Ben Marriott shows his method for creating animated gradients in After Effects.

Today’s motion design work features a lot of reoccurring motifs. One of them is using a lot of gradients. Have you ever wondered how animated gradients work in a project while in After Effects? Check out Motion Designer Ben Marriott shares his simple technique to work with animated gradients in Ae.

Marriott shows how to create the look using masks, feathering and a turbulent displace effect. The tutorial covers creating gradients for several situations within a project.

A similar technique is to create a more stippled look to the shadow. Check out FlowTuts tutorial that shows how to create the grainy look using a simple mask and blend mode in After Effects.

There are also helpful packs out there to help you get the effect quickly. One is Peter Quinn’s Grit Kit 2 that has a bunch of high-resolution pre-animated textures for an excellent price.