USS Defiant Pulse Phasers in After Effects - No Plugins!

USS Defiant Pulse Phasers in After Effects - No Plugins!

Graham Quince October 20, 2026

0 Comments

I love the USS Defiant from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, the first Starfleet escort ship (cough)warship(/cough). The pulse phasers look awesome so when @DarkRavenProductions asked me how I'd go about recreating the look in After Effects, I jumped at the challenge.

I tried out several methods and ended up asking the community which one they preferred. And they picked the technique using CC Particle World. Using the included effect, I link the producer to lights and have the particles emit in bursts.

Download the project

Bonus: Free step-by-step PDF

Some contents or functionalities here are not available due to your cookie preferences!

This happens because the functionality/content marked as Google Youtube uses cookies that you choosed to keep disabled. In order to view this content or use this functionality, please enable cookies: click here to open your cookie preferences.

Can't see this video? Click here!

Models used: Star Trek Defiant Class by Crusty Bread is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution and Jem'Hadar fighter by by David Metlesits.

October 9, 2026Master 3-Point Lighting in After Effects With an Orbiting Light RigEver wondered why your 3D renders in After Effects feel flat? 9

September 25, 2026How I Automated Social Media Resizing in After Effects - Free ScriptIf your text keeps getting cut off on Instagram Reels, TikTok, YouTube

Enjoying the news? Sign up for the Creative COW Newsletter! Sign up for the Creative COW newsletter and get weekly updates on industry news, forum highlights, jobs, inspirational tutorials, tips, burning questions, and more! Receive bulletins from the largest, longest-running community dedicated to supporting professionals working in film, video, and audio.

Enter your email address, and your first and last name below!

-- Sign up: * indicates required

Email Address *

Name

--

I like thisUnlike Like0I dislike thisUndislike 0

LINK:	https://creativecow.net/uss-defiant-pulse-phasers-in-after-effects-no-...
	See more stories from creativecow

More from Creative COW