For my ident, I want to have a sci-fi feel to it, I came across this tutorial as I was researching sci-fi text animation. I gravitated towards this idea as the text had movement and was not basic text on screen with animation happening around it. My ident didn’t come out exactly like the tutorial, however, the final product did get some praise. This process took about three days, before this I had not successfully used after effects before so this project was uncharted territory. I had learnt how to key-frame and animate text also I experimented with different effects to make the text more interesting. If I were to redo this I would align each composition correctly, add a flare as I wasn’t very confident using the tools to create a flare and possibly add a logo within the ident.
The technical aspect of this project was daunting to me from the start. I had a total of three animated strokes glass, electricity and normal text. I learnt how to animate the first composition using the time cursor and key-frame. I then duplicated the layer and added various effects on each one. I learnt quite quickly that the only way to master After Effects is through experimentation and trial & error. If I were to recreate this I would be faster, smoother and overall better. I did not record my screen whilst filming because it took me a whole two days to edit in detail. I was displeased with my result as it didn’t look like the tutorial so I experimented with the opacity and glow effects also duplicating all the compositions till I got this very retro looking ident text above. I also added a space simulation which made my ident feel even more nostalgic of 80’s sci-fi.
This was my glass comp which is quite faint but you can see all the layers I’ve added in.
This was my electricity font, this didn’t come out like the tutorial, however, I still got a very retro effect.
Star tutorial I used for reference.
When I was pleased with all the visual effects I had done I wanted to add some royalty free music in the background to pull everything together. I searched for 80’s synth royalty free music. I then added a 10-second chunk of the song and added an audio fade out.
Premiere composition where I added music.
Widening my horizons by using After effects has been an interesting experience, I feel very confident with the controls and the effects. If I were to redo this I’d add a flare, however, I wasn’t confident with that feature without having to install an external plugin. I’ll be advancing my skills in the future however for my first attempt I think the final outcome was very well done.
The music I used for my ident, I wanted something synth based to fit with the visuals so I used this royalty free remix of the stranger things theme.
Tehreem Hussain 