How to Generate Random Colors in After Effects

By Alan Donahue

Updated September 28, 2017

The expression controls in Adobe After Effects allow users to add more details instructions and settings to every layer on a project. Whether you want to generate random colors for a disco ball, classic effect or changing text you can use a simple expression setting to do so. Once the random colors are generated, you can expand on the expression and customize to your needs. You create random colors using any Adobe After Effects software with expressions.

Click on the "Effects and Presets" tab. Type in "Color Balance" and look for the effect to load.

Drag and drop the "Color Balance" effect onto the media that you want multiple colors to appear in.

Expand the "Color Balance" effect in the "Comp Window." Look for the "Hue" layer and click once to highlight it.

Click on "Animation" and "Add Expression." A new expression menu will appear under the "Hue" layer.

Click on the empty text box next to the "Hue" expression. This will activate the custom text coding to adjust the video.

Type in "random ()" press "Enter" and type in "random (1,360)." Press "Play" on the render window to watch a preview of the color change. Every second, a diferent color will appear.

Adjust the time of each random color change. Underneath the "random (1,360)" press "Enter" and type "random ()." Press "Enter" and type in "random (time*100)." The "100" represents 100 frames. Adjust this to how many frames you want the colors to randomly change.

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