It is so cool these days that Adobe After Effects supports 3D objects directly. Being able to import GLB, GLFT and OBJ models makes animation so much easier. But if you are not a 3D model creator, making a colour change to a downloaded model is not something that you can do in AE. Except, you can.
There are a couple of different ways to apply effects to models and I break down what you need to do for each. Starting with the simplest option of an Adjustment Layer combined with a Track Matte. Then I compare this to using an Ambient Light as an additional light source set to a colour of your choosing. Personally I thought this yielded a better result.
Next, I take a look at remaking the textures using Video Copilot Element3D and to be honest, I think the result was a little disappointing compared to what you can now do natively. I still love Element3D, but on this occasion, it didn't hold up in comparison. So finally, I demonstrate how to use Blender to create a 3D Luma Matte version of the model. If that sounds intimidating, don't worry, I take you through just the steps you need and we leave the rest of the program to the 3D model artists.
Models featured
"(FREE) Porsche 911 Carrera 4S" (https://skfb.ly/6WGTU) by Lionsharp Studios is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).
"garages" (https://skfb.ly/owZHZ) by SPLEEN VISION is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
"Apple Watch Ultra 2" (https://skfb.ly/oLpRF) by polyman Studio is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
"Spaceship" (https://skfb.ly/o8UNv) by motaman is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
"Farm House" (https://skfb.ly/6TW7N) by MaX3Dd is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). "VW Van" (https://skfb.ly/6U7OR) by jesseroberts is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
