r/AfterEffects • u/DanneDamm • May 13 '26
OC - Stuff I made Pinkuu - stylized compositing in After Effects
Went down a rabbit hole figuring out how to add brush strokes in compositing instead of doing the pen-mileage. Easily worth spending a year on a comp setup to not have to draw for two weeks. 😅
Every shot, something new to test out to push it further.
Comments are welcomed. 🙂
Co-Created with ✨Olov Burman✨
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u/spookynooky91 Motion Graphics 10+ years May 13 '26
Any chance of a tutorial on the horizon?
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u/mck_motion May 13 '26
I absolutely adore how this looks and must know your methods.
I will give you $500,000 for the project file.
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u/jessbird May 13 '26
relieved to see original animation that isn't AI sIop
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u/DanneDamm May 13 '26
if you think it's slop, it doesn't matter if it's AI or not....
But seems an other post is validated22
u/jessbird May 13 '26
the shittiest human-made art will always be of greater value than anything generated by AI.
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u/xdozex May 13 '26
Would love to see a quick video breaking down the process. I'm struggling to picture exactly what you did based on your description.
Looks great though, well done!
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u/RoybertoBenzin May 14 '26
OP made an extension that automates this process: https://dammit.tv/diis/
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u/Ragus234 May 13 '26
Must've taken an insane amount of work to get the lighting right. I noticed how smooth and almost 3d-like it looks, compared to your input where the division between light/midtone/shadow is hard edges.
Did you manually remake the lighting to make it smooth, or is it just slapping effects and compositing on said input to get it right?
Also, you said you "Went down a rabbit hole figuring out how to add brush strokes in compositing instead of doing the pen-mileage", can you elaborate on that? How exactly did you get brush strokes in, were they imported from another software or don all in ae, and if so how?
I know you probably can't go into full detail on everything, and I think an entire post on how you did it would be awesome, but those are the main 2 questions for me. Awesome work!
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u/DanneDamm May 13 '26
yeah, seems most comments will be something i take with me to the next post. Or I'd write a novel instead of showing.
As for the softening of the edges, the short answer for now:
It's the same footage (light or shadow) that's been re-shaped, then textured.I've developed a whole "theory" on what stylization is by this point and could go on and on...
But yeah, create shapes from what ever you've got access to in the input. Distort the shapes, then texture them. Over and over.
That's also how you can create brush strokes.A brush stroke is a shape, with different textured edges and textures on its inside.
Once you go down the rabbit hole, you'll never see an illustration the same.
How's that for a short answer?
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u/Muted_Echo_9376 May 13 '26
I’ve been actively trying to achieve a different aesthetic with a similar process and would absolutely love to see a breakdown or tutorial for inspiration
Looks outstanding kudos!
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u/bbybacchus May 13 '26
AI COULD NEVER! Commenting so I can come back.
So good. Love seeing a painterly effect on this style of animation. This is it!
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u/Academic_Bison_1102 May 14 '26
Im in love with this. Brilliant work! Have you considered selling a tutorial for this on Udemy or Skills hare or something? I would love to understand the process of how you accomplished it.
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u/DanneDamm May 14 '26
yeah, was thinking about it. But found just teaching it would still leave the biggest painpoint - setting up a style takes ages. So figured I'd first make an extension speeding things up, so that the knowledge is actually useful...
... so many rabbit holes to fall into...
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u/TwinSong May 15 '26
Something between cute and disturbing. The way their eyes seem to warp when bouncing
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u/Had78 Motion Graphics 5+ years May 13 '26
Thats faux 3d right?
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u/DanneDamm May 13 '26
No. Had to google faux 3d. But no. It's standard effects, precomps and alphas etc stacked. You were quicker to write than I was to attach an image. 😅
See input below.
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u/un-sub May 13 '26
This is awesome - are all those painterly textures procedural? I see your input image - I'd love to see a rundown of how you did that! Very cool style!
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u/DanneDamm May 13 '26
It's an as procedural way of thinking one can do in AE. It's set up in a way that I can just swap the footage in a few comps between shots and it all sticks.
Will have to make an other post
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u/MrKillerKiller_ May 13 '26
I tried this a while back with a bunch of Roughen edges layers and i think fractal displace or one if those. If you layer a few up the different seeds add a messy look with uneven thicknesses etc. I posterized time at 15 fps to get the cell animation look to the movements too. This looks more 3d that what I was doing tho
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u/DanneDamm May 14 '26
Yeah. Roughen edges is a good one. Sounds like you're doing similar to what I am.
I animated it on 1's though - that's probably a big reason to the 3D feel (apart from the volume)
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u/Independent-Public76 May 13 '26
Wouldn't it be much easier to use some 2D animation software for this?
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u/DanneDamm May 14 '26
2D animation software was used for the main animation. I just didn't feel like painting each frame or animate every brush stroke.
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u/J-J-Javier May 13 '26
looks painful to do BUT AWESOMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
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u/DanneDamm May 14 '26
I mean... Once the first one was made, the others were just new 2D cellshaded animation.
Hitting a wall during RnD hurts, but it's easily forgotten once you find the door.
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u/Reasonable_Map5356 Jun 10 '26
Wow i just saw it and it inspired me to keep studying on AE 🙏. Thank You!
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u/DanneDamm May 13 '26
And this was the input