Motion Blur is something that can take a rather mechanical looking animation and make it look much more lifelike.
The thing to remember is that it's a two-step process to activate and render.
Let me show you what I mean.
I'll start by going down to the Timeline panel and clicking once in the empty area to make sure that it's active.
Then I'll press the Spacebar to preview the animation.
And you can see the propeller blade is spinning.
And even though it's not quite playing in real time you'll notice that the edges of the propeller blade are still rather sharp.
To add more realism, let's enable Motion Blur.
I'll press the Spacebar to stop playback and I'll go down to the Timeline here.
And you want to make sure that this area of your Timeline looks like this.
Enabling motion blur on individual layers
If it doesn't you need to click the Toggle Switches / Modes button so that you're not in Modes, but that you're in Switches.
Now the layer we want to enable the blur for is the Blades layer.
So, I'll click on Layer 2 the Blades layer and then I'll go right here in the Switches panel and enable Motion Blur just for that one layer.
Now the reason I'm not seeing anything in the Composition panel is because Motion Blur is rather render intensive.
So, you can enable Motion Blur for some layers and not for others.
But to actually be able to see it and in turn render it. we need to enable it in the Timeline here at the top.
Activating global motion blur for preview and render
And I'll click on the Enable Motion Blur button here in the Timeline and now you can see the edges of the propeller blade are blurry.
That's because the speed at which the blade is rotating has caused that blur to be computed.
Observing realistic motion blur effects in animation
So, if we press the Spacebar to preview our animation, you'll notice not only do we have motion blur, but we'll also recreate that similar effect when you're watching something that spins really, really quickly it sometimes looks like it's spinning in the opposite direction.
That simulation happens here, as well.
Now in this specific instance we've been working with Motion Blur
Applying motion blur to different types of motion
tied to the rotation of an object, but Motion Blur can be enabled for other things such as the position of an object moving.
Just remember if you have an object moving quickly in the scene you can always add a little more realism by enabling Motion Blur.
And once you've activated Motion Blur for the layer don't forget to go to the top of the Timeline and activate Motion Blur there so you can actually see it in the Composition panel.
This sample file is an Adobe Stock asset you can use to practice what you learn in this tutorial. If you want to use the sample file beyond this tutorial, you can purchase a license on Adobe Stock. Check out the ReadMe file in the folder for the terms that apply to your use of this sample file.
What you learned: How motion blur can bump up the quality of an animation by adding more realism
What is motion blur?
Motion blur is the blur or visual distortion that is created by the movement of a layer in a composition. When a layer contains keyframes or an expression that causes that layer to move quickly in the scene, consider enabling Motion Blur for that layer.
Enable motion blur for layers
If the Switches icons are not visible in the Timeline panel, click the Toggle Switches/Modes button at the bottom of the Timeline.
Then select the Motion Blur layer switch for one or more layers.
To render motion blur, click the Enable Motion Blur composition switch at the top of the Timeline panel.
Fine-tune the blur
If you adjust the keyframes on a layer with motion blur, the blur will adjust accordingly.
Tip: There are more controls available to adjust the motion blur in a composition. Find them in the Advanced Tab in the Composition Settings dialog box.
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