Realistic Snowfall Animation In After Effects Tutorial

It’s free and I will continue to give out free downloads!

Create a realistic snowfall animation in Adobe After Effects. You don’t need to install any third-party plugin to make this animation. We are going to create a realistic snowfall animation from scratch. After watching this tutorial you will be able to create your snowfall scene in Adobe After Effects. This effect is editable and you can add the image of a real snowflake. You might also be interested in these tutorials on Realistic Rain Animation & Heart Particles in After Effects.

Step-by-Step Guide to Creating a Realistic Snowfall Animation:

Step 1: Setting Up the Composition

Open Adobe After Effects.
Create a new composition and rename it to “Realistic Snowfall Animation.”
Set the resolution to 1920×1080 Pixels, frame rate to 30 frames per second, and duration to 10 seconds.

Step 2: Adding Winter Background

Go to the File menu and import the winter image.
Drag and drop the image into the composition.
Go to the Layer menu > New > Solid and choose the black color.

Step 3: Adding CC Particle World Effect

Go to the Effects & Presets.
Search for the effect “CC Particle World” and drag it onto the Solid layer.

Step 4: Adjusting Particle World Settings

Change the birth rate to 10.
Set the birth rate slider to 5.0.
Go to the Producer section and change Position Y to -0.30.
Change Radius X to 1.0, Radius Y to 0.115, and Radius Z to 2.0.

Step 5: Adjusting Physics Settings

Under the Physics section, change the Animation type to “Jet Sideway.”
Set Velocity to 0.10 and Gravity to 0.015 to make particles fall from top to bottom.

Step 6: Adjusting Gravity Vector

Under the Gravity vector, change Gravity X to 0.350.

Step 7: Adjusting Particle Appearance

Under the Particles section, change the particle type from “Line” to “Faded Sphere.”
Change Birth Color to white and Death Color to black.

Step 8: Blending Mode

Change the solid layer’s blending mode from “Normal” to “Color Dodge.”

Step 9: Adding Snowflake Image

Import the snowflake transparent image.
Drag and drop the snowflake image into the composition.
Right-click on the snowflake layer and choose “Pre-compose.”
Rename the composition to “Snowflakes” and adjust the resolution to match the snowflake size.

Step 10: Applying Snowflakes to Particle World

Select the Snowfall solid layer.
Go to the settings, then under the Physics section.
Change the particle type from “Faded Sphere” to “Texture Square.”
Under the Texture Layer, select the “Snowflakes” composition we created earlier.

Step 11: Finalizing the Animation

Your realistic snowfall animation is now ready. Press the Play button to preview the animation and see the snowflakes falling over the winter background. You’ve successfully created a lifelike snowfall effect in Adobe After Effects.