The Genesis Project

John Nack already mentioned the Kuler application, but it is definitely worth mentioning again.  In case you haven't heard about it, it's a wonderful community application that will help you pick collections of colors.  The new AIR version adds the ability to push the selected color swatches to a specific application like Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign. So, if you haven't given this nifty little application a try, download it today.  Or...if you're a crazy color picker, you might even submit a few for the rest of us!

Click on the "Get the kuler desktop" link on this page

Of course, you can visit the online version as well.

Posted by Dennis Radeke at 11:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The real problem in my opinion (based on my highly scientific methods and procedures...not) is one of time.  More often than not, we don't give ourselves enough time to sit thru the videos, digest what they're teaching and then apply the technique ourselves.  It's a bummer, I don't have any clear answers for you. 

However, I do have another resource that I stumbled on to yesterday and it's one that you should check out.  The site is called wonderhowto.com and it's all about answering those kinds of questions.  Now, I should say that this is not just about animation but about everything and I mean EVERYTHING so be warned!  So, you might start by typing in something like After Effects or Photoshop in the search field.  What you'll find is quite a diverse set of tutorials including some you already know about like CreativeCow.net and Andrew's Videocopilot.  The fun stuff is the ones you discover like Indy Moguls.  I sat through their entertaining video on how to blow up people in half and while it didn't cover After Effects, it did give me an idea of what to do for such a visual effect.  So, give it a whirl and tell me what you think.

Wonder-How-To website

And of course, how could I mention blowing somebody up without including the video?  It's funny and informative, but not for everybody.

Posted by Dennis Radeke at 9:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

AVC HD has been a topic that has dominated a previous post where the comments are really the topic as opposed to the topic itself. This post has driven a large portion of my overall traffic, which has been humbling as I'd like to see more of it go to my tutorials and content (hint, hint, sniffle.)... Of course, I dig getting people on the site at all, so what they hey - hit me wherever! ;-)

Gosh, haven't left the first paragraph and I'm already digressing...Lets see, ah yes AVC HD.

So, Adobe.com has recently posted a list of AVC HD solutions that are compatible with Premiere Pro CS3 and Premiere Elements 4 (PC only).  Many of these have been mentioned during the course of the previous thread, but I had promised to compile all of them and post them.  A serious hat tip goes to Nick Lusty who pointed this link out to me.  While I'd like to say that I should have known this was there, you only have to wander among the Adobe.com site a while to realize there are thousands of pages...and that's only the part that you see!

Here's the link: AVC HD solutions and workarounds Give it a read and then you can read below for my comments.

BMD Intensity Pro cards:  I'm glad that they recommend this one as I do since it is an affordable I/O solution that gives you abilities beyond just AVC HD.  It's also cross platform. 

Shedworx;  Haven't seen it, but it looks like an affordable transcoding solution.

Main Concept: Oh how long ago, did I mention this?  Who would have thought the thread would still be going?  It's still a viable solution, though compared to the BMD, it is a bit pricey...

Sony Solution:  This is one that I would have loved to have mentioned before, but never felt comfortable about it. Sony has long been a customer who bundles Premiere Pro with some of their VAIO configurations and so, they provide a solution for PC owners.  Now, if only they would sell the plugins separately!

Panasonic:  I think I'm kind of bummed at these guys.  I think they updated the download version so that 1.2 only works with Panasonic cameras and not anyone elses...  Lame... However, the solution is FREE and quality is great, so if it fits your scenario, I'd go for this one.

Canopus: I just came across this one last week as I was looking at ProCoder again.  It would be great if it could transcode to a higher res format that isn't Canopus, but still, it is a very good transcoder that you can use to create final outputs from Premiere Pro to other deliverable formats minus Flash 8/9.  So, while it's not perfect, I do think its a decent choice.

Elecard: This is another pretty affordable solution and one that some readers have embraced.  It's definitely worth a look.

Pinnacle Studio 11: Being a former Pinnacle person, I'm rather torn.  I'm a loyal guy, even to former companies, but I've not been satisfied with Pinnacle stability.  If you've got Pinnacle Studio 11, then I say go for it.  As an aside, if you get a version working well with your given system, don't update it - stay with what works!

TMPEG: Another transcoding solution and a bit more expensive ($99), but it's been around the block and is supported by a host of video encoding enthusiasts (read, DVD rippers), so it's also worth a look.

iMovie: This is the other big one that I want to talk about. Many Mac people already have iMovie or iLife, but don't know that you can edit the captured footage in Premiere Pro.  You can capture in iMovie and then bring it into Premiere Pro CS3 and edit away.  Of course, you'll have to create a preset that uses the Apple Intermediate Codec with Premiere Pro but it is a piece of cake to do.  So, this is a great (and possibly free) method for Mac users to get AVC HD going with Premiere Pro.

So, there you have it - a compendium of AVC HD solutions. It shows both Mac and PC solutions as well as solutions that work with Premiere Elements.  It has free solutions, inexpensive solutions, hardware and software solutions.  Did I miss anything?  Probably.  Are there other solutions out there that aren't listed?  Again - probably.  Still, this should present you a single point source that can help you evaluate what you want and need to do if you're editing AVC HD now and want to use Premiere Pro.  Have at it.

Posted by Dennis Radeke at 8:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (10)

The After Effects New York meeting will be auditioning a new space since we've grown too large for Pratt.  BTW - many thanks to Pratt for their great space and open friendship.

We'll be a PS41 which is at 116 West 11th street (corner of 6th ave) and the space can hold up to 400 people. Let's give the place a great first meeting!

As for the meeting itself, Jim has done a great job of lining up some terrific presentations.

Mark Coleran is a visual FX artist who has worked on a number of major films including the Bourne films and Alien vs. Predator.

John Montgomery is one of the founders of FXguide.com which is a great site and he's also done work for McDonalds, Disney and others.

In addition, we've got an official new logo.  I think it's pretty spiffy. Give it a look and tell me what you think.

Posted by Dennis Radeke at 7:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Posted by Dennis Radeke at 2:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Now, with Premiere Pro starting in version 2.0 and later, we have the ability to create a subclip.  This is a virtual instance of the clip that exists within the project folder as opposed to the timeline.  The advantage of this is multiple. Not only can you easily reuse the clip by dragging it from the project panel to the timeline, but you can also have the ability to edit it.  The graphic below should spell it out for you.

Bottom line - if you're editing from a single 60 minute clip (a DV tape for example), then wading through the assets by using subclips is a terrific way to go.

Posted by Dennis Radeke at 10:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Give it a look in the link below because you'll be surprised by all of the cool stuff that is there.  Not only is there the big blockbuster stuff, but also some very interesting high profile stuff that isn't quite as mainstream as Superman Returns.

I just gave a quick watch to the Gene Generation piece and enjoyed hearing the director talk up how the movie was made with Photoshop and AE for the visual FX.  The Madonna piece is also interesting.  Some is newer and some a bit older, but there's no denying the conclusion - Adobe is a big part of video and film creation.

Adobe Customer Stories

Posted by Dennis Radeke at 3:05 PM | Permalink

Posted by Dennis Radeke at 8:12 AM | Permalink

So, next week is my first week where I don't have something huge hanging over me that must be taken care of immediately.  As such, I will try and give some solid time to my readership and post up some stuff.  Bits, thoughts and hopefully some simple things for you to play with.

The thing that most surprises me is that you're coming to the site more and more - my stats continue to expand...and not just because of my AVC HD post.  New people find this blog and grab a hold of something and regular people keep coming back.

So, for all of your loyalty and trust, let me say thanks and hopefully we'll have some fun together next week with some content.

Cheers,

Dennis

Posted by Dennis Radeke at 7:32 PM | Permalink