Creating mattes and compositing large scale explosions in After Effects

ActionVFX has recently released two tutorials demonstrating how to create a composite using their explosion stock footage in After Effects. Creating Mattes in After Effects demonstrates how to create masks in After Effects so that layers can be placed behind items on a backplate. This is followed by Compositing Large Scale Explosions that uses the mattes to add stock explosion footage and blend it against a bright sky. Both tutorial provide the backplates required (but not the explosion asset) should you like to follow along.