Hi, I am new to VFX and I am self-taught, I learned how to make VFX but I am missing something, all my projects just don’t have that extra to make them better, and I don’t know what it is, maybe make all textures by myself (which I do in materials in Unreal Engine), am I missing something in aftereffects to add or is it something in the basics that I am missing, can someone give me some input how to improve. You can also check out some of my other VFX here: https://www.artstation.com/lenxorc2
Vimeo
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Heyo! It’s great to have you with us!
Hmm if you are new to vfx then I can already pin-point one serious mistake I see lots of beginners do.
Making entire VFX sequence made of multiple elements is really hard and if you don’t have a good approach you will lose yourself in it. Start very simple, from just one part of the effect, for instance fire. Polish it to the maximum, also watching some references so that you have some foundation to base it upon and then when you are happy with the result move to different part of the effect.
Even after couple years in VFX when I take on more complex effect, I usually start with just one part and until I’m not happy with it I won’t move to next part as then it’s much easier to make it a whole.
It’s also much harder to give feedback to entire vfx sequence than certain parts :C but overall your timing is pretty decent, though your effects tend to be in local space and because of that they have unnatural movements (following movements of sword/character) or they appear/disappear from nowhere rather than having a smooth transition. Making them look more natural would definitely help with the overall look!
Apart from that don’t feel discouraged! Took me a long time till I was satisfied with look of my effects. You will get there eventually 
Just start smaller as it’s much faster to improve this way.
Good luck!
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Hi, thank you for your feedback, it is really good to get professional input, I have a better understanding of things now thank you. Is there any special effect that you recommend when post-processing in After Effects or do you just experiment with it? I am really new to After Effects.
Glad to hear!
I have never used After Effects, so I’m not really sure. Though maybe there is someone in this community that can help with that question.
You make your entire effects in it? As if you are planning more to do realtime VFX then it’s wiser to make effect in Unreal or Unity.
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No, I do effects in Unreal Engine and I just add some visual effects to make it pop in After Effects.
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Btw just to make sure.
If it’s just for practice then it’s totally fine
Tho if you would be working on a portfolio for realtime VFX then making it pop in AE is a bad idea (as that’s not how realtime effects are made, so you are not showing what you are able to make in engine).
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Yeah, that makes sense, thx for pointing it out. 