Dripping Blood Effect on Text and Objects in After Effects |

Want to create a terrifying, realistic dripping blood effect in After Effects—without using any plugins? This tutorial will guide you through building this effect using only built-in After Effects tools. With no keyframes and no expressions, this effect flows naturally and can be applied to text, logos, or shapes with a clean alpha channel for easy compositing.

By the end of this tutorial, you’ll have a highly customizable blood effect that you can modify for horror projects, Halloween themes, or eerie cinematic intros. Let’s jump in and start dripping some digital blood!

Step 1: Setting Up the Composition

1. Create a New Composition

• Open After Effects and create a new HD composition (1920×1080) at 24 FPS.
• Name it Main Comp.

2. Create the Blood Source

• Add a text layer (or any black shape/logo).
• Make sure it’s on a transparent background.
• Pre-compose it (Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + C), naming it Blood Source.

This pre-comp allows us to replace the source later, making the effect reusable for different graphics.

Step 2: Creating the Dripping Effect

The core of this effect is Particle World, which will simulate tiny droplets. We’ll start by creating individual drips.

1. Design a Single Droplet

• Create a new solid layer (40×400 pixels, black color) and name it Drip.
• Select the Ellipse Tool (Q) and draw a circle mask at the bottom of the solid.
• Feather the mask (10px) for a softer edge.
• Create another rectangle mask along the top half of the solid and feather it (10px).

2. Apply a Linear Wipe Effect

• Go to Effects > Transition > Linear Wipe.
• Set Transition Angle to 180°.
• Adjust Completion to 50% and Feather to 380 (soft fade from bottom to top).
• Turn off the Drip layer’s visibility (we will use it as a sample in the next step).

3. Generate Droplets with CC Particle World

• Create a new solid (full composition size) and name it Particle World.
• Apply CC Particle World (Effects > Simulation > CC Particle World).
• Adjust the Physics settings:
  • Velocity: 0
  • Gravity: 0.1 (so droplets slowly fall)
• Set Producer settings:
  • Position Y: -0.12 (raises emission point)
  • Radius X: 1, Radius Y: 0.2
• Under Particle settings:
  • Set Type: Textured Square
  • Under Texture, select the Drip layer.
  • Enable Effects & Masks to apply our custom shape.
  • Adjust Size: Birth: 1.5, Death: 2 (droplets grow slightly over time).
• In Extras, set Hold Particle Release to 10% (delays gravity effect slightly for a natural drip motion).

Now, you should see a stream of small black droplets forming in a realistic dripping motion.

Step 3: Masking the Drips to Match the Text

1. Drag the Blood Source pre-comp into the Particle World comp (above the particles).
2. Apply the MiniMax Effect (Effects > Channel > MiniMax):
   • Set Channel: Alpha and Color
   • Set Direction: Vertical
   • Increase Radius to 500.
3. Apply the Offset Effect (Effects > Distort > Offset):
   • Set Y Position to 1040 (compensates for the MiniMax effect shifting the shape upwards).
4. Apply Gaussian Blur (Blur: 20px) to soften the effect.
5. Set the Blood Source layer to Stencil Alpha (this will act as a mask).

Now, the drips should appear only under the shape of the Blood Source.

Step 4: Blending the Blood Source with the Drips

Now, we combine the original shape with the dripping effect for a seamless look.

1. Create a Drips Composite

• Create a new solid (black) and name it Drips Composite.
• Apply Calculations Effect (Effects > Channel > Calculations):
  • Set Second Layer to Blood Source.
  • Set Blending Mode to Silhouette Alpha.
• Apply Gaussian Blur (Blur: 100px) for a smoother transition.
• Add another Calculations Effect, but set Blending Mode to Stencil Alpha.

2. Add Additional Motion Blur

• Apply CC Vector Blur:
  • Set Blur Type: Direction Fading
  • Increase Amount: 500 (creates a downward blur).
• Use another Calculations Effect to blend in the Particle World layer at 50% opacity.

The drips now integrate smoothly with the blood source.

Step 5: Adding Gloss and Highlights

1. Duplicate the Drips Composite Layer and name it Blood Gloss.
2. Apply the Satin Effect (Effects > Layer Styles > Satin):
   • Change Angle to 45°.
3. Apply Bevel & Emboss (Effects > Layer Styles > Bevel and Emboss):
   • Set Depth: 25%
   • Size: 25px
   • Angle: 90°
   • Altitude: 85°
   • Highlight Mode: Linear Dodge (Opacity: 20%)
4. Set the Layer Blending Mode to Screen to add highlights.

This will create a thick, wet blood texture.

Step 6: Enhancing Realism with CC Glass

To create even more realistic reflections and surface details:

1. Create an Adjustment Layer and name it Blood Highlights.
2. Apply CC Glass (Effects > Stylize > CC Glass):
   • Set Bump Map: Drips Composite (Effects & Masks).
   • Set Softness: 12
   • Set Height: 4
   • Increase Light Intensity: 500
   • Set Light Angle: 200°.
3. Adjust Shading:
   • Set Ambient Light: 100
   • Set Specular: 100
   • Set Roughness: 0.2

Now, you’ll see subtle highlights on the drips, making them appear wet and glossy.

Step 7: Adding Motion Blur for Final Realism

To complete the effect, we apply motion blur for a cinematic look:

1. Create another Adjustment Layer and name it Final Motion Blur.
2. Apply CC Force Motion Blur (Effects > Time > CC Force Motion Blur).
3. Increase the Shutter Angle to 180° for a realistic blur effect.

This ensures that the drips appear naturally smooth as they move.

Conclusion

Congratulations! You’ve successfully built a realistic dripping blood effect in After Effects without any plugins. This effect is fully procedural, meaning you can swap out the Blood Source pre-comp to apply the effect to any text, shape, or logo.

For extra variations, you can:

• Adjust the Particle World settings for different drip speeds.
• Modify the CC Glass highlights for a wetter or drier look.
• Change the Bevel & Emboss settings for different gloss effects.

Watch Complete Video Here

Now, go forth and add horror vibes to your projects!