Sunday, October 19, 2014 at 7:12PM Here's the final clip we'll be re-creating:
Tutorial on creating the above:
Using Trapcode Mir v1
For finishing touches also uses Trapcode Shine and Form.
Covers setting up the "spikey" shape using an amplitude map for the fractal. Also shows the "finishing"; creating the background, light-rays, shadows, glow, atmospheric particles etc.
Thursday, November 17, 2011 at 3:25PM 
This is a trapcode particular experiment I worked on. Really working on the lighting and shading features in trapcode particular.
Vimeo Render http://vimeo.com/31113848
Download CS5 project file here: Zen Alien
Wednesday, March 24, 2010 at 10:35AM 
Advanced example: Trapcode Shine with smoke. Uses Fractal Noise to generate a smokescreen.
A 3D null-object "lightpos" is used to position the Source Point of Shine using an expression.
The logo and the smokescreen are 3D layers. The smokescreen layer is placed in front of the logo layer towards the camera. The camera is animated to move from left to right and auto-oriented towards the logo.
Shine is applied to an adjustment layer and smokescreen is used as a luma matte for that layer to create the look of rays in smoke. This adjustment layer is not shown in the illustration above because it is a 2D layer. The smokescreen layer is an animated Fractal Noise effect with keyframes set for Evolution and Offset Turbulence
Thanks to Scott Frizzle of Artifact for the inspiration!
Download AE 5.0 AEP - smoke.zip
Wednesday, March 17, 2010 at 3:07PM 
Nine comps of animated northern lights using AE's built-in Fractal Noise and Trapcode Shine. Trapcode Particular used for the stars. Resurrected from trapcode-people.
Download AE 6.0 AEP
Description: Fractal Noise is used on the bottom layer to create the base for the effect. It has keyframes on "Evolution" which means it will change shape over time. Switch off all layers above it to see how it looks. Above that is a colorization layer that uses Colorama (built-in AE effect) to generate the color gradient. Then a mask is applied. Trapcode Shine is used in an adjustment layer above to create the look of light rays / northern lights. For finish, a starfield is added on top and then the layer with trees.