The After Effects Illusionist, 2nd Edition

12The Noise & Grain Effects

The Noise & Grain effects all deal with noise in some form or another. Some effects add noise, while others remove it. A couple of these effects—Fractal Noise and Turbulent Noise—are in a class all on their own, as they create grayscale patterns. Let’s look at a few important concepts to help you get the most out of this chapter, and to get an overview of what is coming up.

Good Noise

In the video world, noise gets a bad rap. Noise isn’t always a bad thing. Often, adding noise is desirable because it creates a sense of grit and realism. Photographs and computer-generated images are notorious for looking too clean and polished. Adding noise can help them look more filmlike. When gradients appear to have banding (posterization), ...