How Do You Make Glass Reflection in After Effects?

Creating the look of glass in After Effects often involves combining multiple visual elements, including transparency, refraction, and reflection. While achieving realistic reflection can be complex and depends on the specific scene and desired look, the initial steps towards creating a glass effect, including emulating refraction, are crucial.

Based on the provided reference, here is a method for setting up a layer to help emulate refraction, a key characteristic of glass:

Initial Setup for Emulating Refraction

According to the reference, one of the first steps in creating the look of glass and emulating refraction involves manipulating an Adjustment Layer positioned above your footage.

Follow these steps:

1. Create an Adjustment Layer: Begin by adding a new Adjustment Layer directly above the footage layers you want the glass effect to influence.
2. Resize and Rotate: Modify the Adjustment Layer's size and rotation to define the area and angle of your glass element. The reference suggests scaling in the sides, extending the top and bottom, and rotating it approximately 30 degrees.
3. Apply the Transform Effect: Add the Transform effect to the Adjustment Layer. This effect allows for precise control over scaling, position, and rotation.
4. Set Scale for Refraction: Within the Transform effect settings, adjust the Scale property. The reference recommends setting the scale to 110%. This specific scaling helps in emulating some refraction, which is the bending of light as it passes through the glass.

Note: These steps from the reference specifically address setting up a layer to emulate refraction as part of the overall glass look. Creating realistic reflection typically involves different techniques, such as using duplicates of the background layers, mirroring them, masking them to the shape of the glass, and adjusting their opacity and blend modes.

By following the steps outlined in the reference, you establish a foundational layer setup that contributes to the visual properties of glass by simulating how light might bend when passing through it.