<p>All that looks like to me is a simple lense-flare that got its opacity and scaling keyframed. Startrek used very cheap methods for vfx due to the limited budget, so I believe that you can find assets such as these online quite easily.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-08-27T07:46:28.180Z
2019-08-27T07:46:28.180Z
Florian Claaßen
<p>I took a look at Red Giant's StarGlow, as suggested by stib and it does look good. However, after some consideration, I decided to avoid buying another plugin and went for the quick and dirty solution - I reused the effect from a video I found online and since it was on black background, I had no trouble compositing it into my scene without problems, simply using the Add blending mode. </p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-08-28T20:10:49.277Z
2019-08-28T20:10:49.277Z
Ondrej
<p>I would simply add a small circular shape layer with feathered edges, possibly with the size and shape of the path animated. Then I would add a vertical directional blur with animation on the size of the blur, then duplicate of the layer with a horizontal only blur and more with angled blurs until you get the right "star" effect. Depending on the effect you want you might need each blur on a separate layer, or you can stack the effects on a single layer. You might need to precomp them all and add curves or levels to adjust the brightness and colour of the whole thing.</p>

<p>Or if you want a one-stop-shop Red Giant's <a href="https://www.redgiant.com/products/trapcode-starglow/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">StarGlow</a> does this very well (it's a paid plugin).</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-08-28T05:37:03.743Z
2019-08-28T05:37:03.743Z
stib
<p>I am trying to figure out how to create the effect of going into warp from the Star Trek tv shows like The Next Generation and so forth - the one where the ship stretches forward, blurs a bit and then disappears in a flash of light. I've been trying to find out if some guide exists online on how to do it, but haven't been able to find anything useful, so I was curious if there's anybody more experienced with After Effects who could push me in the right direction.</p>

<p>I have a ship moving from the lower right corner of the screen to the upper left. </p>

<p>You can see an example of what I would like to accomplish on a video here: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oED-4XX5PFk" rel="nofollow noreferrer">example</a>. It is the white flash at the end of the video.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-08-26T01:37:28.670Z
can you post a link for the non-Trekkies so we can see how the effect should look?
stib
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-08-27T05:54:54.510Z
I have edited the question to include an example.
Ondrej
<after-effects>
Creating the Star Trek warp effect in After Effects
Ondrej
# Creating the Star Trek warp effect in After Effects

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-08-25)

I am trying to figure out how to create the effect of going into warp from the Star Trek tv shows like The Next Generation and so forth - the one where the ship stretches forward, blurs a bit and then disappears in a flash of light. I've been trying to find out if some guide exists online on how to do it, but haven't been able to find anything useful, so I was curious if there's anybody more experienced with After Effects who could push me in the right direction.

I have a ship moving from the lower right corner of the screen to the upper left.

You can see an example of what I would like to accomplish on a video here: [example](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oED-4XX5PFk). It is the white flash at the end of the video.

**Tags:** after-effects

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: can you post a link for the non-Trekkies so we can see how the effect should look?  
> **username_0**: I have edited the question to include an example.  

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## 3 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2019-08-27. Score: 0

All that looks like to me is a simple lense-flare that got its opacity and scaling keyframed. Startrek used very cheap methods for vfx due to the limited budget, so I believe that you can find assets such as these online quite easily.


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### Answer by username_0 on 2019-08-28. Score: 0

I took a look at Red Giant's StarGlow, as suggested by username_1 and it does look good. However, after some consideration, I decided to avoid buying another plugin and went for the quick and dirty solution - I reused the effect from a video I found online and since it was on black background, I had no trouble compositing it into my scene without problems, simply using the Add blending mode.


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### Answer by username_1 on 2019-08-28. Score: 0

I would simply add a small circular shape layer with feathered edges, possibly with the size and shape of the path animated. Then I would add a vertical directional blur with animation on the size of the blur, then duplicate of the layer with a horizontal only blur and more with angled blurs until you get the right "star" effect. Depending on the effect you want you might need each blur on a separate layer, or you can stack the effects on a single layer. You might need to precomp them all and add curves or levels to adjust the brightness and colour of the whole thing.

Or if you want a one-stop-shop Red Giant's [StarGlow](https://www.redgiant.com/products/trapcode-starglow/) does this very well (it's a paid plugin).


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