OTCU Drop Shadow
Drop, cast and long shadows in one effect, placed by dragging in the viewer. For After Effects and Premiere Pro, part of OTCU FX.
Every kind in one effect
- Three styles: a classic drop, a perspective cast onto a floor, and long ones.
- Shadow Pad and on-screen handles: drag the shadow or the light in the viewer.
- Sun or point light, with light height; a point light makes long shadows fan out.
- Spread and choke, softness and falloff; cast ones get softer and fainter with distance, as they do in real light.
- A second shadow (ambient or contact looks) and an inner shadow, which can also be an inner glow.
- Source: the layer's alpha or brightness, a matte layer, or the layer's own colors for stained-glass looks.
- Noise for texture, a background layer with 15 blend modes, and knock out.
- 16 built-in looks in the preset browser, and presets of your own.
After Effects' own Drop Shadow makes a soft, offset copy of the layer. This one adds the perspective and long styles, the point light, the second and inner shadows and the on-screen handles.
How fast it renders
| Case | DirectX | CUDA | CPU |
|---|---|---|---|
| Default look | 0.3 ms | 0.24 ms | about 10 ms |
| Perspective (cast) on a floor | 0.8 ms | 0.7 ms | about 37 ms |
| Long style, 400 px | 0.5 ms | 0.45 ms | about 23 ms |
| Default look at 4K | 1.0 ms | 0.8 ms | about 28 ms |
Measured per frame at 1080p on an Intel i9-12900KF with an NVIDIA RTX 5070 Ti. Your times depend on your machine, settings and footage. In After Effects it renders on the GPU; Premiere Pro uses the CPU version for now.
Questions
Is OTCU Drop Shadow sold on its own?
No. It is part of OTCU FX, together with Glow and Shake: $50 once with a year of updates, or $40 a year. The 14-day trial starts by itself when you install it.
Can I make long shadows with it?
Yes. Choose the Long style: Distance sets the length, and with a point light they fan out from the light.
Does it work in Premiere Pro?
Yes. The same effect appears in Premiere Pro under OTCU FX; it renders on the CPU there for now.
Is there a Mac version?
Not yet. OTCU FX is for Windows. A macOS version is planned.
Requirements
- Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit
- After Effects or Premiere Pro 2024 or newer
- A CPU with AVX2 (any CPU that runs After Effects 2024 or newer)
- GPU rendering in After Effects: DirectX 12 or an NVIDIA CUDA graphics card (optional)
- An internet connection for activation, then it works offline