After Effects: Practice for visualizing audio file

This post is written using After Effects 2021.

I made a simple video to use and compare effects described in this post.

Audio spectrum/waveform effects

In AE, there are two effects Audio Spectrum and Audio Waveform to visualize an audio file. I learned how to use an audio wavespectrum from next video.

These are steps for how to use it.

1. Import an audio file to a project and also import it in the composition
2. To show an audio wavespectrum,
   1. Add a Solid layer
   2. Add Audio Spectrum effect from Presets & Efforts > Generate into the solid layer
   3. Change Effects > Audio Spectrum > Audio Layer to the audio file

Now, an audio spectrum was added into the composition. In order to change the form of it to the circle, Polar Coordinates effect can be used.

1. Add Effects & Presets > Distort > Polar Coordinates into the solid layer
2. Change Polar Coordinates > Type of Conversion to React to Polar
3. Set 100 to Polar Coordinates > Interpolation
4. If it shows an arc but doesn't show a circle, change Audio Spectrum > Start Point or Audio Spectrum > End Point to make it circle

The above steps is described for Audio Spectrum, but Audio Waveform effect can be added by almost identical steps. The Audio Waveform is explained and used in the next video.

Many values on Audio Spectrum and Audio Waveform affect their forms and animations, so it's important to change each value and see how it affects, like Display Options.

Note that "Polar coordinates" is a mathematics term and we can see the details of it in Wikipedia.