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This tutorial is on how to change a clip to black and white and how to keyframe a clip from color to black and white in Adobe After Effects.

Recapping the Tutorial

Using Hue/Saturation to Make Clip Black and White

To begin make sure you have a comp open with the clip in the timeline that you want to make black and white. Next find the Effects & Presets panel. Under Color Correction is the Hue/Saturation effect. You can also find this by starting to type in “hue” or “saturation” in the search field. Take the Hue/Saturation effect and drop it onto the clip in the timeline. This will open up the Effect Controls panel.

To make the clip black and white in After Effects we want to remove all saturation from it. In the Effect Controls panel findthe Master Saturation parameter. Drag it down to -100 or type in -100. As you drag the slider you can see the clip change from color to black and white.

The entire clip is now black and white. But what if we want to make this into a transition from color to black and white?

Transitioning from Color to Black and White

Place the time position indicator in the timeline to where you want the clip to become fully black and white in the transition. Remember, the clip should already be black and white based on what we just did above. We’re going to work backwards and put the clip back to color to create the transition after making some keyframes.

In the Effect Controls panel find Channel Range and click the stopwatch next to it. This creates a keyframe for the Master Saturation parameter in the Hue/Saturation effect.

Select the layer in the timeline and hit the “U” key. This shows all the keyframed properties for that layer. Move the time position indicator to where you want the transition to start. Go back up to Master Saturation in the Effects Control panel. Set the Master Saturation to zero (o). Do not set it to 100. Try it if you want but this is probably not what you want. Zero (0) = no change to the clip.

Go ahead and RAM Preview. You’ve now made a clip black and white in After Effects and also created a transition from color to black and white. Congrats!

Question of the Week #1: What effects do you combine with black and white clips?

Question of the Week #2: This question is just for those who watch my tutorials on the website and not on YouTube! What genre do you want to edit in that you never have before? My answer is in the comments!

Additional Suggested Viewing: Keyframing Text Color in After Effects Tutorial

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Quickly improve the quality of your footage or create a stylized look with these 5 simple color effects inside Adobe After Effects.

With each new Adobe release, there is more cross over of the same effects and features between Photoshop, Premiere Pro and After Effects. The following 5 effects originated in Photoshop, but are now useful image tools in After Effects.

These effects all fall into the Color Correction category. You apply them to your footage by selecting the layer and going to Effect > Color Correction or by typing the name of the effect in the “Effects & Presets Panel”.

After Effects Fade To Black And White

When you need a quick color correction fix or want to add style to your footage, each of these After Effects tools can really come in handy.

After Effects: Shadow/Highlight

Shadow/Highlight is an After Effects tool that can quickly bring out details in underexposed or overexposed footage. By default, when you use shadow/highlight, After Effects will apply an automatic setting. For more control uncheck “auto amounts” and manually drag the shadow and highlight sliders. Then click the twirly for “More Options” to tweak the radius and black/white point settings. You can also choose “Blend with Original” to dial in the look and keyframe if needed.

See the example images below, demonstrating how Shadow/Highlight can make your footage more dynamic.

Original:

With Shadow/Highlight:

After Effects Photo Filter

The After Effects Photo Filter mimics traditional warming and cooling filters that go on camera lenses. I used the default 85 Warming Filter and increased the density to 51% to get more of an end of day look.

Leave “luminosity” checked to keep the brightness the same.

Original:

With Photo Filter:

After Effects Vibrance

Vibrance increases the saturation of the less saturated colors in an image, but it doesn’t make the already saturated colors garish. This generally gives you more natural looking results than only increasing saturation.

After Effects Tip: When stacking effects, the order can give you different results. If I drag Vibrance before Photo Filter, it will be boosting the original colors and not the warm color of the Photo Filter. I’ve turned off Photo Filter so you can see the result better.

After Effects Levels

Black And White Effect Photoshop

After Effects Levels uses a histogram that shows you the blacks, mids, and whites of an image. In my example, the image is flat and needs more black.

The triangles with the histogram adjust the input levels, and the sliders below that with the Black to White gradient adjust the output sliders.

Drag the black triangle until it touches the edge of the histogram to correct the exposure of the clip. The middle gray slider is gamma or mid tones. Dragging this to the left brightens the mid tones.

After Effects For Free

Dragging Input Black to the right increases black, while dragging Output Black to the right decreases black. Dragging Input White to the left increases brightness, while dragging Output White to the left decreases the white.

Before Levels:

After Levels:

Image with Levels Applied:

After Effects Black & White

The After Effects Black & White filter gives you more control than the Hue/Saturation filter, when converting a color image to black & white.

For a stylized look, we could put the Black & White effect on an adjustment layer and change the opacity of the layer or put it in a blending mode like Soft Light.

Got After Effects quick tips to share?
What app do you use for color correction?
Share your thoughts/experiences in the comments below!