Presets, Transform and Keyframing

Bang

PRESETS, TRANSFORM AND KEYFRAMING.

Bang is a fully procedural, photo-realistic 3D muzzle flare generator. The program allows for quick, easy muzzle flashes additions to your After Effects Compositions. You can start using Bang instantly by applying it directly to your source footage. From there, choose from any of 20 presets and accurately position them in 2D or 3D via onscreen controls.

Bang gives users total, intuitive control over flash width, height, glow, distortion, and timing. In this section, we'll look at some of the most-used properties of this incredible, versatile effect.

Choosing a Preset

After applying Bang to a layer, you'll see a range of effect presets along the top of the UI. Choose a preset to become familiar with both realistic and stylistic muzzle flash looks .

Choose a Preset - After clicking this button, a pop-up window will appear revealing 20 presets from three categories: Pistols and Handguns, Rifles and Machine Guns, and Sci-Fi and Weird.
Search - In the top-right corner, you can search for a preset by typing a name into the field adjacent to the magnifying glass icon. Anything with the name you entered will display. Clicking the x to the right of the search field will clear the search.
Favorites - When you click a preset's thumbnail, a star icon will show in the top-left corner. Click it to make it a favorite.
Cancel and Apply - With a preset thumbnail selected, click Apply to see the preset muzzle flash on top of your footage or background selection. Click Cancel if you want to return to Bang's previous settings in your composition.

Transform Category

The Transform section allows you to visualize, position, and orient your muzzle flash in 2D or 3D space.

UI Overlay is the default pistol overlay that appears on your layer. You can choose from eight overlay options, including turning the overlay off. If you've chosen a preset, the overlay will change based on that preset's default values.
Place and Aim allows you to choose between positioning your muzzle flash in 2D + Depth or 3D from the drop-down. Depending on the value selected, the corresponding values (below) will become available while the others will be grayed out. With 2D + Depth selected, onscreen controls in the composition window let you position and aim the muzzle flash with no orientation values. With 3D selected, you can adjust the flash's position and rotation using the properties highlighted below. You may also attach it to a null and then use the null's onscreen controls.

Position is a 3D point for positioning the flash. This feature defaults to the layer's middle and to a z-axis value of 0. Unlike other plug-ins, moving the flash back and forth on the z axis does not disconnect it from the point overlay in the Composition window (i.e., there is no drifting of the point in x or y).
Aim represents the back of the barrel. By default, Aim points the flash toward the camera. Tick the Point Away checkbox to orient the flash away from camera.
Point Away, when checked, changes the muzzle flash default and points it away from the camera.

Position in 3D is the same as position in 2D. However, it works with the Sweep, Tilt, and Roll rotation controls, which can be attached to a null.
Create Nulllinks the 3D Position, Sweep, Tilt, and Scale values to a newly created null layer. Adjust the position, scale, and orientation properties of the null; these values will also change.
Sweep allows you to precisely orient your flash along the y axis.
Tilt allows you to precisely orient your flash along the z axis.
Roll allows you to precisely orient your flash on the x axis. This is very useful when rotating petals.
Scale will make the flash larger or smaller (as opposed to rendering it closer or further away when the position is adjusted along the z axis).

Keyframer

One of Bang's most powerful features is how it handles keyframing. When moving your current time indicator to any frame and clicking the Add Keyframe button under Trigger, it will create a one-frame flash at this time. (Think of it as an "if" expression. When you click Add Keyframe, the flash is on but off at other times.) If you've adjusted the Number of Rounds to a value other than the default of 1, clicking Add Keyframe will add a keyframe at the CTI as well as additional frames specified by the Number of Rounds and Rate of Fire (Rounds per Second). This is great for rapid-fire weapons. You can also mix a rapid-fire animation with manual triggers simply by playing with the values.

Rate of Fire (Rounds Per Second) is the number of rounds that go off a second after clicking the Add Keyframe button. Note: This is best seen when the Number of Rounds is set to a value greater than 1.
Number of Rounds determines how many rounds will be fired once you click Add Keyframe. The timing of these rounds is based on the Rate of Fire. In the below example, we've clicked the Add keyframe button with the CTI at 1 second. Number of Rounds is set to 6, and Rate of Fire is set to 6 times per second. The timeline shows that six keyframes have been added between 1 and 2 seconds.
Trigger - Click the stopwatch or the Add Keyframe button to create a one-frame flash at the CTI's location. You'll know a keyframe has been added when the Add Keyframe button changes to a Firing button. Move your CTI to any frame without flashes and the Add Keyframe button will reappear. You can now manully add additional keyframes to trigger additional one-frame flashes. You can create an automatic (rapid fire)-type animation by adjusting the Rate of Fire and Number of Rounds as outlined above.