A blog for beginners in the creative space. Beginner to intermediate tips, tricks and tutorials on several Adobe products, especially After Effects, Premiere Pro and Photoshop. Who knows what else!
Many Adobe employees are somewhat, for lack of a better description, "sick in the head" because they are so into creating content and what they do, that they play with their stuff on the weekends.
Guilty as charged...
So, I've been thinking that when this fancy strikes me, how do I get content out quickly. Well, I think I've come up with a solution so, let me know what you think. Adobe's Connect technology allows me to post files up on my server and make them accessible via a link - so that's what I've done. I created a short bit on Ultra this weekend and after editing it, I posted the FLV file on the Connect server and it's available via a link below.
In this 'bootleg' episode of Adobe Beginner Classes, I go thru how I pull a key inside of Adobe Ultra CS3 for my 'official' ABC's show. Let me know what you think.
UPDATE: All right, I got this into Adobe TV, so the embedded file is below
Of course, I want you to get it via the Adobe Media Player instead. Whatever way you get it, I hope you enjoy it.
You know the routine by now - right? You should watch it via the Adobe Media Player because then the contents is yours to review whenever it's convenient for you. Of course you can also watch it via Adobe TV and finally, you can get it by watching it right here. As always, let me know any comments about what you like, don't like, etc. via this blog's comments feature. Enjoy!
Toolfarm hosting a free After Effects plugin download
Toolfarm.com is hosting a free Boris FX After Effects plugin. It's a kind of 'shine' effect but it's got some nice features to it and hey, it's my favorite price - FREE so if you're interested give it a look. Of course you have to fill your name and email address but I figure it's worth it for a fully functional free plugin. While you're at it, you can download several trials on the same page. However, it's a limited time deal, so you better hurry if your interested.
I've got to admit that having access to almost any plugin that works with an Adobe product is a huge amount of fun and a burden. Why would it be a burden? Two reasons: First, you want to support your partners and give them props where it makes sense but not all of them make first class products. Second, there are so many that you can't realistically stay on top of them.
With that said, I have to enthusiastically and proactively tell you that I've played with several of the Red Giant Software products of late and they are simply stunning. The 3D Stroke plugin is one of those plugins that you may not know about but are seeing all of the time.
Again, Red Giant has kindly let me view all of their plugins, but I hadn't explored Magic Bullet looks until I had a need to reproduce some more 'cinematic' looks that Premiere Pro could not do easily.
Wow. Without diving into the toolsets and giving you a tutorial, let me say that the final output of the clips, the control that is possible, the speed at which the plugins perform, the performance inside of Adobe applications and the quality of the interface thoroughly impressed me. These guys know what they are doing and have a clear direction of where they are going. Kudos to the boys over at Red Giant and a big hat tip to ToolFarm.com for responding quickly to my email!
Best of all, nearly all of these plugins are Mac and PC and not only work on After Effects but in Premiere Pro. If your a Premiere Pro user who wants to get ahead by adding some spice to your production, consider some Red Giant plugins, I am confident that you will not be disappointed!
Click here
and here to get larger versions with annotations.
Sure I know that many people have already posted on the new Adobe Media Player, but hey, "better late than never!"
The truth is that many people have not already heard about the new version or have not launched their current version in the last few days. If that's you, then launch it and you'll be prompted to download the latest version which is 1.1. The new version tweeks the interface in several ways including the main layout, and lightening the interface color. The catalog of shows is growing ever larger and the new version makes them a bit easier to find. I have to say there is a TON of stuff now - enough that there is definitely something there for everyone and best of all it isFREE!!!
When it's all said and done, go to Adobe.com and get the Media Player if you haven't already. Once you've got it going, I want you to subscribe to my Adobe TV show...Yes, right away. ;-)
So, here I am in Indianapolis teaching teachers about Production Premium and I had a couple of hours to set up my assets in a Mac-centric lab. Of course they had Final Cut Studio on the systems as well and because my 200gb hard drive is desperately full already, I have not been able to install a copy on my laptop yet. Where's that 2.5" terabyte drive when you need one? ;-)
So, with a little time to kill, I fire up Motion 3 and noodle around. In reviewing the templates in Motion, I was like "I can do that!" and thus the genesis of the current project tutorial for your review.
I will always come back to the idea that if its simple, you should know about it. Most of the content I see out there is just plain easy if you know what to do and chances are you can do it better than other people anyway - my own work is proof positive that you can do better!!!
Download the project file from the link - it's a whopper at about 15MB and I'll be posting some step-by-step directions later.
The tutorial focuses again on the use of presets and also touches upon blend modes. As always, I appreciate any comments - good or bad.
I have to admit that we haven't been regular about getting these episodes posted on a two week basis. I'm still working out the kinks but the good news is that you get a new episode this time after only a week!
This episode covers an extended bit on how to create better audio with Soundbooth and Audition as well as utilizing Photoshop's Actions panel to make certain video tasks easier. You can watch it here, at Adobe TV or via the Adobe Media Player
Tell me what you like and don't like - it helps me and others to shape our tutorials to what you want to know!
I was graciously invited to The Colbert Report after showing them some of the Speech-to-Text capabilities of Soundbooth CS4 which is available on Adobe Labs
This technology is opening eyes up all over broadcast as collecting information, called metadata is becoming increasingly important in both content creation and delivery. As I've mentioned before, if I have converted the dialog to text, it is now searchable, so I can find the clips I need faster. From a delivery point of view, it is easy to take that metadata and apply it as tags in a web page. Cool and cooler...
The experience of going to the studio was great and so was the show. As a guy who is most often looking at content after a show has been done, it's neat to see it happen before your eyes and believe me there is a ton of work that goes into making this happen!
What was a special treat for me was the fact that the guest was non-other than my favorite band as a kid, RUSH. This was their first televised show in over 30 years and it was neat to see them close up.
You guys love free, you scream for free... Sing it with me, "I scream, you scream, we all scream for" Wait a second, that doesn't work here.
ANYWAY, I've noticed that entries like free After Effects plugins seem to get some traffic long after the post is valid. The good news is that there is always a ton of stuff that you can dig around and get for free if you're looking for it.
Today's free stuff comes from a simple website - The Plugin Site
They have some products you can buy, but they're cool because you can download a number of trials for free with no restrictions. I've grabbed their gradients and several other things and will let you know how I make out.
While I had seen and visited this site before, it was Richard Harrington's Photoshop for Video show that reminded me about it. So, take a look at this episode on how to use some of the elements from the Plugin Site to create a custom background in Photoshop.
I got this from Digital Media Net and so they deserve credit - Stu Maschwitz is really one of the top guys around in the world of After Effects and he evidently is also a scripting genius since he strung together a bunch of Cycore effects that are included with After Effects to give you a color correction tool with out putting out some coin.
So this is a plug-in, but only kind of, since you access it through the scripts folder. Don't let that scare you off though, because you don't deal with 'scripts' at all. I like the Rebel CC because it gives you a step-by-step process to better color, but in very easy, small steps.
Here's the video that David Basulto did on the Rebel CC, and I recommend that you give it a look before you download the Rebel CC script.
If you're the kind of person that doesn't care about 'no stinkin' videos,' you can get to the Rebel CC page here
After Effects can do just about anything - trust me, I've seen talented people do it. However, for mere mortals like myself, I know that I have a few tools in my toolbox that I can use to create a variety of different looks from a simple animation.
Unfortunately, YouTube doesn't show the detail needed in animation so it's up to you to download the project file and preview the quality that's there. Hopefully, the video isn't so crappy that you can't get the basic idea.
I've decided that this has the potential to be a series and so (hopefully!) this is the first of several offerings to give you the idea about specific filters and effects that you can use to create different motion backgrounds and animation elements.
The project file is pretty straightforward and I'll let you dig into it. Given time (a most precious commodity right now!) I will try to write it all up since I haven't done so in quite a while. In the meantime, let me breakdown the seven animations included in this project.
Basic Toolbox #1: This is the basic animation and underscores how vast and cool Fractal Noise can be. Repeat the mantra with me, "Fractal Noise is your friend!" Very good. You'll also notice that the Find Edges filter can be used to great effect and moreover it highlights the idea that you can use a single effect more than once to get different results. Tritone and Glow round out the list of indispensible filters that you should know about. Please note that I applied a simple wiggle expression to the glow threshold to give it a undulating feel.
Variation #1: This just shows the same animation with a mask, illustrating the fact that you can take any motion background and populate other elements like a lower third or transitional wipe.
Variation #2: Mr. Mercury is just plain fun, which is why I did it. Gives it a liquid like look with shine and did I mention it's fun? I played with the parameters a bit (gravity and type) to give it a different look
Variation #3: CC Fast Blur... Gotta have it. Use just horizontal or vertical to create something neat. Add Emboss to make moving brushed metal. A must have for any AE user.
Variation #4: CC Kaleida. Pretty straightforward right?
Variation #5: Scatter gives you a pointalism look and I include it as something a bit different
Variation #6: Film strip is still a popular effect in the right place and so knowing when and how to apply the Motion Tile effect will allow you to make this a snap!
I whipped this up in less than an hour and it should illustrate the idea that all you need to be successful with After Effects is an imaginative mind and a little free time.
One final note - if this is something you want to see more of, please comment and let me know. The goal of any blog like this is to provide information, content and tutorials that appeal to users. If I'm missing the mark, please let me know! So, take the hint, and please comment! ;-)
When it comes to software, I generally take it for granted that people know about it and use it if they're interested in it. It's the world I live in (software) so perhaps you can understand why I am surprised when people don't know about something new from Adobe.
Several weeks ago, Adobe posted a public beta version of Soundbooth. With this version, you not only have multiple tracks but several exciting new features such as volume matching. A better way to describe volume match is automatic volume control. So, if you're a video or animation person who doesn't want to be bothered with dynamics, compression, limiting and the like, this is a perfect feature for you!
The other thing I want to point out and hope you will try is the Speech to Text function. This will actually transcribe your audio and save the resulting text as metadata in the file! Pretty amazing and its getting a lot of response. Metadata is the future and being able to create metadata (relavent information about the asset) without manual entry is going to be a huge deal.
So, if you haven't given Soundbooth a try yet, I encourage you to download it from the Adobe Labs site. It works on both Intel Macs and PCs, so you've got no excuse!
