Brighten Up Your Videos: A Step-by-step Guide to Adding & Animating a Sun in After Effects

In this tutorial, we will dive into how you can add a radiant touch to your videos by introducing a sun and even animate it to your liking using Adobe After Effects. This quick guide is perfect for beginners and intermediates who want to make their videos stand out.

We start off by showing you how this simple effect can change the mood of your video dramatically, using a drone shot as an example. Then, we will guide you through the process of creating this effect from scratch. The first step is simply importing your footage into your project panel.

Next, we delve into the creation of an adjustment layer and locating the 'CC Light Rays' under Effects and Presets panel. We show you how to apply this effect onto the adjustment layer and give your footage a sunny makeover. Don't worry if you're not tech-savvy; we'll guide you through each step, ensuring you don't miss anything.

Our tutorial not only guides you on how to add a sun, but we'll also show you how to control its placement, adjust its radius and softness for a more natural or dramatic effect depending on what you need. But it doesn't stop there! We'll also teach you how to animate the sun, adding a dynamic flair to your videos.

Ever dreamed of a red or purple sun? Well, dream no more! In the final part of the tutorial, we will teach you how to change the color of the sun to suit your video's aesthetic.

Adding a sun or sun rays to your videos might seem like a small detail, but it can make a huge difference in setting the mood and overall impact. So, are you ready to let the sunshine into your videos? Watch our tutorial now!

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