Chapter List

Overview

One of the most creative tools After Effects offers is blending images together using transfer modes.

We devoted the previous chapters to stacking multiple objects and moving them around in interesting ways. The next level of motion graphics mastery is combining multiple images together to create an utterly new image. And transfer modes (also known as modes, layer modes or blending modes) are one of the strongest, most tasteful tools for doing so. In this chapter, we'll break down the method behind mode madness, and share a few of our favorite techniques for using them in real-world projects.

If you use Photoshop, you're probably already familiar with how modes work. However, many video editing systems don't offer modes, so if you're an editor, you're in for a treat. In the simplest terms, modes are different methods for combining images together. They take some properties of one image and combine them with some properties of the underlying image, resulting in a new combination that is often far more intriguing than mere stacking. The results can vary from a relatively subtle enhancement of contrast or color saturation to total retinal burnout. If used with some semblance of taste and restraint, the result is often classy rather than gimmicky and cannot easily be identified as a specific effect. Transfer modes render...