Page 2 - Apply the first Beam

Okay... Here we go... Slide the playhead out to frame 15. That's the first place the Tie Fighter will fire from. Right click on the empty space on the timeline. Go to New/Solid.

You'll get this dialog:

Make sure that it's the same size as the composition (by default it should be). It matters not what color it is. Leave it white. Press OK.

Now, right click on the new solid and go to Effect/Render/Beam.

Now you'll see this dialog:

You'll also notice that now your solid is nothing more than a pale green line in the center of the screen. This is what the Beam looks like in it's infancy. We are going to change that dramatically.

First things first. Choose the inside color and the outside color. Simply click on the colored box in the dialog. Choose white for the inside and bright green for the outside.

The line should now appear white. Don't worry, we're not finished yet. Next set your softness to 92%. Hmmm... Looks no different yet. This next step is the most important thing you will ever learn in After Effects. Set the quality on the Beam layer to Highest. Like this:

Click on Quality here:

And now it looks like this:

Now it looks like a blaster!!

Go on to page 3: Position and animate the Beam

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