Anime Speed Lines After Effects Tutorial
Learn how to create an amazing anime-inspired speed lines effect in After Effects! This effect is entirely procedural, meaning it can be fully edited and tweaked to match the exact style you're looking for. This effect also works great as a "light speed" effect.
Quick answer
In After Effects, you can build anime speed lines without plugins: stretch Fractal Noise into thin streaks, bend them into a burst around the center with Polar Coordinates, animate the noise's Evolution so the lines flicker, and mask out the middle. Because it is procedural, you can change the density, speed and color at any time.
Speed Lines in Anime
This effect is commonly used in anime. Here is an example of the effect from Dragonball Z.
Video Tutorial
Follow our video tutorial to learn how to create this amazing effect in After Effects!
Project Download
The editable project as shown in the intro to the video is available for free download! If you don't want to learn how to create the effect from scratch and just need the finished fine-tuned project, the download is available below.
Download ProjectSpeed lines questions
Do I need a plugin for anime speed lines?
No. The effect uses only built-in After Effects effects, so it works in any recent version without extra installs.
Can I use this as a light-speed or warp effect?
Yes. Speed up the animation, make the lines longer and switch to white or blue for a classic hyperspace look.
Is the project file free?
Yes. Download the editable project from the Project Download section above and use it in your own videos.
Build faster with our After Effects expressions cheat sheet, or start from an editable After Effects template.
