Creating AR Effects Using the Spark AR Learning Center

Whether you’re a creator making AR effects for the first time — or the twentieth — a little extra coaching and instruction can always help, which is why we built the Spark AR Learning Center. From getting started guides and step-by-step instructions, to video tutorials and sample effects, the Learning Center has all the help and how-tos you’ll need to get your AR projects in motion.

While Spark AR Studio is a powerful piece of compositing software, it’s important to note that you don’t need to be a developer or a professional artist to use it. What you do need is a creative idea and some willingness to dig in and learn the basics. And in this post, we’ll share some of our favorite guides from the Learning Center to help you get started — consider this a jumping off point, regardless of your level of experience.

The fundamentals

We realize it’s tempting to dive right into a creative project, and if you’re ready, by all means get to it. But we recommend spending a few minutes with our Getting Started section. Here you’ll find helpful fundamentals, from finding your way around the product interface, to creative files you can import, to how our publishing process works.

What kind of AR effects can you make?

Today, AR effects typically fall into two categories — people effects and world effects. Let’s talk about each:

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Creating People Effects

These effects start by detecting and augmenting the face in a scene. Here's a few of our favourite tutorials, that'll take you through how this works in Spark AR Studio:

^{People Effects}
Face Tracking Effect
Make an effect that responds to someone’s facial expressions.

^{People Effects}
Iris Tracking Effect
Make an effect that changes the appearance of someone’s eyes.

^{People Effects}
Animated Face Mask
Make an effect that applies an animated face mask to someone.

Once you've got the fundamentals of a face tracking effect figured out, you can layer capabilities to give your effects more interest and realism. For example, try out:

^{People Effects}
Using Light
Learn how to add and position light in an effect.

^{People Effects}
Using Particles
Learn how to add particles to a scene.

^{People Effects}
Distorting/Retouching
Learn how to distort or retouch a face effect.

Creating World Effects

World effects can be created for all types of spaces and places. Here’s a few tutorials that are easy starting places for this type of effect creation.

^{World Effects}
Creating World Effects
Make an effect that places objects in someone’s environment.

^{World Effects}
Holiday Photo Effect
Make an effect that places 2D objects in someone’s space.

^{World Effects}
Animating 3D Objects
Make a 3D animated object appear on a flat surface.

This is only a small sample of the types of effects you can build with Spark AR Studio, using the tutorials and guides we have available in the Spark AR Learning Center. We’re constantly developing new tutorials and samples, so check back often to get all the latest info.

We hope this helps you get started!

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