Easily control lots of patterns using time displacement in After Effects.

There are times when things that look like they are a lot of work are not. If you are animating lots of little patterned tiles in After Effects, you can automate the process (in a way) by using time displacement as a way to control and trigger the animations. How does that work? This new tutorial from Nick Greenawalt (Motion By Nick) shows how the time displaces effect works.

Time Displacement in After Effects.

The time displacement effect allows you to control time using an image. Black, white and greyscale values all correspond to forward or backward in time. Nick shows how you can use this effect to control lots of little animating patterns without setting keyframes for each of them. Fantastic!

About Nick Greenawalt.

Nick Greenawalt is a Philadelphia-based motion designer. By day he works at an experience strategy and design agency called Bluecadet. By night I create tutorials, process videos, and all sorts of fresh content on youtube & instagram.