Shadows in After Effects are keys to show depth and dimension your layers, text and videos. Hopefully you have used already the common drop shadow effect but you might not be aware all the shadow style  you can create in After Effects. My objective in this tutorial is show multiple ways on how to create shadows directly into After Effects with simple steps. I will also provide free After Effects project source files so you don’t have the follow the whole process to start working on your masterpiece.

Below are 10 types of shadows you can create in After Effects.

Simply click on each links below to expand and read.

How to Create a Drop Shadow in After Effects

The Drop Shadow effect is one of the easiest and most used effects in After Effects, it basically allows you to project a shadow behind any object you have on your scene.

check below the first method to create it.

There are 2 ways to add a drop shadow to your layers, texts or video… just follow these steps below.

DROP SHADOW – METHOD 1

  • Create New composition
  • Click on and type a text in your composition
  • Open your Effects & Presets panel – Shortcut below
     Command+5
    Ctrl+5
  • Type Drop Shadow on the search field (screenshot on the right)
  • Drag and drop the Drop Shadow effect on your layer on your timeline or your composition scene
  • You should now see a drop shadow behind your text 🙂

The drop shadow preset has pretty much all the regular properties you can change such as:

  • Shadow color
  • Opacity
  • Direction
  • Distance
  • Softness
  • Shadow Only

Check out the screenshot on drop Shadow properties on the right.

Dowload Drop Shadow Method 1 – AE Project here

DROP SHADOW – METHOD 2

The second way to create a drop shadow in After Effects is to use the layer styles options, this drop shadow has more properties than the regular drop shadow effect I mentioned above.

Follow the steps below

  • Create New composition
  • Click on and type a text in your composition
  • Click on Layer tab > Layer Styles > Drop Shadow
  • This is what you should see under your layer styles

As you can see the Drop Shadow from Layer Styles have more options such as below

  • Blend mode
  • Shadow Color
  • Opacity
  • Use Global Light
  • Angle
  • Distance
  • Spread
  • Size Shadow
  • Noise Shadow
  • Layer Knocks Out Drop Shadow

Dowload Drop Shadow Method 2 – AE Project here

Dimension+Bevel+Shadow

dimension-bevel-shadow

Another After Effects shadow option you may not have tried yet is the Dimension+Bevel+Shadow presets located in the Effects and Presets panel

This preset basically add a regular drop shadow effect and add bevel alpha to emboss your layer here is a  preview below.

settings-dimension-bevel+shadow

Download the Dimension+Bevel+Shadow example here

Dimension+Glow+Shadow

The Dimension – glow+shadow preset allow you to add 3 drop shadow glows, see the setting below

Download the Dimension+Glow+Shadow example here

Inner shadow or inside Shadow is another way to create inside depth to your layers.
Here is how to apply an inner shadow in After Effects.

  • Create New composition
  • Click on and type a text in your composition
  • On top Click on Layer tab > Layer Styles > Inner Shadow

  • This is what you should see under your layer styles
    inner shadow layer styles options

Download the Inner Shadow After Effects project here

after effects cast shadows

In After Effects you can create a realistic cast shadow that project off to other layers.

There are 3 important layers you need to know about in order to project a cast shadow correctly in After Effects.

  1. Main Layer (Shadow will cast from this layer)
  2. One or Multiple Solid Layer (Cast shadow will land on this layer)
  3. A light Layer

Follow these steps below or download the AE project file at the bottom

  1. Create a text layer
    Create a big text ex: 35px Arial
    Turn on 3D layer cube icon
  2. Create 2 Solids Layers
    – The first solid layer will be the wall background behind the text
    – The Second solid layer will be the floor under the text, make sure cast shadow option is turned on. See below
  3. Create a Spot light layer
    Now that we have create all the layers, let’s create the light that will cast the shadow on the wall and the floor.
    On the layer tab on top Layer>New>Light
    Light Layer Shortcut:
    WIN : Ctrl+Alt+Shift+L
    MAC: Command+Option+Shift+

    Make sure the spot light direction point to your text layer.

    To make multiple cast shadow you can also add more light layers until you like it.

If you haven’t got the same result as me, feel free to download the source project below.

Download the After Effects Cast Shadow project here

3D Shadow After Effects

To create a 3D Shadow in After Effects follow the steps below

  1. Create New composition name it “master”
  2. Click on and type your text
  3. Select the text you just created and Pre-Compose it, rename “TEXT”
    CTRL+Shift+C (Windows)
    or
    Command+Shift+C (Mac OS)
  4. Go to back to your “master” composition
  5. Select the “TEXT” composition, make sure it the 3D layer icon is turned on
  6. Duplicate the “TEXT” composition
    CTRL+D (Windows)
    Command+D (MAC OS)
  7. Rename the duplicated composition “TEXT Shadow”
    Parent “TEXT shadow” to “TEXT”
  8. Change the orientation of the “TEXT” layer such as below
  9. Now Select your Text shadow layer, make sure the 3D layer icon is turned on
    Rotate the X axis to 90° and add those Effects and properties below
    Shadow layer properties
  10. Now if you move you main layer “Text” the shadow will move with it in the 3D space
    3d shadow preview

BONUS:  Download 3d Shadow After Effects project here

How to quickly create a text shape shadow in After Effects?

  1. Create a new composition
  2. Type your text
  3. Duplicate the text you just created (CTRL+D or Command D)
    Rename it “Shadow”
  4. On your timeline select your Shadow layer
    – Right click
    – Create > Create Shapes from Text
    Create Shapes from text
  5. Move down the shadow layer so it is not on top of the text
  6. open the effects and presets panel
  7. Find “Fast Box Blur”
  8. Apply it to the “shadow” layer
  9. Change Blur Radius to 39
  10. Select your shadow layer and scale the height to 25%
  11. Done

Download the text shape shadow example here


What is Directional Blur Shadow

Directional Blur Shadow allow your to control the direction where your shadow is pointing to and control how wide / long you want the shadow to be.

Download the After Effects Blur shadow here

radial shadow

The Radial Shadow effect can be found in the Effects & Presets panel.

The Radial Shadow effect creates a shadow from a point light source over the layer it’s applied to, rather than from an infinite light source (as with the Drop Shadow effect). The shadow is cast from the alpha channel of the source layer, allowing the color of that layer to influence the color of the shadow as light passes through semitransparent areas. You can use this effect to make a 3D layer appear to cast a shadow onto a 2D layer.

Radial-Shadow-presets-setting

Download the After Effects radial shadow example here

Long shadow is basically a stretched shadow that make the illusion that a light is casting shadow infinitely, the long shadow has been a trend for a while now you might seen it on the Netflix logo animation. It gives a interesting look and depth to your 2D objects.

Download the long shadow After Effects project here

Also a couple of long shadow presets After Effects templates you could buy or get inspiration from.

long-shadow-after-effects-template

Don’t like reading like me 🙂 no worries I have gather a couple of tutorial videos about After Effects shadow below.

Looking for a different shadow effect? Please share below what you’re looking for exactly I will be happy to help and improve this tutorial.

Thanks!!