![]() ![]() If you don’t use one of these methods, the shadow rotates with the layer. You can also use nesting, precomposing, or an adjustment layer to achieve this result. ![]() Here’s a gif of my final video, I added some color and motion tracking because the base footage wasn’t shot with a tripod. To apply a drop shadow to a layer that rotates, rotate the layer using the Transform effect and then apply the Drop Shadow effect. Here I didn’t notice that my image was accepting lights until I moved the light in front of it. Switching to different camera views is a good way to get a better feel of your light’s position and length of the shadow. The next step is to move around the light in 3D space until your shadow starts to mimic the shadows from the video. You want your shape layer to accept shadows but not lights and you want the animation layer to cast shadows and accept lights. Before you move it around, change a couple of settings on the shape and animation layer. Once everything looks lined up, change the blending mode on the rectangle to multiply. Flipping camera modes to top and side lets you place the element right against the rectangle at a 90 degree angle. I need to make sure my animation is directly on top of the rectangle and has 3D mode turned on as we fine tune it’s placement. ![]() I’ve started by rotating my rectangle 90 degrees at the X-axis and then tweaking its placement so it looks like its sitting on top of the ground. Customize it: In the Drop Shadow Layer Style dialog box that opens, select the Structure and Quality effects you want for your shadow. Click it: Click the FX icon at the bottom of the Layers panel and select Drop Shadow. The goal is for this white rectangle to sit where the ground is and have the cartoon directly on top. Select it: Open Photoshop and select the layer where you want to add a drop shadow. I set my lens to 35mm because thats what I shot the lower layer at. The general concept of this technique is that we are going to setup a virtual light to mimic the sun and a shape layer to accept the shadow, so you’ll first want to add a shape layer, draw a white rectangle with the shape tool and then make sure the layer is in 3D Click any of the images below for larger view. Open the effects panel and search for drop shadow apply the drop shadow effect onto the desired layer by selecting the layer, then double clicking the effect. This effect is best if you use bottom layer footage with well defined shadows, I’ve chose this midday short shadow shot that I will drop a little looping cartoon on top of. Select the Glow effect in the Effects Control panel, go and find the Glow Colors and change the setting to A&B. Add the Flow effect by going to Effects > Stylize > Glow. For the new Drop Shadow effect, increase the Softness to 120 and increase the Opacity a little. This trick can give your video a nice cohesiveness and add an easy 3D effect to a flat object. Select the Drop Shadow effect in the Effects panel and go to Edit > Duplicate. Adding a shadow to a 2D element in After Effects helps sell a 3D effect.ĭrop a shadow from a 2D element in After Effects and match it up with the existing shadows of a piece of footage. ![]()
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