After Effects Question

[Cykotic]

I got my hands on After Effects and am working on muzzle flashes for a short film... now here is the two problems I'm having: How do I make the background light up slightly when a muzzle flash appears (environment stuff) How can I make a blood hit appear from behind a characters head (think steel from DOTD and you get the idea) Also, if you guys haven't tried it yet, please get your hands on Action Essentials 2 (muzzle flashes, head hits, explosions, bullet hits, everything!) by Video Copilot... that piece of kit and the other things Video Copilot make are amazing...

[fulci fan]

Dov Simens says don't make shorts. They can't make money. I cant help you with your first question. As for the second question, you need to get a makeup effects artist that knows how to do bullet hits. Don't do CG gore!

[Cykotic]

not intending on making money really, not why i'm into it.

[tkane18]

To light up an area for the flash: 1) Create a duplicate layer with that clip and place it on top. 2) Color correct / add brightness to this top clip. 3) Create a mask (or masks) that only keep the areas where you want the flash to appear. 4) Feather the mask to your liking. 5) Set keyframes for opacity to toggle the flash on and off. You can see some of it here in my video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKnJ5alM5oM Before you ask, yes, I used Action Essentials 2.

[CooperWasRight]

As for you second question rotoscoping and masking out a duplicate layer for you extit wounds. Videocopilot is pretty much a answer to most AE effects.