How to turn 2D Photos to 3D with After Effects (super easy)

Published on April 7, 2020

Adobe After Effects Tutorials

2d to 3d, 3D photo, Displacement

Turn 2D photos in to 3D photos with After Effects

Since we’re all still in lock-down and probably will be for quite a while, we wanted to make a cool effect that you can create from home! With this weeks Creative Tuesday tutorial you will be able to turn 2D photos into 3D with just Adobe After Effects. It’s not the same principle as a plotagraph, where you animate a part of the photo to make it look like it’s moving.

Early 3D

Did you know that they already invented a 3D photo in 1838? Charles Wheatstone and Fox Talbot worked on stereo photography back then. It enabled pairs of identical photos to be combined and views in 3D with glasses, how cool is that? FujiFilm also made a compact camera which allows you to view 3D images without the need of special glasses.

Bored at home?

But enough about that, let’s talk a bit about the current working at home situation. A lot of people are currently unemployed because of the fact that they can’t work from home. We, as creators, have the privilege of being able to work at home. If you are stuck at home and don’t know what to do, I have a couple of tips. First of all, read! You have a lot of time now so read and learn, and if you don’t want to read there’s always YouTube tutorials and Skillshare classes that teach you new stuff. Another tip I can give you is to keep on creating, don’t get into a creative block. Just take out your camera or phone and start shooting, doesn’t matter what it is.

Just remember to keep yourself busy, don’t slouch. See this as an opportunity to create the projects that you never had the time for. And if you create something cool, make sure to tag us in it so we can see it. But most important, stay creative!

StoryBlocks Video

This video was supported by Storyblocks Video, an easy to use site full of stock footage, After Effects templates, backgrounds, motion Graphics and much more.