Although there are plenty of scripts to create chromatic aberration in After Effects, it’s always good to know how to do effects the manual way and learn what the script is actually doing rather than depending on scripts for automation. Knowing how to create effects manually is a sign of a good VFX artist.
Create a new composition and import clips into After Effects
Duplicate the layers three times and name them accordingly.
From the Effects menu, add Levels (Individual Controls).
Do this for all three layers. We will be using this plugin to split each layer into individual RGB channels.
Red Layer Settings:
Set Green & Blue Output White to 0. This will make the layer Red.
Green Layer Settings:
Set Red & Blue Output White to 0. This will make the layer Green.
Blue Layer Settings:
Set Red & Green Output White to 0. This will make the layer Blue.
Set blending mode on Red and Green layer to ADD.
Doing this will bring the layers back to the original form.
Scale the Red, Blue & Green layer to create chromatic aberration effect.
Scale the layers upon your personal preference or the look you’re going for.
Scaling the layers will cause some issues around the edges.
Luckily there is an easy fox for this…
Select all three layers, right-click and select Pre-Compose.
Bring the composition into a new comp, and scale it slightly.
Final Result