TUTORIALS FOR VFX & MOTION GRAPHICS
Free After Effects Tutorials & More Hosted By: Andrew Kramer
Aug 02, 2008 | 6mins.
• Cast 3D shadows onto live action footage
• Use shadow diffusion and special material options
 
 
TUTORIAL NOTES:
When working with lights be sure to change the composition to Adaptive Resolution instead of OpenGL. You may also try using a Spot Light instead of a Point Light.
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391 Responses to "3D Shadows"
Camille
11/30/2011
Getting so hooked on video copilot! all the tutorials are amazing and to the point! This is really going to kickstart my new career.
Erik k
11/02/2011
Hey
Why when i press "A,A" my material options dont come up on my BG??
Thank you so much you rock, and would be sweet if anyone could help or find an alternative way to finding it!!!
robie
10/07/2011
COOL
matursuwon sanget :)
??
09/14/2011
so good thanks
Marcela
08/16/2011
Thats exactly what i was looking for!!

thank you
Manan
08/05/2011
whenever i try 2 DO the Text In 3D it disappears ......I seriously dont knw wat 2 do PLEASE HELP ME!!
Ardin Lalui
11/28/2011
Make sure your still viewing through your active camera.
river
07/12/2011
tahnkc good this web is goood for all
thebeatedition
07/09/2011
I followed everything but when i turned off accept lights on the BG the shadow also comes off for some reason.
any suggestions will be appreciated
Daddy_C
07/05/2011
Master Kramer, you are a true genius. You make it look so easy, a trait of a true professional.
The Force is strong with you. ha
Andi
07/04/2011
hello, i'm trying to find out how to cast a airplane shadow on a building when is appearing from behind the building, thank you.
recallfun
07/02/2011
andrew kramers this name ill never forget coz to me u r more than a teacher in my school
im learning a lot lot lot lot from ur tutorials
i have almost all ur products

thanks a lot
behrouz
07/01/2011
tanq for all tutorials
RAFI
06/29/2011
U R The Boss
kishan
06/24/2011
thanx for all your tutorials
Ves
06/09/2011
can i use the background picture (riverside.jpg) for another projects?
Sam
06/01/2011
U R........Simply..........BEST
Neal Schneider
05/07/2011
Thanks for the help!

Here's my example adding the 3d projecting -

http://vimeo.com/23378963
bashor siddique
04/13/2011
u r the best i have ever ......know....
Kraboter
04/13/2011
which shortcut did you use to bring the Modus up???
LAD
03/11/2011
Howzit Andrew

There is one thing in particular that i just love about your tutorials. Your sense of humor. Not allot of people get it but i do. Keep it up
ADODO OSASUYI
02/25/2011
helo Andrew as far as i have seen and searched on the web men! you are the Best! Kudos.
hamza saadane
01/28/2011
hi i atch your video is very good you are star saw i went to be an actur in my futer
blake
01/27/2011
its sweet but once you get the whole thing done how do you do the rotation like you have in the example
Oman.JHB
01/25/2011
I think i fel in love with AE
arf
01/24/2011
Great, I saw it in Fringe and I always wanted to know how to do it. Thanks for the tut.
JL.JUNI
11/08/2010
oket, bery good.........muy buena
buster
08/25/2010
THANK YOU!!
Arthur
08/13/2010
All of your tutorials are great and I've learned a lot from them. One question about this one, I've got the 3d shadow from text, but I can not get it to follow a Null object with motion tracking. Is this possible?
Bruce
07/19/2010
Great for text, but how about for comps? I noticed that once you turn the text into a comp, the shadow disappears and the options for accepting shadows, etc are no longer available. Is there any other option than duplicating then adding a linear wipe?
AmilaROX
07/07/2010
Awesome VIDEOCOPILOT is the best
Aman kazakh
06/08/2010
cool nicE_=_)
altaf
06/05/2010
cool trick as always
Patrick
06/03/2010
Hi, thanks so much, i learn so much from these tutorials, i think they're amazing. its not like you're short of great comments though - :)

keep it up
Aaron
06/01/2010
Mr.Kramer,
Could you give me your address so I can come to your house and give you the best high five in the world. Oh! And a sticker, you deserve a big 'ol sticker.
These tutorials are so amazing and the least I could give you is a high five and a Bugatti Veyron.
niyi okeowo
05/24/2010
so new to ae, havent started yet, but with ur tuts, shit i'm on the right path
CLINTON C S
05/13/2010
Hai andrew Kramer sir,
my name is clinton ,i watch your video tutorial in Every month, i want your tutorials In My email,you please Sent me the videos in my email,i complete MULTIMEDIA COURSE, i want to improve my skill with your tutorials

Regards,
Clinton c s
India,kerala
cral
05/11/2010
Dude, I'm fresh to AE and your tutorials are freaking great!
Rahymn L.
01/22/2010
"text layer in the street,[LOL]"...they should have a 'tuteaze awards'.That's the multi-media world's answer to the 'emmys'.You'd probably scoop the entire top shelf...great stuff buddy.Love the spirit!
Jonathan Yabes
01/06/2010
Genius!

Philippines
Leo Woods
01/03/2010
Hi Andrew! I have been following u since Adobe AE CS3 first released i just gone CS4 and can't do this i can not get the camera to work!

But I am Loving your tutorials!!

Leo UK
Paul Martinez
12/16/2009
"you'll see a text layer in the street..." I must be a nerd cause I laughed at that.
Arron
12/14/2009
Amazing from SF.
andrewisafreakinLEGEND
12/08/2009
i have the same problem as chris minter. i've been tryin' this over and over again but i couldnt get the shadows to appear? what'd do wrong? please help. and btw, ANDREW AWESOME tutorials!
Dani Raving
11/25/2009
fantastic job andrew!.kept it up...
camil785
11/09/2009
thanx pal. all tutorial FX are useful and interesting. thanx again and good luck
jeremylimanto
11/02/2009
WOW,great,
I never taught that AE could do this 3D realted things.
I used 3DsMax to do this,but with your tutorial,
...GR8... thanks a lot
mango
10/26/2009
Thanks Andrew. Another short and helpful tutorial.
Mansoor
10/21/2009
I think you are the developer of Adobe After Effects.

Which university do you go to and what course do you do?
Paul
10/19/2009
Hei man! I just have a word to say: COOL!!!!!!
Thx from Brasil!
jeremy mayhew
10/11/2009
um, ok, hands down the ONE tutorial I soooo needed and not only was it quick and easy to understand, but also pretty entertaining....i'm telling the world boutcha!
david
10/08/2009
awesome tut thanks you are the man! Tnx from Puerto Rico
luis
09/18/2009
Hi andrew. thanx for all your tutorials, theu help me a lot!

ada
09/01/2009
hola Andrew you sound so nice, gracias for your tutorials they are so helpfull.
I have a ? tienes novia?
Aftab Ahmed
08/18/2009
Thank You!!

Wovv excellent Greetings from Pakistan!
Can you help me in text animation..

Thanks

Aftab Ahmed
Graphic Designer
DarkEntity
07/25/2009
Ha,ha...pretty cool..Thanks a lot Sir Andrew!
chris minter
07/19/2009
Hi, for some strange reason I follow this step by step and as soon as i turn accept lights off for my white BG grid, the shadow dissapears. Any suggestions?

Debojyoti
07/03/2009
hi, Andrew
another AWESOME tuto from u

Thanks man , U r the Best

this is Debojyoti form India
Ryan Wekwert
05/26/2009
I like this effect its used a lot in newer TV shows and I was also wondering if this applies for Text over videos and if it applies to something like that. I want to put this over video. If I watch this another time I may know it word for word. Should I just try it with video and tweak accordingly?
Jacob
05/24/2009
Thanks great tut :) :) :)
louie
05/16/2009
Love it. Love all your tutorials. Great explanation and quality. My most favorite website ever! And funny humor!
freddy
05/07/2009
Hi Andrew..!!!Nice Tutorial..
Do you have any tutorial about convert 2D pics in a 3D animation? Example:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brgJHkqkdcY
Cespur
05/07/2009
Hahaha, I laughd haha "Nah, nevermind. That's a horrible joke."
Anyway, nice tutorial!
Woody
05/05/2009
Great tutorial! But I thought it was going to be on a moving image, does anyone have an example of one of those?
fher
04/16/2009
You are the best, thx from Bolivia
Stacey L.
04/10/2009
AWESOME as always!! I've seen a few commercials with people walking through the 3D text like the one in this tutorial. Would you be able to do a future tutorial on how to do that? Thanks so much Andrew!!
Shimoda
04/10/2009
Andrew! When i shut off the Accepts shadows on BG leyer, shadow is lost. Why? I open your project and shasows is lost too. Please Answer!
Senthuran
03/31/2009
thanks a lot.... form Sri Lanka
shrijith
03/30/2009
i used to ask my self how to do this stuff when i see on tvc's
by sharing knowledge u gain knowledge , thats how it works..u r one in a million .
thankyou.
John Bo
03/21/2009
Awesome place.Thank you andrew.
barnabas
02/20/2009
cool everything is interesting on this site andrew
keep up...
arfhddpro
02/15/2009
owwww you are great man tanxxxxxx arafa from TANGER
PJ
02/09/2009
Haha Gunnerson
lee
02/03/2009
thanks

you are my god...haha

you have many korean fan~~you know that?
kk

Charles Campbell
01/30/2009
Dude I live on Gunnerson!!!
Klas
01/22/2009
Great stuff!!
aaron
01/10/2009
How do you make The text 3D in After Efects
Awsome tutorial
Brodie
01/04/2009
Ur last joke may not have been funny, but u made it funny by admitting it. This tutorial has helped, thanx tonnes...
Kevin
12/20/2008
My god! You're just great! You've helped me learning everything I need to know about After Effects for pro work. thx a million times.
reggeaton
12/20/2008
wow, thanks another great tutorial andrew
Basonis
12/14/2008
thx from greece...great tutorial...thx for all tutorial
mcciff
12/09/2008
hahaha your dry humor in this one is hilarious! haha your tutorials are amazing, keep it up!
sweden
12/03/2008
your awesome man, great tutorial!
jonathan suero
11/25/2008
See, I've got After Effects CS3 (so it shouldn't be some issue with an old version) and I just don't get any shadows. I tried making my own at first, didn't get shadows. So I downloaded your project file and tried that: no shadows. Sort of strange. Every other tutorial of yours (well, all that I've tried, though for some I miss a plug-in) works fine. Any solution to this problem?
jonathan suero
11/25/2008
great tutorial ,,, i t was asome.
can u make a tutorial that show us how to make text come for behind a person in a normal clip( no green screen)
please...thanks

Syby Abraham
11/22/2008
I too had the same problem with shadows...
When i switched off 'Accepts Lights' the shadow went away too...
but it worked great when i switched to a Spot Light!!
KillGuta
11/20/2008
Was actually waiting for a tutorial like this, oh and I lol'd at "Gunnerson" :D .

YOU ROCK!
welly
11/16/2008
great work man
Rishi
11/05/2008
what a man you are...........
I realy enjoy with your tutorials
thanks a los..
ilgaz
10/29/2008
needed that! right on time!
Chris
10/29/2008
Thanks Andrew!
Rodolfo Varas
10/24/2008
es muy bueno
Jace
10/22/2008
First of all: Andrew you really are the best (well, at least when it comes to tutorials.) I've really never seen any tutorial that even comes close to your level. They're clear, you don't mumble, give a lot of extra information and the jokes. Oh, and you've got an awesome voice which sort of helps to make something that's in essence boring (well, yeah.. Tutorials don't give any euphoria or anything and I usually find them really boring (probably cause most people who make tuts always mumble and sound bored themselves and reading isn't very exiting either of course), a fun experience.



Anyway, to the point (: And I'm actually amazed nobody else has said this.

See, I've got After Effects CS3 (so it shouldn't be some issue with an old version) and I just don't get any shadows. I tried making my own at first, didn't get shadows. So I downloaded your project file and tried that: no shadows. Sort of strange. Every other tutorial of yours (well, all that I've tried, though for some I miss a plug-in) works fine. Any solution to this problem?
Chris
10/19/2008
No Way. I was eating sweet n sour pork while watching this...
Stalin Kapembe
10/11/2008
AUSUM Andrew. Thanx again.
Jukka
10/08/2008
Thanks from Finland!
oladapo
10/07/2008
sup Andrew,i'm really inspired by your work,and so much talk about you in Nigeria. we love you.
Juancho I. Salao
10/06/2008
Ayos Pare! Ang galing mo!!! Translation (Ride On dude! You are the Best!)
Chris T
09/28/2008
Hey,Andrew!

Your tuts are pretty much the best on the net i reackon.
Ive been on here a few times and i only had adobe after effects cs3 for about 2 weeks and im already understanding it slightly
oh and by the way im only 14 so yeah i guess im
quick learner =]
Anyways thanks forall your tuts man.
Keep it up!
Mark Crane
09/25/2008
Hey Andrew!

Hands down to your tutorials, your like post production genius!

Im doing my final project at university in motion tracking, its an opening sequence for a film, I wanted to composite 3D titles onto the footage. What I was wondering was, can the principles used in this tutorial be applied for moving footage, as the tutorial is done with a still? Also, would you recommend using AE for the full of this project, or do you think it would be better done using 3D software and Motion Tracking software? Thanks for any help you can give!
Oleg
09/25/2008
Hi, Andrew!
I love your tutorials! Everything you show, are as simple and useful as the work of a genius. Thank you for your time and effort from me and my colleagues from Russia.
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