small preset that will not only fix that problem, but will also allow you to create complex ramps that consist of more than only two colors.

If you may think that using Layer Styles is the right solution than you’re probably right. It works, but it works only in CS3, not to mention the rendering time that is much longer than using the Ramp effect.

This is not a bulletproof solution, but it will get the job done for most of the cases. At least it worked for me more than a couple of times, and that’s why I found this worth sharing.

The font used in this tutorial is called Viper Nora. If you want you can download it from DaFont.com. Click here.

Download: Tutorial project file (After Effects CS3)

Trapcode Lux, Shine, Starglow, and my CE PixelSampler. See what you can do with this amazing combo and learn to create this cool title sequence.

Click here to watch the video tutorial

I’m not really a fan of installing plugins. I believe that After Effects provides all tools required to complete any given task, but if there is something that you could do better and easier, it’s with the Trapcode plugins. And no… I’m not getting payed to tell you that.

This title sequence was created loooong time ago and I was thinking about recording this tutorial ever since, so I’m glad I finally found some time to do it. The original project file that was created when I was working on that title sequence is far to complex to be fully covered in this tutorial, so I focused on the main idea behind this technique. Luckily for you I’ve attached the original project file, so after watching the tutorial you can go in-depth on what I did.

The main difference is in the amount of layers used, but like I said – the idea behind all expressions and everything else is the same. It takes a lot of time to set the effects just right, and I simply didn’t want to waste your time on moving the sliders around.

The font used in this tutorial is called Viper Nora. If you want you can download it from DaFont.com. Click here.

As a side note: If you like the plugins used in this tutorial, then you can support this site by buying them, or simply just visiting Toolfarm Store. Here are the links to the products used in this tutorial: Trapcode Lux, Trapcode Shine, and Trapcode Starglow. You can also get All Trapcode Plugins at a lower price. Trapcode plugins are one of the few that I recommend for any After Effects user to have in his toolbox – whatever you do, at some point you will need it, so get them now.

Download: Tutorial project file (After Effects CS3)