Ever wanted to create a great looking fireball effect in After Effects without any fancy or pricey plugins? Here is your chance. Caleb Ward shows off how you can set a sphere ablaze in Ae. Although the tutorial covers using a RocketStock Free Preset for fire, it is nothing that you can’t do manually, on your own in After Effects… It’s just more convenient to use the free fire preset as a starting point.

a look at how to create a fireball effect using native tools in After Effects

Caleb notes that the key to getting a great looking fire-ball, is in getting the fractals right. Some tutorials will focus on using blur effects to create fire. Caleb recommends using Ae’s Fractal Noise and Turbulent displace offers much better results. It can also look more realistic with a bit of work.

Caleb makes the project file available for the FireBall effect, which you can find here: Create A Fireball In After Effects.