9 out of 9 times, the last step I do on an After Effects project is add a subtle displacement map. 

It adds a touch of imperfection, a human touch that I am always trying to bring back. Displacement maps may sound daunting at first, but it's super fun once you get a hang of it. I will explain the process in Adobe After Effects, but the principles will apply to any editing software.

In our example we have example_displacement.jpg and tresgatos.jpg. Each is at 500x500 pixels, but any size works.

It helps to have the displacement and footage match ratio and dimensions. Precomposing both will fix 99% of your issues.

This example displacement image has a background of 50% grey, which means it will have no effect. The other colors may seem random, but let me explain.

The first color block ■ has 255 on the red value, and then a green and blue value of 128. This means this color block only effects the red. Remember, 50% grey is 128 on all RGB values. Second color block ■ has 0 on Red, so full negative. The third color ■ has an arbitrary positive value. These first three colors are just positive and negative red values. The black block ■ is, of course, 0 on all values and the white block ■ is 255 on all values. 

Drag both the footage and displacement into a timeline. Hide the displacement layer. On your footage (or on an Adjustment Layer over the footage) add the Displacement Map effect and select your displacement (example_displacement.jpg)

The Displacement Map effect allows you to effect the vertical and horizontal pixels.

In the video above, notice when using the Red channel how the pixels are effected. When switching to Green, only the black and white blocks effect the image. This is because the black/white squares have full values for all RGB values.

Ok now forget all about those numbers and math. Just understand that grey (128,128,128) is nothing, and then black (0,0,0) and white (255,255,255) are fully a direction.

Now play around with videos, clips, displacement maps, etc!

Want some grunge or texture? Check out our displacement maps with animated sequences for your next project.