The Best 10 After Effects Expressions
You can spend hours trying to master your keyframing while making animated flourishes and elements for your project. After Effects Expressions can save you so much time when producing the visual assets, whether you want to create a powerful overshoot bounce effect or a straightforward repeater.
Short lines of code called After Effects expressions instruct the software on how to handle your keyframed animation. Adding expressions can appear challenging, especially when you examine the coding involved. However, all you need to do is go through the instructions below once you understand how to add the Expression Function to your layers. You also need to know the after effects scripts and After Effects Presets to understand things better. The following tips would guide you to solve the question of ‘how to add expression in after effects?’
Best After Effects Expressions
1. Add an Expression Effect
A variety of transform effects can have expressions applied to them to generate cool animation, which could take hours to make from scratch. The process of adding expressions is always the same; the code varies based on your goals. Learning how to add an Expression effect to your layer is the first step. You can also opt for various after effects expressions which are further mentioned.
2. Wiggle
One of the few expressions that can be used without keyframes is the Wiggle expression. Watch your shape begin to wiggle by simply adding the expression to any Transform attribute. It will wiggle between keyframes if you decide to add them.
3. Wiggle One Dimension
There are two Wiggle One Dimension expressions: an X-axis and a Y-axis expression. The one dimension effect allows you to determine the direction of your wiggle, unlike the first wiggle expression on this list.
4. Rebound
When you want to give your animated objects a bouncing overshoot, the bounce expression after effects comes in quite handy. When Scale, Rotation, and Position settings are added with the Bounce, a great Ease out can be produced.
5. Inertia Bounce
When you want to give the impression that something is dropping into the shot with a small bounce, Inertia Bounce is a great expression to have on hand. The coding can be changed to give the appearance of a heavier or springier object.
6. Loop (Cycle)
You are probably already familiar with the laborious process of copying and pasting your keyframes if you have ever attempted to make a looping or repeating animation without using expressions. The problem is fixed with the Loop expression, which adds a smooth animation loop to your forms.
7. Stretch and Squash
Another great expression that may be used with or without additional keyframing is "squash and stretch." This expression will squish and stretch your objects in a lively, jiggling fashion, making it perfect for animated flourishes and graphic elements.
8. Some More similar After Effects Expressions are mentioned below:
Motion Tail
Using the clever expression Motion Tail, you can avoid duplicating and spreading layers with repeating shapes.Time
Without altering your keyframes, you may control the animation's speed using the Time expression. When you wish to change the speed of a few different parts, this expression comes in quite handy.Timer/Timecode
To create a timer that is easy to change, add this expression to the Source Text property of any text layer. Excellent for including timecodes in your work or countdown clocks in event recordings.Elastic
Use the amusing term "elastic" for text and flourishes alike. The expression swings your elements as if they were on elastic using your most recent Position keyframe.
9. Automatic Fade
Perhaps the most practical expression on this list is the Automatic Fade. It can take a significant amount of time to create a fade in/out to each layer when working with multiple items. Instead, utilise the Automatic Fade transition to smoothly transition between the beginning and end of each layer.
10. Utilise the Wiggle Expressions in a Project as a Group
With expressions, you can swiftly generate a variety of motions in your elements because you can apply them to several transform attributes at once.
Expressions appear to be complex, and when something goes wrong with the code, it can be irritating. Thankfully, numerous walkthroughs and tutorials can be found online. Whatever you are animating, there is an expression that can assist you to avoid the tedious task of keyframing specific elements, saving you time and stress.
Expressions in After Effects may be quite useful and effective for creating excellent motion graphics. It is incredible how a few computer commands can make your animation move naturally. When creating animation and using sophisticated codes, After Effects Expression can greatly improve your workflow for individuals with programming brains.