Hi everyone,

Does anyone know where i can find a tutorial on how to apply muzzle shots to a premiere pro project in After Effects 6.5? Or could someone explain it or know any websites where it explains how to do it?

If it is a long process then don`t feel it has to be explained here.

Thanks
James

Are you looking for how to create the muzzle flash or just how to composite an existing bit of 'flash' footage on top of another clip?

If you have the flash footage (actually I tend to use single frame stills) already then you don't need AE6.5 at all. I do this in Premiere Pro as follows.

Import muzzle flash still/footage plus video clip of gun.
Place gun clip on layer one.
Place flash clip/still on layer two (on top of the gun clip).
Resize flash clip. this si ok as long as you are just reducing the size and not zooming.
Rotate and position flash on end of gun barrel.

This is exactly how I did the muzzle flashes in Final Hit ( http://www.alandmills.co.uk/Final_Hit.wmv ). See if it works for you.

If you want to create the actual muzzle flash then that is another story. ParticleIllusion is good for this job but it's not cheap if that's all you want of it. Your best bet would be to find some stock footage.

hope this helps.

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Hi Alan,

Thanks for the reply.I do have the flash footage and I have done it before in Premiere Pro in the way you suggested but after speaking to someone about it, he said that it would be better to do it in After Effects as AE will make it look better, like the muzzle shot can be tracked with the gun and so on. Unfortunately he doesn`t really know AE that well!!!

Thanks for the help though. It was most appreciated.

If it is easier to do it in Pro then i will just stick with that.

Really enjoyed Final Hit! The muzzle shots looked really good!

Cheers
James

Oh, there's no doubt that youy can achieve better using AE, if you know how to drive it properly.

I'm not so sure that tracking with the gun is really that much of a problem, especially given that the muzzle flash is a couple of frames at most.

In AE you have more compositing options and layer blend options to get a 'better' effect.

There's a substancial learning curve though with AE. I'll let you decide if it's worth it for what you need.

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I'm not young enough to know everything!