How to Make Thor Lightning Effect in After Effects

Marvel spent $400,000,000 making Avengers: Doomsday. I recreated Thor's lightning strike scene in After Effects - with $0 budget. Here's the full VFX breakdown, no corners cut. In this tutorial, I break down every technique used to recreate this scene, including: ✅ Rotoscoping the character from the plate ✅ 3D camera setup for the scene ✅ Building a 3D ground plane and Tripo AI-generated Doomsday model ✅ Advanced 3D compositing with environment and spotlights ✅ Two-way animated lightning strikes (Advanced Lightning effect) ✅ Deep Glow stacking for realistic energy bloom ✅ 3D FX elements — explosion, smoke, wind ✅ God rays, camera shake, and final color grade (CC Tint) If you've ever wondered how VFX artists build lightning strikes, energy effects, or cinematic character composites entirely inside After Effects - without Nuke, without a Hollywood budget - this is the exact process. ⏱️ Chapters: 0:00 – Preview 0:12 – Rotoscoping the Plate 1:12 – Building the Scene - Ground and 3D Model 4:02 – Animating Characters 5:27 – Environment & Spotlight Lighting 6:56 – Advanced Lightning 8:59 – FX Deep Glow & FG Lights 9:45 – Elements: Smoke, Explosion, Wind & Camera Shake 10:21 – Final Result 🎬 Want the project file / template used in this video? 👉 https://payhip.com/b/KSsI3 🎬 Want all assets from this video? They're available exclusively to channel members. Your membership helps keep this channel alive Asset Links: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgvcc_U0QiY9zWobkqwEHzQ/join 🔔 Subscribe for more zero-budget VFX recreations from Marvel, Hollywood, and Indian films - recreated shot-for-shot in After Effects. #AfterEffects #VFX #AvengersDoomsday #Thor #VFXBreakdown #Marvel #CGI #Compositing #VFXTutorial #ZeroBudgetVFX Music Credits: Music: TheFatRat - Rise Up Watch the official music video: https://tinyurl.com/tfrriseuporiginal Listen to Rise Up: https://thefatrat.ffm.to/riseup Follow TheFatRat: https://ffm.bio/thefatrat Song: Culture Code - Fairytale (feat. Amanda Collis) [NCS Release] Music provided by NoCopyrightSounds Free Download/Stream: http://ncs.io/Fairytale Watch: http://youtu.be/qVAFNx1WRWE Song: Warriyo - Mortals (feat. Laura Brehm) [NCS Release] Music provided by NoCopyrightSounds Free Download/Stream: http://ncs.io/mortals Watch: http://youtu.be/yJg-Y5byMMw Track: Glude - Dreamers [NCS Release] Music provided by NoCopyrightSounds. Watch more NCS on YouTube: https://NCS.lnk.to/YouTubeAT Free Download / Stream: http://ncs.io/Dreamers #AfterEffects #NoPlugin #AEtutorial #AfterEffectsTutorial #MotionGraphics #vfxnirvana