The Digital Matte Painting Handbook

Adding a Snow Effect

The scene goes from summer to winter, but where is the snow? In the next step, you’ll add a falling snow effect to enhance the wintery feel. First, you need to learn about solids.

Solids

Solids are layers composed of solid colors created in After Effects. You’ll use a solid to add snow to the composition.

Choose Layer ⇒ New ⇒Solid. The Solid Settings dialog box appears. Change the name to SnowSolid, click the color swatch in the Color area to open the Color Picker, and choose black. Click the Make Comp Size button to make the solid the same size as the comp on which you’re working. Click OK to accept these parameters (Figure 13-27).

Figure 13-27: Solid Settings dialog box

Blending Modes

Drag the SnowSolid layer to the ...