Something that is coming up more and more is cleaning up blemish and pores in After Effects. There are wonderful tools to do that in Davinci Resolve, but there is also a great trick I’ve been using in After Effects using fast box blur, Compound Arithmetic, CC Color offset, levels, and luma mattes.

Steps:

  1. First off, precomp your footage.
  2. Next, create a copy of your footage within the precomp.
  3. Now, it's time to apply a Fast Box Blur to the bottom footage. Just keep it hidden for now.
  4. After that, pop a Compound Arithmetic onto the top footage. Make sure you set the second source layer as the bottom footage.
  5. Get ready to play with the CC Color Offset. Spin all phases to a solid +180°.
  6. Time for some drama! Add some levels to boost the contrast.
  7. Next up, step out to the precomp and start applying levels and tint there. Aim to crush those levels to really highlight the skin texture.
  8. Don't forget to set the tint to black and white. This way, you'll pull all the color details into just black and white.
  9. Almost at the finish line! Use this as a luma matte against your original footage to blur out those pores.
  10. You'll want to carefully mask or track the areas where you want to erase the pores and hairs. That's where mocha comes in handy - it'll ensure everything follows the skin just right.
  11. That’s it!! Clear and clean skin hooray!