The film and effects crowd (and Paul Graff) was loving this new HP Monitor, 30 bit RGB LED technology, check it out on HP's website.
The show was busy, size wise down a bit from last year but busy crowd and seemed more focused on film/fx crowd than students like it has been in the past.
]]> Tons of motion capture booths, Pixar, Sony Imageworks and the like were there as usual showing all the latest.Maxon had a great booth and announced a new version of Cinema 4D...looked good, make sure you check it out on their website.
]]>I am will be looking at these effects and cranking out a few demos of my favs.
for more information: www.genarts.com/sapphire-ae.html
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Everything works fine on the Mac except when you do File>Build> and choose Flash to create a Flash website. DVDs build fine but not the Flash build feature. We are looking at what QT 7.4.1 broke for us and a fix is on the way.
Thought you should know, we will update soon as we get the fix in place.
Thanks for bearing with us.
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Here is a quick look at something cool you can do in Photoshop Extended to create hand drawn animations using the new Video Layers feature.
This was created by Michael Coleman the After Effects Product Manager....a man of many talents.
It is included in the Samples folder of Photoshop CS3 extended.
]]>There are some OpenGL fixes as well
Don't forget, you can grab the update from your Help menu right within After Effects.
and....
Hit adobe.com/Downloads Home and do a search for "AfterEffects 8.0.2 Technote" for the full skinny on the update. There is a "readme" well worth reading and technotes on P2 also.
Enjoy
]]>I know downloading/renting movies from Itunes is cool, but just wait.
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Creating Motion Graphics with After Effects, Fourth Edition is out now and of course is required reading by all and anyone who uses or wants to use After Effects. It covers Essential and Advanced Techniques, including After Effects CS3. ]]> The book is broken down in the following 14 parts: Animation Techniques, Layer Management, Modes-Masks-Mattes, Cameras-Lights-Action, Building Hierarchies, Text Animation, Effects and Presets, Color & Keying, Time & Tracking, Drawing-Painting & Puppetry, Working with Audio, Expressions, Importing & Integration, Exporting & Rendering. At over 690 pages it will take a while to get through it, but as someone who has read Trish and Chris' first two books, it is well worth it.
One of the things I like about their books is it re-awakens some of the rarely used tools in AE that have been around for ever, but no one even knows they are there....case in point, the Align and Distribute function. Most of the users I poll at events didn't know that tool existed, but no shame here, there are loads of features in Photoshop that go unscene as well. That and the wealth of tips and tricks you learn with each book is great.
I have all of Trish and Chris Meyers books and I consider it money well spent.
For a look into that, Dave Helmly from Adobe has a excellent tech blog and got the inside scoop on AE and P2 support.
you can read and watch a some video all about it on Dave's blog:
http://blogs.adobe.com/davtechtable/2007/11/new_workflow_video_after_effec.html#more
]]>click the link below to download the file.
]]>I will post the project if anyone is interested, just let me know.
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After Effects Classroom in a Book from AdobePress: 473 pages with a CD with lesson materials and extras. Chapters cover basics and more plus new features, 14 chapters in all. Included is a great chapter on 3D layers, cameras and lights, as well and the new Puppet tools. Let's not forget, this book is one of the building blocks for taking the Adobe Certified Expert test (ACE) exam.
After Effects Apprentice by Trish and Chris Meyer (Focal Press): Trish and Chris have done it again, this their 3rd AE book focuses on the the "newbie." Teaching the core features of AE through a series of practical hands-on exercises....CD included of course. I have always liked Trish and Chris' approach to teaching complex lessons...they talk to you, not at you. This new book has large illustrations, and plenty of them and each lesson is color coded. It is a great book even if your not new to AE.
Don't forget their 2 other AE books:
Creating Motioin Graphics and After Effects in Production, they have become the bibles for anyone serious about After Effects.
All these books and more are available online or at your local bookstore.