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Introduction
This is what we're going to create: a glowing white line that traces the mountain's ridge in the dawn footage, drawn point by point with the Pen Tool. Let's get started. Hello, welcome back to the complete Adobe After Effects series from Cerdas Inovasi Digital. The Pen Tool is a freehand drawing tool. In After Effects, the result can become a shape layer or a mask. In this episode, we're using it to create a line that follows the shape of the mountain in the footage.
Step 1: Setting Up the Pen Tool
Create a composition from the dawn mountain footage. Press F2 and then select the Pen Tool with the G key. In the toolbar, turn off Fill and set the stroke to white with a width of 6 pixels. A path that only uses the stroke will appear as a line.
Step 2: Clicking Point by Point
Click on the left side of the mountain, then click again at several points following the mountain's ridge until the peak and then down to the right. Each click creates a new corner point connected by a straight line. To end the path, press F2 or select the Selection Tool.
Step 3: Smooth Points with Click and Drag
A broken line looks less appealing. Delete that layer and redraw, this time clicking and dragging at each point. Dragging creates Bezier handles so the line curves smoothly following the mountain's contour.
Step 4: Editing Anchor Points
Select the Selection Tool, then click the line in the Composition panel to see its points. Drag the points to move them, or drag the handles to adjust the curve. The path is saved in the path property inside the contents, and can be animated like other properties.
Step 5: Setting the Stroke
Open Stroke 1. Increase the stroke width to 9 and change its color to light yellow. The line is now clearly tracing the mountain's ridge. Add a glow effect so the line appears glowing.
Step 6: Preview
Preview the playback. The line remains attached to the mountain's ridge because this footage is static. In the next episode, we'll animate this line so that it draws itself using trim paths.
Done!
Done. We've already used the Pen Tool to create an open path. Click to create a corner point, click and drag to create a smooth point, editing anchor points and handles, as well as setting stroke and glow. In the next episode, we'll create a line that draws itself using trim paths. Need a promotional video, logo animation, motion graphics for social media, or visual effects for short films? Cerdas Inovasi Digital provides motion graphics and visual effects services, as well as opens After Effects courses from beginner to advanced. Want to master the entire series? 104 episodes from the interface to the final project? All episodes, complete with PDF step-by-step guides, source footage, and project scripts, are available for premium tutorial subscribers. Subscribe starting at Rp69.000 per month, save 28% with the 12-month package, or pay once Rp999.000 for lifetime access. Want just one class? Buy a single class with lifetime access. Subscribe now at the premium page cerdasinovasidigital.com Contact us via WhatsApp, or visit cerdasinovasidigital.com Thank you for watching, see you in the next episode. Thank you for watching,
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Cerdas Inovasi Digital Team
Software developers, BIM & 3D engineers, and AI practitioners
52 video classes1,276 episodes
We build software, BIM models, games and AI automations for clients every day, and turn that hands-on work into step-by-step classes: every step is shown on screen and comes with a PDF guide you can keep.
