Additive Keying in After Effects for hair and fine details

Written by Chris Zwar

June 8, 2026

2019 doesn’t sound like it was that long ago, but a lot has happened in seven years. In fact,...

After Effects Guru Meditation: Different displacement options

Written by Chris Zwar

May 5, 2026

After Effects is, at its very heart, a compositing application and so After Effects comes with a bunch of...

After Effects Guru Meditation: Adding effects for an overall look

Written by Chris Zwar

March 16, 2026

When I first started working in the industry, the concept of color grading video was relatively new. I loved...

ZWARCHIVES – After Effects tutorials from the past 10 years

Written by Chris Zwar

February 2, 2026

Here's a collection of After Effects articles and tutorials that I've written over the past 10 years

After Effects: Track Mattes vs Set Matte

Written by Chris Zwar

November 30, 2025

After Effects is a timeline based compositing app, and its primary directive is to composite multiple layers of video...

After Effects Guru Meditation 2: Compositing for faster 3D workflows

Written by Chris Zwar

September 11, 2025

Everyone knows what a compositor does, right? Well, probably not. One of the most valuable lessons I have learned...

After Effects Guru Meditation 1: Reverse Tracking for VFX

Written by Chris Zwar

July 31, 2025

I’ve been using After Effects for nearly 30 years, and over that time I’ve worked on a wide range...

After Effects: Simple noise workflow for VFX

Written by Chris Zwar

April 7, 2025

Before digital video cameras emerged, visual FX artists had to manage with film grain. And now that we have...

Color Management Part 26: ACES and After Effects – the express tutorial

Written by Chris Zwar

February 2, 2025

ACES and OpenColorIO are the industry standard tools for color management in the VFX industry. It’s now been two...

AI Tools: Video & Animation Advances for 2025

Written by Jeff Foster

January 29, 2025

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted much about the advancements of current AI Tools, and although I’ve had some...