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Wave Warp Effect in After Effects

March 6, 2021
Max Kravchenko

Max Kravchenko

Motion Designer & Tutor

Wave Warp is the most popular effect to apply the wavy motion to your objects. But you may miss the pinning option that will help you spread the Wave Warp effect from the center of the composition.

You can also combine it with our favorite turbulent displace effect.


How to Apply Wave Warp Effect in After Effects

The Wave Warp effect in Adobe After Effects is a powerful tool that allows you to create various wave-like distortions and animations. It can be used to simulate water ripples, heat waves, or other dynamic distortions in your footage or motion graphics.

To apply the Wave Warp effect with the pinning option in After Effects, follow these steps:

  1. Select the layer you want to apply the effect to in the timeline.
  2. Go to the “Effects & Presets” panel (usually located on the right side of the interface) and type “Wave Warp” in the search bar.
  3. Click and drag the Wave Warp effect onto the layer in the timeline.

Once the effect is applied, you can customize its settings to achieve the desired wave effect. Here are some of the key parameters you can adjust:

Wave Warp Pinning

To use the pinning option:

  1. Enable the “Pinning” checkbox in the Wave Warp effect settings.
  2. Use the Pinning Mask dropdown menu to choose a layer or a specific mask on the layer that will define the pinned areas.
  3. Adjust the Pinning Strength parameter to control the influence of the pinning on the layer. Higher values make the pinned areas more resistant to the wave distortion.

With the pinning option, you can create interesting effects where certain parts of the layer remain unaffected by the waves, while others are distorted.

Experiment with these settings to create different wave effects, and don’t forget to combine the Wave Warp effect with other effects and techniques in After Effects to enhance your animations further.

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