Creating light sweep animations in Photoshop and After Effects

Ever wondered how those sleek product shots with elegant light sweeps are made? You know the ones - where a gorgeous beam of light gracefully moves across the product, making it look absolutely stunning. Well, get ready to level up your product photography game because I'm about to show you exactly how to create that professional light sweep effect using Photoshop and After Effects

Preparing Your Image in Photoshop

Before we dive into the animation magic, we need to properly prepare our image. Launch Photoshop and follow these initial steps:

1. Import your image
2. Select your product using your preferred selection tool
3. Clean up the edges with the lasso tool
4. Separate the product onto its own layer
5. Save as a PSD file

Adding the Animation in After Effects

Now comes the fun part - bringing your product shot to life:

1. Import your PSD file into After Effects
2. Open the composition
3. Select your product layer
4. Navigate to Effects & Presets > Light Sweep
5. Apply the effect to your subject layer

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Animating the Light Effect

Here's where the magic happens:

1. Adjust the light controls to achieve your desired look
2. Position your timeline at 0
3. Enable animation by clicking the stopwatch icon next to center
4. Move forward on the timeline
5. Position the light across your subject
6. Fine-tune the animation speed

And done!