FREE After Effects Reflection plugin
You did the word free don't you? ;-)
Simply click the 'download project' button on the link below to get the plugin. To install, simply drag it into your AE plugin's folder.
Happy reflection day,
Dennis
November 19, 2009
November 10, 2009
Premiere Pro 4.2 update is live
You can get the update for that and Adobe Media Encoder (also 4.2) via the Help menu. Just go to an Adobe application and select Help>Updates.
You can watch a video from Dave on Premiere Pro 4.2 here
Here's a list of fixes and features:
New in this release
- Panasonic P2 AVC-Intra material is now supported; new sequence presets are also included for editing this format.
Notable fixes
- Final Cut Pro Project Converter is now compatible with Final Cut Pro version 7
- Final Cut Pro Project Converter now maintains timecodes from the originally captured sources from Final Cut Pro
- Playback no longer stops when connecting/disconnecting a USB keyboard or mouse
- Performance is no longer diminished in mixed format sequences during playback, scrubbing, and exporting
- Fixed a field output issue when rendering a 720p 60/50 source in an interlaced SD sequence
- Third-party support
Known issues
- Use of Project Manager is not recommended for AVC-I since clip spanning is lost during project collect and copy
- Clip duration in media browser does not match duration of clip once it is imported
- AVC-I clips are redbar in native sequences
October 29, 2009
Adobe Beginner Classes #30 is live!
and really, the only thing I can say about this one is FINALLY...
I had some trouble with our web system and so this should have been posted a week ago.
In this episode, I dive into the technique for creating the smoky look of the text disappearing. It's not entirely intuitive at first, but once you get it, it rocks! Hat tip (and big thank you) to Andrew Kramer for this technique. Read on to view the tutorial and/or see a short clip with the finished animation.
October 27, 2009
Another way to get your ABC's - It's on Vimeo!
You can watch the videos on Adobe TV, but now you can view these videos anytime on my Vimeo channel. As we wind down the year, I'm hoping to also make my tutorials available as a podcast, which was a customer request. So, if you're a Vimeo user, subscribe to my channel and connect with me! See you there.
Dennis
October 12, 2009
Nobel Prize organization using all Adobe tools
Adobe is generally a semi-modest company when it comes to talking about big customer wins, big engagements and the like. We don't usually trumpet it from the front page of the web site and I for one am okay with that. If you're good, you should let your work speak for yourself.
However, in this information overload age, if you've got a voice, it's at least good to mention things now and again. And so, I bring you news that the Nobel Prize organization uses all Adobe tools for their production and distribution. It's yet another powerful example of Adobe's end-to-end capabilities. From planning to playback, Adobe technology can be at the center of the work. So, please take a look at the Nobel Prize Org customer story
October 8, 2009
Adobe Beginner Classes #29 is live!
This looks to be another four part series. The first part here is covering some of the building blocks, but trust me they are still very interesting! Click Play below and view the final composition and then read on for some more detail.
October 6, 2009
Adobe Beginner Classes #28 is live!
...it's been online for a while and I'm rather proud of this one...
I enjoy all of the content creation I get to do - from Twitter, to this blog to Adobe TV. Yet, some bits are just more memorable to you than others and Episode #28 is one of those for me.
September 28, 2009
Adobe Beginner Classes #27 is live!
The conclusion to several running episodes happens with #27. In this one, we take our painted box, our 3D cube and our fog and put it all together to do a quick animation. Anti-climatic? No way - watch the tutorial and download the project for yourself and play around with it.
September 10, 2009
Adobe TV gets a new look
Adobe TV has just updated their website and with all the changes, it's a great time for me to shamelessly mention the best show on there for video, especially After Effects: Adobe Beginner Classes! Be sure to add me to your library and also do a roll over on the episode #'s to get a description of what you'll get. I'll be looking to change up the episodes names soon to be more descriptive. Regardless, give it a look and don't forget about the Adobe Media Player as well.
New Adobe Labs product: Adobe Story!
One of the things that Adobe has been really focusing on over the last couple of cycles is metadata. Metadata describes what's in a piece of content. This makes it easier for content publishers to connect their content with content viewers. This means more revenue. What's the biggest piece of metadata that is being thrown away in commercials, films and the like? The script of course...
September 2, 2009
Adobe Beginner Classes Episode #26 is live!
I've been in a flurry of creative activity and hopefully, these are useful things to the community. In this episode, I'm continuing to build towards our finale, which I think is the next one. Read on to see the video and get the details...
Continue reading "Adobe Beginner Classes Episode #26 is live!" »
August 31, 2009
Admitting it's a problem is the big step towards solving it
Let's get it out there right now, "Our Customer Service department has issues."
There... I said it. Phew, I feel better... But what's more important is that our VP said it as well and addressed it to you.
I'd encourage you to download the small PDF and give it a thorough read. While it's nice to hear that a corporation can apologize, it's better that the letter points to a better result in the future. It also gives you a source to solve your problems in the interim if you're not getting the results you need.
August 27, 2009
AENY meeting this Thursday 8/27/09 @ 6:30PM
Get all of the details at the AENY site
August 26, 2009
Adobe Beginner Classes Episode #25 is live!
Hey there everyone. Blogging away on supposed vacation time - I need some help. We'll keep this one brief. Episode #25 is online and available for your perusal. It's pretty short and to the point, so it's easy to digest and consume. In it, I take our Photoshop texture and quickly create a 3D box by utilizing a script from AEScripts.com
From there, we'll put it all together in the next episode and hopefully the result is something you like.
Read on for the embedded version of the tutorial.
Continue reading "Adobe Beginner Classes Episode #25 is live!" »
August 25, 2009
After Effects New York is this Thursday!
The next AENY meeting is coming up this Thursday, August 27th and has a terrific line up as usual. We've (and by 'we' I mean Jim and Aharon) got two artists lined up including the Mixtape Club and a director from Psyop. Both of these should be really fantastic. I hope that you'll join us. You can get all of the details at the AENY site
August 14, 2009
Adobe Beginner Classes Episode #23 is live!
I've held true to my promise to not do everything about After Effects! Huzzah!
In this one, I go in and show you how easy it is to create gradient wipes for use in Premiere Pro. We don't always use transitions, but when we do, it's nice to have something new and fresh. Custom gradient wipes can be the ticket! I hope you'll give it a view and tell me what you think.
Continue reading "Adobe Beginner Classes Episode #23 is live!" »
August 12, 2009
Steve Holmes on Artbeats.com
Steve Holmes has always been one of the more powerful AE artists who has been able to successfully marry great design in a fun tutorial and instructive setting. Steve build up his 'brand' by being one of the principal instructors for Total Training for several versions and now has turned up at Artbeats.
Artbeats and Mr. Holmes have already teamed up in several tutorials, so this probably isn't totally new to many people. Nevertheless, click here for the link. From there you can subscribe via iTunes if you're so inclined. I've watched a couple and they're fantastic as you would expect. Good stuff - go get it.
August 11, 2009
Nucleo Pro compatible for CS4
Nucleo Pro was/is a great plug-in for regular AE users as well as 3D animators. It provides for background rendering as well as more sophisticated previewing. In a nutshell - it keeps you working which is a good thing. Get the update at GridIron
August 7, 2009
Cut in CS4: Second Skin
About a year ago, I met Carlos who was in the midst of cutting his film Second Skin. He was using CS3 at the time and moved up to CS4 prior to finishing up the edit. The final product (at least the trailer) is very well done and it's also a great story about how people are finding/losing their lives in immersive games. Read on below to see the trailer.
August 6, 2009
AEScripts.com redesign
While my blog focuses on more beginner type stuff, I like to periodically point people to more advanced resources. In this case, AEScripts.com caters to all levels of Adobe After Effects users.
Adobe Beginner Classes #22 is live!
Oi Vey! As quickly as I finish episodes, Adobe TV is publishing them! In this episode, I turn my attention to the fun of Photoshop in recreating something that has been central to Photoshop since the very beginning - the colored eye.
August 5, 2009
Benchmarking CS4 vs CS3 on Adobe TV
It's always easy to say things like '#1 market leader!'. There are some particular companies who come to mind where truth is secondary to the marketing message.
For Adobe, we want to proclaim our 'awesomeness' as much as the next company, but we try to stay within the realm of reality and show some respect to our customer's intelligence.
August 4, 2009
Adobe Beginner Classes Episode #21 is live!
As promised in an earlier post, here is the Adobe TV episode detailing how to build up this motion graphic element. As I suggested earlier, I think this would be a great repeatable element to mix up with photos or video. As always, I value any comments you might have and suggestions for other episodes. Click to read more to see the video or download the Adobe Media Player
Continue reading "Adobe Beginner Classes Episode #21 is live!" »
July 31, 2009
Energy Ball and VFX tutorial
over at VideoCopilot.net
Really interesting and of course, using things that I would never think of - which is a great way to learn new things in AE! Andrew used a couple of fairly mundane plugins to make a pretty plausible energy ball. Go take a look at the link above.
July 29, 2009
After Effects Tutorial: Sophisticated Simple
...or at least it looks sophisticated to me!
This project is going to be Adobe Beginner Classes #21, so in advance of learning all of the steps, here's the project so you can break it down.
Continue reading "After Effects Tutorial: Sophisticated Simple" »
July 28, 2009
Adobe Beginner Classes Episode #20 is live!
In this episode I take up the topic of Rotoscoping. I give full credit to Pete O'Connell as the source of information but I try to break it down a little bit further. Watch both and let me know if I was helpful at all!
Continue reading "Adobe Beginner Classes Episode #20 is live!" »
Do you want FREE tutorials? Then check out Adobe Media Player
I've blogged on this several times before, but I know that new people are always discovering the Adobe blogs, so I periodically will repeat myself by posting again on resources that may not be known to everybody.
Continue reading "Do you want FREE tutorials? Then check out Adobe Media Player" »
July 22, 2009
E-Seminar tomorrow on time saving features of CS4
With your's truly. I'll cover some tapeless workflow items, dip into OnLocation, metadata and speech-to-text and of course a little AE and FCP goodness for good measure.
July 21, 2009
Boxing Promo from John Dickinson
John is one of the top AE guys from down under and I had the privilege to meet him briefly at NAB this year (at least I think it was NAB!) John just connected with me on Twitter and as I returned the favor, I started browsing his website.
July 14, 2009
CS4 Timesaver upcoming e-seminars with yours truly
There are two upcoming CS4 Timesavers seminars that I will be participating in. If you'd like to join me, I would be honored to have you.
We'll be covering some of the measurable benefits of using CS4 in a video production workflow. It will be a tag team effort with Pfeiffer consulting who did the study. It will be something new and it should be informative.
To learn more and to sign up - click here
My personal 'Ultimate, Awesome!' resource compendium (Part 2)
One of the neat things about Adobe products is that there is so much to learn about and so many ways to learn. As stated previously, I wanted to create a complete list of all of the awesome tutorials and resources in the world. However, that's just an impossible task - so I decided just to post some of my favorites on the ones that I've used at one time or another.
Continue reading "My personal 'Ultimate, Awesome!' resource compendium (Part 2)" »
July 13, 2009
Adobe Media Player changes to Adobe TV
This is kind of old news, but I thought it worth scribbling a quick line on it. The Adobe Media Player has stopped being a content aggregator and focusing on being a single point source on Adobe TV content. While I liked Adobe TV for watching and collecting media, I'm equally excited that the creative community have a tool that can be a terrific source for viewing, storing and retrieving tutorials for Adobe products.
Maximum PC: 21 Instant PC upgrades
As I mentioned in an earlier post, I like to read Maximum PC magazine for tips on keeping my PC's in top condition, plus they bring just enough attitude to keep it fresh and fun. One of their articles recently talked about 21 things you could do for free to help speed up your system. Now, I wouldn't recommend all of them for the novice (or even the expert) but this is definitely worth a careful read and apply several of these things to your rig(s).
July 9, 2009
Adobe Production Premium time savers
Adobe Systems is not only promoting some savings, but also highlighting how CS4 provides some real world time savings. There are a number of resources to view or download, so when you have some time, give it a look.
June 26, 2009
My personal 'Ultimate, Awesome!' resource compendium (Part 1)
About six months ago, I began an entry that I thought would be the 'mother of all resources' to things principally related to After Effects but also about Photoshop, Premiere Pro and Production Premium.
That last about a week and I finally erased the entry. Why? Because it's impossible to try and put it all in one entry and it would be incomplete at it's best. So, I've decided to do the next best thing: Tell you about the resources that I like to look at and use. It's long and so I've decided to break it into parts.
Continue reading "My personal 'Ultimate, Awesome!' resource compendium (Part 1)" »
June 12, 2009
HP's DreamColor display - 'simply' awesome
Video editors and graphics artists have always relied on a monitor to help them achieve their vision. Years ago, it was the size of the monitor that mattered. It was also the refresh rates available. Then came LCD's but they weren't black enough or fast enough. Fast forward a few years and now we're dumping CRTs at the local recycling center and LCD's are the standard - the black and speed issues largely overcome. Well, I've seen the future (at least the near future) and it's the DreamColor LP2480zx professional display. Read on for some more.
Continue reading "HP's DreamColor display - 'simply' awesome" »
June 8, 2009
ProMax BDA in NYC 6/16-18
If you're in the New York City area, you might want to come to ProMax BDA. It's a high-end design type event around motion graphics and the like. The plus side is that you get to meet with a lot of top broadcasters and post houses. The down side is that it is not a free event. So if you're a full-time designer, you should definitely look at this event as continuing education.
June 5, 2009
Some thoughts on Premiere Pro 4.1
I'm back in the blogosphere! My absence has been punctuated by visits to the likes of HBO, CNN, FOX and many more. Broadcast is alive and well but my entries have consequently suffered.
In my absence, Premiere Pro version 4.1 has been released. It's a terrific release and I wanted to give some thoughts, miscellaneous tidbits and point people to some resources to learn more.
May 19, 2009
A wealth of free tutorials at DMN
You ever have a week where there's nothing you'd like to do more than sit down and use your favorite software on a nice Mac or PC and think up cool stuff and ideas? Yeah, me too and I'm having one this week, but unfortunately business calls!
Ah well, it's okay. In the absence of regular posts, let me offer up to you these tutorials by content digital portal - Digital Media Net I came across this this morning and was very pleased to see so much material and resources available for Premiere Pro (and many other Adobe applications). So, if you haven't visited them in a while, give 'em a look this morning and tell me what you think.
May 13, 2009
Searchable video now available for you to create!
It looks like we've taken another small step forward in making video searchable on the web easier than ever before. Recently, a page on searchable video was updated to include a downloadable excerpt from a book on making video searchable and a SWF player that you can use to embed your video with the search ability.
Continue reading "Searchable video now available for you to create!" »
May 6, 2009
Layers Magazine does AE and PR
Layers Magazine is a part of NAPP but about all things Adobe and so they have churned out another 100 wicked tips which is an annual feature. This year's version has contributions from both Michael Coleman and Giles Baker - product managers within the digital video group. I just gave them a read and they're both very useful and insightful, so that means you should head on over there to check them out - right? Right!
Go there now - Layers Magazine 100 Wicked Tips!
PS - you'll find the AE and PR tips towards the bottom of this article.
May 4, 2009
HP dreamcolor display
I've had a 24" HP DreamColor display for some time now and I've recently included it in my new Adobe TV rig for creating Adobe Beginner Classes shows. The basic premise of this display is that instead of 16.7 million colors that are possible on a normal LCD, you can see a billion.
May 1, 2009
Adobe CS4 Productivity report
In a tough economy, it's more important that your company (or you!) work as efficiently as possible and certainly things like video production can eat up a tremendous amount of time with various tasks. Whether it's creating final output types, making a DVD, importing video, or even the editing process, having control of your system - to keep creating with your hardware and software - is critical.
April 27, 2009
Iridas talking up Cinema DNG
Cinema DNG is becoming big news as Adobe continues to develop and publish updates about it. If you're not in the know about it, it's no big deal yet. DNG is an open standard created and overseen by Adobe. It stands for Digital Negative and is a great way for photographers to keep their raw data and work with a variety of software products. DNG also happens to provide lossless compression so as cameras get bigger and you need to move your 10,000 photos - DNG might be a good way to go.
Photoshop User and NAPP: All things Photoshop
Every year or so, I imagine countless thousands have discovered the Adobe blogs and have recently gotten into creative fields using some number of Adobe tools. However, in this day and age, there is so much information from so many resources on so many different topics that one gets SO overwhelmed!
To that end, I like to point out a few of my favorite resources once in a while. The one that I'm mentioning today is National Association of Photoshop Professionals. They are the publishers of Photoshop User magazine as well as Layers.
These guys are just INSANE about Photoshop and it's related products and quite honestly, they taught me a LOT about Photoshop when I just joined Adobe. Now that I've been with Adobe for over four years, I still learn a LOT about Photoshop from them. They're that good.
What I like most about it, is that it is not JUST the magazine. In fact, the subscription fee is more about the web site and the services you get there than anything else. The magazine just becomes a bonus. They're is tech support, user forums and a lot of tutorial videos. Is it worth the $100 or so? Well, I wouldn't be mentioning it if it wasn't... ;-) Check out the link below to get started.
April 15, 2009
Great Keylight tutorial product available from Toolfarm
The good folks at Toolfarm.com sent me a copy of a new product of theirs and I have to say it's terrific. It is a tutorial on the inner workings of Keylight, which is included with After Effects. I don't often have the opportunity to do REAL production work and when I have, it's never been with green screen stuff. So, I'm somewhat of a novice when it comes to pulling a great key. Angie Mistretta does a nice job of outlining a METHOD to use Keylight as opposed to how to use the software. It was clear and easy to understand and not too long - just right.
Get a look and find out whether the price ($39.00) is right for you after you watch part of it.
Adobe Beginner Classes Episode #17 is live!
I can barely keep up with the Adobe TV team - they're throwing the content out there as quickly as I can make it! ;-)
Read more to view the tutorial here or visit Adobe TV and click on Video Professional to see this episode.
As always, I'll recommend the Adobe Media Player as the best overall experience - it allows you to save the content locally to your hard drive so you can view it at your leisure and refer back to it anytime! Get the Adobe Media Player
Continue reading "Adobe Beginner Classes Episode #17 is live!" »
April 14, 2009
Stop the 3D text insanity!
Okay, trying to get 3D off the brain and it isn't working. The fact is, I keep coming back to the 3D text project that I've recently done in After Effects (thanks to better AE people like Danny).
Metadata tutorial in Adobe's Development Center
This has been mentioned on a couple of other blogs already, but it's worth pointing out again.
Dan Ebberts is one of AE's great scripters and expression writers. He's also a terrific friend of Adobe. He recently did a very nice, clear tutorial on XMP Metadata and how to use it with Flash. In the tutorial, he also touches on Premiere, OnLocation and After Effects.
XMP metadata tutorial and while you're there, be sure to visit Dan's site as well: Motionscript.com
April 13, 2009
The future of online video?
As one of my co-workers is want to say, "I've seen the future of video and it's searchable."
One of the most intriguing features of Adobe's CS4 Production Premium release has been the idea of speech-to-text: the idea of converting spoken word in an audio or video file into text. It's one of the things that many of our broadcast clients are interested in - making their online video searchable and connecting interested viewers with their video clips.
April 7, 2009
Adobe Beginner Classes Episode #16 is live!
During this episode, I bring it back to one of the most tutorialized things about Photoshop in existence, namely Layer Styles. For the beginner, it is essential that users get a handle on this aspect of Photoshop. For the intermediate, this might present some new ideas on some of the tools available to you. Along the way, I give some props to NAPP for a trick I picked up years ago. Read on to access the video or download the Adobe Media Player to start saving your favorite ABC episodes for review anytime.
Continue reading "Adobe Beginner Classes Episode #16 is live!" »
New Adobe Forums
I'm a little late to mention this, but being late might serve as a fresh reminder to many here...
The Adobe forums have gotten a refresh and there's some new information that you can check out. The basic link is here: Adobe Forums
Some of the ones that video people might find interesting are below
and of course... Photoshop
April 3, 2009
Good tutorial on Particles from Videomaker
Often people think of particles as a means of creating cool motion graphics, add explosions and such, but many people don't consider that you can use it to create some non-typical visual effects.
Continue reading "Good tutorial on Particles from Videomaker" »
March 26, 2009
AENY: Andrew Kramer from Video Copilot coming
After Effects luminary Andrew Kramer will be coming to NYC to do an evening of AENY on March 26th. Click on the AENY meetings page for all of the details. If you haven't been to an AENY meeting or seen Andrew do his thing, than this is the one to go to. Read on for some details.
Continue reading "AENY: Andrew Kramer from Video Copilot coming" »
Pre-Keyed Footage from All Bets are Off
Aharon must be working a double overtime behind my back, because the last time I checked, he had a new baby, was workin' his tail off for All Bets are Off Productions and running the AENY group on the side.
Now, I find out that he's published a collection of pre-keyed footage? That's not strange is it? Well, what if I told you it was over 45,000 clips, with 500 actors and search options galore! All right Aharon, out with it, have you perfected human cloning???
Check out this great resource - I'm sure I don't have to speak about Aharon's quality or his commitment to an excellent product. I even saw the word 'free clips' on the site if you register. Schaweet!
March 20, 2009
Minnesotans - there's an AE group for you.
March 18, 2009
Adobe Beginner Classes Episode #15 is live!
I've written about the experience I had at an NLE 'shoot out' some time ago... Well, I finally got around to doing a video on it and I hope that you'll join me for a 14 minute overview of what I did and how it has impacted the way I think about Premiere Pro. Read on to get the whole story.
Continue reading "Adobe Beginner Classes Episode #15 is live!" »
Interesting Tutorial from Layers Magazine for After Effects
Layers magazine comes from the people over at NAPP which focuses on Photoshop, but the Layers magazine offers content on just about all Adobe products. Today, I saw a new little tutorial on After Effects with Illustrator that I thought was worth mentioning here. So, click here...
March 14, 2009
Just a cool video to watch
I came across this video which is a couple of years old now, but it's so interesting, I thought it worth posting here. I picked it up from ProVideo Coalition which in turn was authored by Chris and Trish Meyer. Like them, I am a sucker for an interesting way of doing type.
So, for your viewing pleasure...
March 11, 2009
Illustrator blog from Adobe product team
There is a an Illustrator blog that you might want to check out if you're looking to learn more about Illustrator as a tool. Give it a look Infinite Resolution
Also be sure to check out Mordy's blog on Illustrator as well... Real World Illustrator
March 6, 2009
Examples of Wiggling in AE
I've talked about the Wiggle expression and Wiggling in After Effects a couple of times before. However, I've come across a couple of new things you can wiggle, and figured I'd throw the few ideas up as an AE project for you to play with. The examples are below for you to look at.
Adobe Beginner Classes Episode #14 is live!
The dry spell for ABC episodes is over my friends and the proof is in the fact that I've now published a second Adobe TV episode in as many weeks! (Now, I've really got to get started on that next one!)
Anyway, in this episode, we spend a little more time in the design (read 'obsessing') of some things you can do to make your 3D text pop inside of After Effects as well as taking a simple approach to animating it.
Continue reading "Adobe Beginner Classes Episode #14 is live!" »
March 2, 2009
AE Tutorial: Camera Shake motion graphics
Cameras, 3D and expressions are three things that I think the beginning AE user are afraid of. In this simple tutorial, I tackle all three at once. This project file is going to go up in a few weeks as an Adobe Beginner Classes "Bootleg" class but I thought I'd post the project file first in case some enterprising people want to pull it down and start noodling.
Continue reading "AE Tutorial: Camera Shake motion graphics" »
February 27, 2009
Adobe Beginner Classes Episode #13 project file
After a long hiatus, Adobe Beginner Classes should be coming back online. I've worked on a number of episodes and the first one is coming up today. After Effects has been my muse yet again and so there is some amount of focus on it. This episode will have the first of what ultimately became three parts on 3D text inside of After Effects (with no additional plugins).
Continue reading "Adobe Beginner Classes Episode #13 project file" »
February 24, 2009
Customer Story on Premiere Pro
I recently received a note from Juan Carlos, a New York area Premiere Pro editor who has done some interesting work in the game field. Juan Carlos has done an interesting film called Second Skin which is about gamers lives inside these massive game worlds.
More recently, he let me know that he's connected VBS.tv and the show is called Motherboard. It's about games as well and the initial episodes were covering Lord British (aka Richard Garriott) who developed several games including the Ultima series of yesteryear.
It's an interesting view and in three parts. If it tickles your fancy, you should check it out here.
Of course, Juan is busy cutting away in Premiere Pro CS4. Real world work (on virtual worlds) being done on Premiere Pro. And why not? It's the best editor out there in my opinion! ;-) Enjoy the videos.
Adobe Beginner Classes coming on Adobe TV!
I've finished three episodes and trying to squeeze in some more in my spare time. These episodes are ones that I really like, because they focus on either something really cool, or something really necessary.
I've found that creating these is much like your own work - sometimes the muse strikes you and you create some good stuff and other times...yawn... When it's the latter, I don't publish anything and when it's the former - well, I hope you like it.
Continue reading "Adobe Beginner Classes coming on Adobe TV!" »
February 19, 2009
New Adobe Beginner Classes coming up soon!
I've been extremely remiss in doing episodes, but the fact is Adobe has given me a different assignment this year and as a result, doing Adobe Beginner Classes has fallen off the map!
Never fear! I've got two episodes done (and I'm quite happy with them) and hopefully doing some more this week.
As a refresher, you can get to my 'channel' by clicking here
GenArts Sapphire sale at Toolfarm.com!
Among the very best plugins available for After Effects are the ones from GenArts. Called Sapphire plugins, they are an extensive collection of toolbox additions that are must haves if you are a serious AE artist.
As a result, these plugins never go on sale. The price for the whole collection is over $1500.00 which is a lot by any measurement.
Next Tuesday only, it seems that Toolfarm will have the entire collection on sale for one day only. So, on February 24th, you'll want to click here
February 12, 2009
Upcoming NY/NJ events
Just a quick post to let you know about a few local events that will be happening over the next month or so.
AENY - After Effects New York will be on for Thursday, February 26th. Always a bunch of great people and conversation about After Effects. If you haven't checked it out yet, you should. It's on 11th street around 6th avenue. Get all the details at the website.
NJFCPUG - A couple of days earlier in the week, Tuesday to be precise, I will be in North Jersey presenting to the NJ FCP users group. I'll be discussing how Production Premium fits into a FCP workflow and showing some workflow ideas including the now famous Final Cut Pro importer into Premiere Pro.
TekServe - An open invitation to have watch a basic presentation in an open format...meaning this is probably a good opportunity to ask me questions about Adobe stuff. I'll be focusing a bit more on Premiere Pro at the request of Tekserve, but if you've got questions, I'll do my best to answer them.
I hope to see you soon - Dennis
January 28, 2009
Another Mac customer trying Premiere Pro and liking it!
As an Adobe person who is often on the road, I talk to customers from all walks of life - be it from a hobbist to MTV and everything in between. From these customers, I've gotten this kind of response from many: "I use (fill in the blank - Apple or Avid) but I have to say, that Production Premium and Premiere Pro are pretty compelling for me. I might give this a shot." Below is another link from a real-world group that gave CS4 a try and had a great experience from it.
Continue reading "Another Mac customer trying Premiere Pro and liking it!" »
January 13, 2009
CS4 Road show and my focus for 2009
I am in Florida this morning before I jump on a plane to Los Angeles. I wanted to get a quick post in to say that yesterday's CS4 roadshow was a lot of fun and packed with people interested in seeing our products and the products of our partners. We had all of the major hardware partners there and showing CS4 drivers (mostly in beta) as well as Panasonic, nvidia, Rimage and many more. Since the event was at Full Sail, it had a lot of students there.
January 7, 2009
OnLocation 4.0.2 Update available
That's really all there is to this post!
The link below says the following about the new update: "The Adobe® OnLocation™ CS4 4.0.2 update contains six bug fixes involving handling of long clips, support for DVC Pro PAL, a freeze on opening SureShot, and a crash on playing a clip after scrubbing."
Get it here
December 23, 2008
An After Effects Christmas
With all respect to other holidays around this time, my house celebrates Christmas (hey, my blog is called the Genesis Project!) and so I wanted to post a simple animation that you can use to learn some basic things about After Effects.
December 18, 2008
An article on 64 bit computing and Production Premium
Dave from Dav's Tech Table emailed me this story from Jan Ozer about his recent interest in 64bit computing. As always, Jan tells with it with thoughtfulness and insight. It's a good morning tech read...
December 16, 2008
A "Virtual" Tradeshow
Come on, doesn't that title grab you? A "virtual" tradeshow? What does that mean?
December 15, 2008
Red camera workflows
All right, lets get the immediate thing out of the way. I've been dark for a while on the blogosphere. Guilty as charged. There's a certain blogging product that has been giving me fits and sadly it's an Adobe product. Ah well, we're not perfect, though we try real hard. Now...on to more important things
November 21, 2008
Premiere Pro 4.0.1 is live and you need to get it!!!
Yes, it's that simple - you need to get it... Why?
Well, of course there some little bug fixes that you probably have never encountered. Or if you are encountering them, then hopefully this addresses them! But more importantly it give you some wonderful new functionality!
Here's what's new about this version
OMF Export - for those people doing some serious audio work or need to interface with ProTools, here's the ticket. This has been a long time coming and I'm glad to say we're finally there.
AAF Import/Export - This is for people who want to interact with Avid systems. It can't get any better than this can it?
Final Cut Pro Import - Oh snap...it can... This is not, I repeat NOT an EDL. It's much better. Cuts, PIPs, transitions, keyframes of basic transforms like scale and position all come across. If you're a FCP editor whose wanted to have some of the integration of Production Premium, well now you can. Edit in FCP, export to XML, import into Premiere Pro and finish with whatever other Adobe applications you need to use.
Other things: Surcode support, edit in Audition (Windows only), and some things that will allow our third parties to access some necessary funtionality for their hardware.
So, in one fell swoop, we've opened up interoperability between the major audio system of the world and the two major competitors in the NLE world. We want to play nice with everyone!
By the way, you may have seen some chatter about the RED plugin. It's coming but we've held off a little bit longer because we're getting some great feedback from users about whats needed. This will be an evolving process, but it will be worth the wait.
Get the software below...
Here's the link for Mac: Premiere Pro 4.0.1 Mac
And here's the link for PC: Premiere Pro 4.0.1 PC
November 4, 2008
Adobe Beginner Classes Episode #12 is Live!
Episode #12 is live via Adobe TV.
I hope you'll give it a look. In this episode I cover Premiere Pro's Media Browser panel (cool) and Soundbooth's volume matching capabilities (even cooler!)
As an aside, I've had to forgo the green screen and Ultra work simply because it doubles the overall production time that it takes to produce these. I hope to bring it back, but I don't think too many of you are overly anxious to see my mug all of the time anyway. ;-)
Here's a direct link: Episode #12
PS - I'll have another ABC bootleg episode coming out real soon. It's a fun little After Effect Project. Of course, I'll post it here for you to play with when the episode goes live...
October 31, 2008
Adobe Product Trials are live
As a lover of 'try before you buy' it is with a great amount of pleasure that I let you know that Adobe has published a link for evaluating our CS4 suites (in all configurations.)
Empower your Adobe apps with free downloads
I've blogged on the Adobe exchange website and the downloads that pervade Adobe.com before, but since I came across several new things, I'm mentioning it again so that you guys can check it out yourselves.
Continue reading "Empower your Adobe apps with free downloads" »
October 30, 2008
Free After Effects Plug-in and a great resource
Yeah, that word FREE really grabs you, doesn't it? ;-) That's all right, it grabs me too.
During our AENY meeting, Aharon and Jim mentioned about a free plug-in that did 3D extrusion. Sign me UP!
Continue reading "Free After Effects Plug-in and a great resource" »
October 24, 2008
Adobe Beginner Classes Episode #11 is live!
'nuff said? Read on for misc. news
Continue reading "Adobe Beginner Classes Episode #11 is live!" »
October 16, 2008
Adobe Beginner Classes Episode #10 is Live (and it's CS4)
I wanted to get this out to my blogging readers and mention that I did a quick "Top 10" After Effects feature on Adobe TV. I broke from my regular format because it was taking too much time and users like yourselves wanted to get some information on CS4...Who am I to argue with that? ;-)
So, take a look and let me know what you think. Enjoy...
October 14, 2008
After Effects Tutorial: Recylcling Presets and adding a blur
I'm visiting the Savannah airport and thought to upload a quick blog entry. This quick After Effects project/tutorial is based on the simple idea of using one of the many blurs within After Effects to create entirely new motion backgrounds.
Continue reading "After Effects Tutorial: Recylcling Presets and adding a blur" »
October 6, 2008
Genesis Project responds to customer requests!
Some time ago, I posted Adobe Beginner Classes Episode #9 and along with it, made a request to ask what you'd like to see in terms of tutorials, information and the like. I received a few comments and wanted to quickly take the time to respond to some of them before it gets too out of date. Read on to find out more.
Continue reading "Genesis Project responds to customer requests!" »
October 3, 2008
After Effects Tutorial: Reusing bits and nesting
I've had this comp kind of worked out for some time, but haven't had the time to write it up. Given that it's pretty easy, I've decided to let it out and hopefully get you intruiged and dive into After Effects a bit. If nothing else, use the attached project file and substitue your own footage or stills.
Continue reading "After Effects Tutorial: Reusing bits and nesting" »
Some AE fun with Trapcode's 3D Stroke
If After Effects is your thing, then you have a ton of plugins and already know about 3D Stroke. If you're into dabbling, then you'll want to check this plugin out as a trial at your first opportunity.
September 29, 2008
Looking at what your options are for CS4?
Of course there is the Adobe Store and it's very comprehensive and built around a Flex/Flash interface.
However, the people over at Toolfarm.com have come up with a comprehensive upgrade matrix as well. In addition to being a great dealer of all things plugins, they work hard at providing excellent service and sales to the most important products to the creative person.
So, if you want to look at what your upgrade options are for Adobe's CS4, I hope you'll take a look at Toolfarm's Upgrade Matrix
September 26, 2008
MTV's Engine Room
MTV is one of those brands that screams, "I use After Effects!" As for me, I wouldn't have it any other way.
The Engine Room is like a version of the Iron Chef for Creatives. It's available on MTVU and online
September 23, 2008
Want your first peek at CS4 Production Premium? Today's the day!
Talk about no notice, I know! However, between the schedule of Adobe and of course keeping a number of things quiet on the CS4 front, I saved posting about an eSeminar that I am doing today until...today...
Continue reading "Want your first peek at CS4 Production Premium? Today's the day!" »
AENY - Special night with After Effects Product Manager
First things first, CS4 is announced and my schedule today is packed! However, I want to scramble to get a couple of posts up first.
Continue reading "AENY - Special night with After Effects Product Manager" »
September 22, 2008
The crowd roars for CS4
The live announcement and presentation of Creative Suite 4 is tomorrow and I've had a blast telling people about it, responding to comments on another blog entry and of course talking to customers.
September 19, 2008
After Effects Expressions resource
As I've said to co-workers, After Effects expressions is always one of my New Year's resolutions. I grab bits and pieces along the year and am very slowly building up a little knowledge about what is possible with expressions.
September 15, 2008
Corporate culture via John via Chuck
Sadly, this is a post that few people will actually take the time to read but is valuable nonetheless. Maybe I should put a title of "CS4 ships!" Nah...
John Dowell blogged this morning on corporate culture as a prediction of where a company is going and throughout it, it in turn quotes from a Wharton interview with Chuck Geschke - one of the founders of Adobe Systems.
I think John did a great job with this lengthy blog post and I would encourage you to read it. It correctly captures the spirit of Adobe and one of the reasons why I feel so strongly about why Adobe is where it is and why we will continue to be successful with you (our customers) in the future.
September 12, 2008
Adobe, RED and Assimilate
Just a quick hit on the deluge of information coming from IBC. This is an end-to-end workflow from capture to finish. It's continuing good news for digital film.
And a quick update for you - Here's the first RED film that's been finished by Premiere Pro. Very cool! Fatal Flaw
CS4 buzz coming from IBC
Another run and gun post....Adobe is having a busy IBC which is the European version of NAB. We're showing a lot of new technology at the show and I imagine you'll be getting some good chatter on creative portals like Creative Cow and DMN
Here's an intruiging Adobe press release - all the tantalizing hints and no super substance. Sorry, but that's what a press release is all about. ;-)
September 10, 2008
Grid Iron Flow demo on Adobe TV
If you've heard about Grid Iron's Flow, there's a lot of hype and interest in it. It allows people to track their assets while doing basically nothing... Sounds good right?
Check out this late addition to the Digital Video Show case. Get it via Adobe Media Player or check it right here...
September 9, 2008
ABC Episode #9 and a request for your requests...
Until now, all of the episodes have focused on content, features or aspects of Adobe products that I completely know backwards and forwards. In the case of Episode #9, I confess that my skills with Illustrator are somewhat limited. But...that is the whole point of doing the show and of course, the whole idea behind both the Genesis Project and Adobe Beginner Classes! You see, it's about learning how to do things. Are you afraid of After Effects and Photoshop? Well, I was too! Episode #9 was a reminder to me of why I do what I do and it confirmed to me that it has value to you. I hope you enjoy this show.
On that same note, there is only one more episode that I have cue'd up before the CS4 announcement - I will be taking a short break (perhaps intersperced with a bootleg here and there) to think up some new episodes. I would really, really, REALLY, REALLY like to hear your ideas on basic things you would like to learn. After all, I'm doing it for you and not for myself. So take a moment, and make a comment here on what you'd like to see
September 4, 2008
HD Expo in NYC - Sign up for Adobe's Intensive workshop!
I'm busy trying to organize my schedule over the next few months and one of the things I have coming up in HD Expo in NY's Javitts center. If you're a student of the calendar, you'll notice that we announce CS4 on September 23rd. You'll also notice that the Expo and the day of the workshop is September 25th. What do you think I'll be showing? Yup, you're right. So sign up here
August 27, 2008
Adobe Beginner Classes Bootleg #2 is live!
UPDATED 8-27-08 - I forgot to post the AE project file in case you want it. Here it is... Displacement Tutorial
I cover displacement maps in After Effects as a simple way of mapping your images or video on moving sources with depth.
Subscribe to Adobe Beginner Classes in the Adobe Media Player if you haven't already.
Cheers, Dennis ;-)
August 26, 2008
All the best of Photoshop and Premiere for home users
Today Adobe announced all new versions of Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements. It's all the power of their big brothers but without all of the detail. It's all about the results and getting them quickly.
Continue reading "All the best of Photoshop and Premiere for home users" »
August 22, 2008
Adobe Beginner Classes Episode #8 is live!
As more and more episodes get posted, I will write less and less about each one... I'd rather you just watch it and figure it out for yourselves! ;-)
Anyway, this one dives into Premiere Pro PIPs in a deeper way giving you the tools on how to create a sophisticated PIP look like "24" or the recent movie, Vantage Point. As always, leave a comment here if you get the chance.
Adobe Beginner Classes Episode #8 is live!
As more and more episodes get posted, I will write less and less about each one... I'd rather you just watch it and figure it out for yourselves! ;-)
Anyway, this one dives into Premiere Pro PIPs in a deeper way giving you the tools on how to create a sophisticated PIP look like "24" or the recent movie, Vantage Point. As always, leave a comment here if you get the chance.
August 20, 2008
Adobe and AJA at B&H
If you're not doing anything tomorrow (come on it's summer time - take it easy and visit the coolest camera and video store on the planet!) then come and visit Adobe along with AJA as we discuss CS3 and the tools available. A representative from AJA will also be there, so it will be a fun time for all. The event is tomorrow, August 21st at B&H's 2nd floor demo room. The event starts at around 11AM. Hope to see you there.
August 7, 2008
Adobe Beginner Classes Episode #7 is live!
During this episode, I give a quick tutorial on Premiere Pro and how you can use it to create a picture-in-picture effect. This is often used in news and documentary workflows. Go get with the Adobe Media Player and make sure you subscribe to my feed - type in Adobe Beginner Classes in the search field and subscribe - yes, do it now! ;-)
Okay, enough self-agrandizing. Take a look at the latest and hopefully you'll learn something fun from it.
August 5, 2008
Ko's latest: Down and dirty AE tricks
Ko Maruyama is an experience AE artist out on the west coast and he also writes for Digital Media Net. While I haven't met Ko yet personally, I do know him by reputation and in the community and he is an excellent teacher and community proponent.
Adobe Digital VIdeo Tools Showcase - Matrox and MOTU
Back in late May, I helped do an Adobe event that not only included Adobe Systems, but about a dozen of our partners, both hardware and software. We taped the videos and now I am pleased to announce that the first two are posted on Adobe TV. These videos represent a great opportunity to get a synopsis of what our partners do and how they enhance Adobe products. Give them a view and see what you think!
Matrox
Matrox
MOTU
August 4, 2008
Studies in success: New customer stories
Just a quick post here to mention that there are two new customer stories based around video and film making.
For Unified Pictures, they employed nearly all of the Adobe tools in a variety of projects based around both Macs and PCs. Get all of the details by clicking here and getting the PDF: Unified Pictures
For ReelTV, they utilize After Effects, Soundbooth, Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash, etc. Get all the details by going here: ReelTV
After Effects Tutorial: Adjustment Layers and Track Mattes
Adjustment Layers as a term sounds very perplexing and perhaps just downright weird. It sounds like I should be talking about Chiropractors instead of After Effects. Nevertheless, adjustment layers are one of the most powerful tools for an AE artist and if you're willing to read through the attached tutorial, I give a couple of minor examples on how to harness the power of this under utilized feature.
Along the way, I will also show you a simple example on using Track Mattes - a wonderful tool displaying your video in unique shapes - in this case text. Yes, video text is within your grasp and it's easy with track mattes!
Finally, I happen to show you how to use Motion Sketch as a means to input real-time position data into layers within your composition.
So, download the project file and come along for a triple whammy tutorial!
July 31, 2008
Adobe Beginner Classes - Bootleg edition
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...
Continue reading "Adobe Beginner Classes - Bootleg edition" »
July 25, 2008
Adobe Beginner Classes Episode #6 is live!
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.
Get it all here
July 24, 2008
"Holy Hot Looks Batman, they're Magic Bullets!"
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.
Continue reading ""Holy Hot Looks Batman, they're Magic Bullets!"" »
July 18, 2008
After Effects Tutorial: Information Slate 2008
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? ;-)
Continue reading "After Effects Tutorial: Information Slate 2008" »
July 17, 2008
Adobe Beginner Classes Episode #5 is live!
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!
Free seems to be a theme
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.
July 15, 2008
After Effects - A free plug-in
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.
July 10, 2008
Adobe Beginner Classes episode #4 is live!
You know the routine by now, right? You should watch it via the Adobe Media Player, but you can also get it by clicking here
If you're really not into clicking, downloading or saving up the tutorial goodness until later, then it's embedded (kind of) right here.
As always, let me know what you think and what you might like to see in the future.
July 2, 2008
After Effects Tutorial: Basic Toolbox Series
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.
Continue reading "After Effects Tutorial: Basic Toolbox Series" »
July 1, 2008
Have you given the Soundbooth beta a try?
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.
Continue reading "Have you given the Soundbooth beta a try?" »
June 27, 2008
A big Kuler update - color picking made easy
The team working on Kuler has done it again. Recently, the group updated the AIR version of the application and added some new features. If you're tired of spending time trying to pick some great colors for your next design, you should read on.
Continue reading "A big Kuler update - color picking made easy" »
June 21, 2008
Wonder How To? Me too.
Everyone is always looking for training content on how to learn software products like After Effects. It's one of my most common questions I receive when I'm meeting customers. It doesn't matter if it's the guy who is editing his baby videos as a hobby at night or its ABC in NY - they're hungry to learn more.
June 16, 2008
Update: Premiere Pro & AVC HD revisited - a list of solutions
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.
Continue reading "Update: Premiere Pro & AVC HD revisited - a list of solutions" »
June 12, 2008
AENY: a new place & logo
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.
June 11, 2008
AE Tutorial: Using Text as a shape layer
The included video here is spastic, almost distracting but it does show one way to easily create that kind of chaotic text that has been popular over the last couple of years.
Continue reading "AE Tutorial: Using Text as a shape layer" »
June 6, 2008
Checking in with Adobe's Customer Stories
I will plead guilty to the following - I don't go to Adobe's customer stories page very often. It could be because I am often aware of many of the stories going on or that I'm just inunated with other things, so that I rarely have the free time to watch them. That's going to change.
Continue reading "Checking in with Adobe's Customer Stories" »
Adobe Beginner Classes Episode #3 is live
Adobe Beginner Classes (ABC's) episode #3 is now officially live on Adobe TV. During this episode, we dive into the basic properties of After Effects and how to animate them. We take a look at keyframing and properties like position, scale, rotation and opacity. If you've wanted to get a tutorial that was the ultimate in basic After Effects, this is the one for you.
May 28, 2008
NYC event tomorrow - still time to register!
The event is happening tomorrow and there will be a lot of fun things going on. If this the first you're hearing about this digital video event, then click here. We've got partners like Panasonic, Matrox, Maxon, Grid Iron, Blackmagic and AJA among several others. There will be vendors like MOTU that will be giving a first look at some new hardware. B&H will be there with special one day prices on Adobe Production Premium, so now is a great time to buy. Zoomin Online will be giving away free training to those who fill out a registration card - who doesn't want to learn about Photoshop and other Adobe products??? AENY will be there working for other companies, but again a great chance to meet the leaders and learn about the next meeting. Almost every manufacturer will be talking about what's new for them and finally there will be a technology preview from Adobe Systems. This will be a unique chance to get a sneak peak at some of the things Adobe is working on. If that isn't exciting, I don't know what is! Wait a second, I do know what is more exciting - prizes! Lots of things to give away at both sessions, so take 4 hours out of your day and choose either the early afternoon or evening slots. Check out my other post if you'd like to get more information on this event.
May 27, 2008
Soundbooth with multitrack!
That's right, you heard it hear (or elsewhere on the blogosphere).
Regardless of how you heard about it, you'll want to check it out and get it from the Adobe Labs site. There's a bunch in there and a lot to explore, so give it a whirl and tell us what you think.
May 20, 2008
NYC Adobe event update - 5/29
Adobe is extending an open invitation to join us and many other exciting vendors as we recap what went on at NAB. It's happening on May 29th, near B&H at the New Yorker hotel. Read on to get all of the event details and to register.
May 19, 2008
New Mocha AE tutorial available
While After Effects is generally terrific at most things there is always room for improvement (believe it or not). It's another reason why I'm always emphasizing the plugins and Adobe ecosystem. One area that Adobe After Effects is merely okay at is tracking. Point tracking is good for many things, but if you're doing corner pinning and perspective, point tracking becomes a bit trickier.
May 15, 2008
Adobe Beginner Classes Episode #2 is now live
Finally! I apologize, but while I've had a number of shows done for over a month, the part of posting them is still somewhat of a manual process. I am sure that it will improve but in the meantime, I'm glad to say that the second installment is up there.
Continue reading "Adobe Beginner Classes Episode #2 is now live" »
May 5, 2008
Newspapers do video too!
...And if you are a newspaper that is looking to create revenue through video online, then you may want to register for this e-seminar on Wednesday, May 7th.
April 30, 2008
Adobe Live event on May 29th in New York City
Did you miss the NAB show and happen to live around the New York area? Did you hear about this or that and wish you had been there? Well, I may not have all of the answers for you, but Adobe and our partners have put something unique together that I'm hoping you'll come to. It's going to be a Post-NAB event around Adobe Systems solutions workflows along with our partners and we'll be reviewing and showcasing all of the solutions and NAB announcements that happened this year.
Continue reading "Adobe Live event on May 29th in New York City" »
April 29, 2008
Adobe Technology Preview on Adobe TV
In an earlier post I talked about some of our Adobe announcements and the most important of these to me was the technology preview demonstration that happened a couple of times during the four day NAB show. When I did this post, I looked around on YouTube to see if someone had posted it, but no. Well, I was pleased to hear that Adobe TV has quickly published a lot of the NAB content and so I wanted to include it here for you to view.
April 28, 2008
AE tutorial - another simple 3D Text example
Periodically, I throw a simple and easy project up here with little or no explanation. Today is such a day.
Continue reading "AE tutorial - another simple 3D Text example" »
April 23, 2008
ABC Episode #2 online soon and 5/29 event in NYC
Adobe Beginner Classes episode #2 is encoded and posted on my share folder. So once the Adobe TV guys grab it, it will go online - probably sometime later this week. When it does, I'll post again and let everyone know.
Continue reading "ABC Episode #2 online soon and 5/29 event in NYC" »
April 14, 2008
NAB Day 1: Adobe Premiere now supports XDCAM EX
Adobe continues to develop tapeless workflows and today announced native XDAM EX and XDCAM HD support. The update should be live today, along with an excellent new workflow video on Dave Helmly's blog
Continue reading "NAB Day 1: Adobe Premiere now supports XDCAM EX" »
April 11, 2008
Adobe offer to Avid users extended through May
If you're an Avid user and are looking to add the Adobe tools to your toolbox, or are looking to switch, then Adobe's done it's best to make it easy for you. Visit the following link below and check out the details!
Come and get it!
April 9, 2008
eSeminar - Newspapers are interested in video!
Newspapers have been facing declining circulations for several years now and they've been faced with a fight for their lives as new media threatens to take all of their ad dollars away.
Fortunately, I'm seeing more and more newspapers embracing new media and delivering video content on their websites as a way to stay 'up-to-the-minute' on news and content in general.
Continue reading "eSeminar - Newspapers are interested in video!" »
Adobe TV = ABC = Adobe Beginner Classes!
So much to talk about here and yet so little time with NAB coming up this weekend. Adobe TV is an exciting new chapter in how Adobe presents resources, tutorials, news and content to users and anyone who has an interest in Adobe products.
Continue reading "Adobe TV = ABC = Adobe Beginner Classes!" »
April 2, 2008
Illustrator tutorial, Lightroom 2.0 beta and MLB strikes out
Just a quick entry here this morning to start you off on your creative day (you have your Starbucks or favorite cofee in hand don't you?)
Lightroom 2.0 beta is up on Adobe Labs. If you're a photographer, then you'll want to check out what the latest is from the Photoshop Lightroom team. If you've never heard of Lightroom, two things: Where have you been? and... Lightroom is "Photoshop for Photographers" and an awesome program whatever your skill level in Photoshop may be. Give it a test drive.
Also, check out this nifty and quick little tutorial on creating clean silouettes from photos inside of Illustrator with Live Trace. It comes to you from Layers Magazine and will take you only a few minutes to digest. You can get it here
And, as a baseball fan, I can't resist posting an article here from Macworld which gives talks about MLB's new MLB.tv service based on Microsoft's Silverlight technology. As an avid fan of baseball, I look at the MLB.tv service every year because I travel a lot and want to catch the games if I can. However, based on this, I think I'll either wait or pick up a Slingbox when I have a few extra $$. It's interesting to note that MLB's Gameday and many other surrounding services and features are all based on Flash.
March 26, 2008
AE Tutorial: Verizon Fios
In watching pre-season baseball on NY's local SNY, I am getting the same commercials quite often (work those sponsors hard!) and so after a while, it got on my brain. As I've mentioned before, when you work for Adobe, you tend to watch television in a different way than many people. So, when I see the Verizon Fios commercial again and again, I think of the ideas that I can communicate with Adobe products - in this case After Effects.
March 24, 2008
NY Event: P2 & Blu-ray at TekServe
If you're in the local New York area, I will be doing an evening seminar at TekServe on April 7th beginning at 6PM. The event will be focusing on Adobe's P2 implementation as well as how to take that to Adobe's Encore for burning a Blu-ray disc. Of course, since I am at TekServe, I'll be demoing on a Mac, but we always get a bunch of PC people there as well, because hey - Adobe is cross platform!
Click on the image to take you to the register page - I hope to see you there!
March 17, 2008
Final Cut and Premiere Pro together
The title is provocative, interesting or imflamatory depending on your perspective. What fun!
One of the things that users everywhere like is interoperability. Of course, I believe Adobe is the best at interoperability between our own apps (INTEGRATION, INTEGRATION, INTEGRATION!) but obviously, I'd be living in a cave if I didn't recognize that there are a lot of products out there including Apple's Final Cut.
February 29, 2008
AENY rocks the house!
Last night's AENY meeting set another new record. We believe we had over 200 people at one. The feedback is tremendous, if you take out the fact that everyone is so cramped! If you're a part of AENY, thanks for making our one year anniversary so kickin'! Don't let the crowding stop you from coming to the next meeting. Vist AENY to get all the details on our next meeting. While you're there, please sign up for the mailing list - we won't spam you. However, it will give us an overview of the total size of our group as it stands right now.
Also, we're still working on finding a new, larger space. If you find something or know someone, please get in touch with Aharon or Jim (group leaders)
February 28, 2008
Discovery Channel Brand ID Tutorial
Yesterday I posted a working animation of a new tutorial that I was working on. Well another late night and early morning have brought it to conclusion. Click on to get the PDF tutorial and project files for our Discovery Channel Brand ID!
February 27, 2008
Discovery Channel remake - AE Tutorial
I've been spending time in the city this week and visiting a lot of the broadcasters this week as a run up to NAB. In the evenings (late evenings!) I've continued doing email and also tutorials. So, here's one that I will try to write up and post the project files in the near future. In the meantime, enjoy this simple After Effects animation.
February 26, 2008
Adobe AIR now available
Adobe put our AIR (Adobe Integrated Runtime) out there for the world this Monday. It combines HTML, PDF, and Flash in one environment. It allows a whole community of Flash developers to not only design cool web pages but now, cool applications.
On Adobe's home page, you now download the AIR runtime. Coincidently, it's next to the buttons for downloading Flash Player and the Acrobat reader. To me this is an indication of how impactful AIR could be.
If you're about to click away from this post - WAIT! Click the link below and you'll begin to understand what AIR can do for you as a consumer. My example is that I use ebay personally. To say that the ebay interface is less than perfect would be an understatement. Well, ebay created their own AIR app that you can download and oh - what a difference!
There are other apps that are in our spotlight section as well that might be worth a look depending on what you're interested in.
If you're looking for a little additional reading on the story behind AIR, check out the NY Times article published on Monday: Adobe Blurs Line Between PC and Web
I can't say that I'm a Flash programmer, but the potential of this environment makes me want to pick up a book and start learning!
February 22, 2008
Free AE stuff from Motion Graphics Lab
Dean sent out a message to me telling me about some new animations that he makes available to everyone. Here's what he said:
"Hello Video, Film and Web folks,
I was messing around with some ideas for St Patrick's Day and came up with twelve different animations. There are Gold Coins, Rainbows, Clovers and even a Pot of Gold ready for download!
All 12 are free up until March 17th...and as usual they are royalty free and fully customizable."
Who doesn't like free? ;-)
Local NYC: Next AENY meeting is our 1 year anniversary!
Our one year anniversary AENY (After Effects New York) event is happening next Thursday (February 28th) at 6PM at Pratt. There will be a ton of prizes including a copy of Production Premium CS3 (your choice of platform) to celebrate our past year. The group is growing and we're still looking for a new home that will easily accomodate 200 people per meeting. If you know of such a place, please let me know here.
To get all of the details, visit the AENY.org site
February 15, 2008
AE tutorial: The Water Channel Slate
Here's another basic tutorial that tries to bring some new concepts and ideas together in a real world project. I got this idea from two sources: First from an internal Adobe call that was demonstrating some new features on an upcoming product and secondly from a Creative Cow AE podcast that did a nice job on creating a fictitious movie title called, "The Smoke."
February 14, 2008
Will you be my AE Valentine?
I don't need much of an excuse to put something up here, so voila! - a Valentines animation!
February 12, 2008
AE project - Solar System
Some time ago, I published the video of a fly through of our solar system. I have wanted to write it up with all of the how to's, etc. but honestly, this is one project that is simply too big to easily write up. Despite that, let me say that this is stuff that is still fairly easy to do, just not so easy to write up.
February 11, 2008
AE tutorial: Destroyed in Detroit
Sometimes, things just work against you and I had one such experience last weekend. I was visiting publisher and broadcaster Meredith in Des Moines and got stuck due to "mechanical failure" on multiple occasions. As a result, I got stuck in Detroit on Friday night. So, what does a frustrated traveller who wants to get home to his family do? He animates of course!
February 4, 2008
Photo retouch from Layers magazine
Everyone wants to know how to do photo retouching or 'beautifying' of portraits. I did one this past fall and you can get it here.
However, I'd be the first to say that I'm not the ultimate at anything - my goal is more to make people aware of what's possible and to make you dangerous with the tools.
Below is a link from the good people at NAPP and Layers Magazine and in viewing some Saturday browsing, I came across a really nice example on photo retouching along with some ideas I have never tried before. Needless to say, I will! Here's the tutorial via Flash: Tutorial
January 29, 2008
Logo Creation tutorial with Photoshop
As a rule, ever since I joined Adobe I've always kept an eye out on all kinds of design, content, video, etc. I'm always looking at it to not only admire (or sometimes deride) the design, but to figure out how it was done. Today's tutorial is one such example that beginners and intermediate Photoshop users will enjoy.
January 25, 2008
More After Effects stuff for free
One of the questions I get SO!!!! often (get the emphasis?) is the following: "How do I learn more about After Effects?" In other words, where can I get free training or lessons for what I want to do?
January 23, 2008
After Effects 8.0.2 & Quicktime 7.4
Michael Coleman, who is Product Manager for After Effects has posted some important information about the new release which includes P2/MXF support.
Also, Dave Helmly got the scoop on me and listed the other fixes in the release as well.
This important release DOES NOT coincide with the release of Quicktime 7.4. Unfortunately, this QT release has some problems with AE and rather than hold up our release any further, we went ahead. We're hopeful that the Quicktime team will address some issues found in a subsequent update, but in the meantime, I would steer clear of the latest release of QT.
January 21, 2008
AE Tutorial: Watching football make me think
Am I the only one who when he is watching TV is trying to figure out how things are done that makes them look compelling? There was a time when I longed for the commercials to be over. Now, I get as much enjoyment out of them as I do the programs themselves.
Continue reading "AE Tutorial: Watching football make me think" »
January 18, 2008
Do you use Avid Xpress or Liquid?
As a guy who informally held the title of "Mr. Liquid" prior to working at Adobe, it is somewhat weird but exciting to be talking Adobe's new rebate program for owners of Avid's Liquid, Liquid Pro or Avid Xpress users.
January 15, 2008
January AENY meeting to be big
We've got a great line up of speakers and technology for our January meeting. It will be one to remember and I hope that you'll join us if you're around NY on January 24th at the Pratt Institute on 14th street. You can get all of the details at the AENY website
January 14, 2008
Another Top Finish for Production Premium CS3
Gary and the gang over at Videoguys.com do a yearly review of the top 10 most influential products over the past year. I'm happy to say Production Premium CS3 took the top spot over some very worthy competitors. Check it out at Videoguys top 10 for 2007
January 11, 2008
Great video tutorial on Depth of Field
I can't pretend to be an expert at film or even photography, though I am an avid learner. Today, I stumbled upon a great tutorial on depth of field, which is a topic that both video/film and photography people can gain some insight to. While this tutorial is 20 minutes long, it is pretty comprehensive, so I think worth the time.
Depth of Field may sound a bit geeky, but I guarantee that it's a topic that can help improve your craft be it still or in motion.
January 9, 2008
Upcoming NY area events
I will be joining Matrox next Thursday (1/17) for two events showing off their hardware in conjunction with Production Premium CS3. If you're on the bubble for either Adobe or Matrox products, this is a great opportunity to get in front of the manufacturers and ask us some questions as well as see what the buzz is all about!
There will also be stops in Illinois, Texas, Utah, Washington, Kansas and Ontario! You can register for one of these events here: Matrox Hardware Advantage Tour
The following Thursday (1/24) will the first meeting of AENY in 2008. After Effects New York is getting ready for a big 2008 and you can help us kick off the new year right. Its a great environment for beginners and professionals alike and we always have some fun. Check out the website to learn about when and where: AENY.org website
December 20, 2007
New version of Adobe Media Player available
If you glance at my stuff with any regularity, you know I'm a pretty big fan of the Adobe Media Player and the AIR platform. Well, the applications are starting to get some real legs to them and if you haven't given AMP (Adobe Media Player) a try yet, then now is the time.
Remember that both AIR (Adobe Integrated Runtime) and AMP are both based on Flash so we're not installing some weird stuff - safe for the whole family. ;-)
Visit the Adobe Labs site and have fun!
December 14, 2007
After Effects Tutorial: Information Slate
I've been at the Adobe 2007 Sales and Marketing Conference and before I jump on a plane to get home, I wanted to post up this simple After Effects project file for you to use.
Continue reading "After Effects Tutorial: Information Slate" »
Best training resources of 2007 for Adobe video products
As I travel around the country and show off Adobe's products, I often get a lot of questions about where people can get more information and learning - free or otherwise. So, I wanted to give a roundup of some of the best sites, people and products that I've mentioned during 2007.
Continue reading "Best training resources of 2007 for Adobe video products" »
December 10, 2007
Year in review - Genesis Project best tutorials (Part 1)
During the course of the year, I've posted on many different subjects and topics as well as created several 'how-to's' and I thought it would be a good time to give everyone a single link to find (or discover) some of the 'best of'' during the past year. This post will focus on the best tutorial content. If I find there is reason for doing some other topics such as 'livliest discussion', etc., I will post again under a similar heading.
So, read on to grab some of the tutorial content that got a lot of downloads and comments...
Continue reading "Year in review - Genesis Project best tutorials (Part 1)" »
December 6, 2007
Premiere Pro 3.1.1 is now Leopard compatible!
Adobe just released the 3.1.1 update for Premiere Pro on Adobe's Update Manager today. If you launch your copy of Premiere Pro 3.1 and go under help, you will see an Updates button, select it and follow the prompts to download and install the update.
Continue reading "Premiere Pro 3.1.1 is now Leopard compatible!" »
December 4, 2007
Making Vista play nice - make it bend to your will
Recently, over the last couple of weeks, I have had a number of questions come at me about Production Premium's compatibility with Vista and whether users should be using it.
For the record, Production Premium CS3 is and has been Vista compatible since we shipped: Production Premium CS3 System Requirements
These questions along with work that I need to do this week led me to spend some time bringing my Vista machine up to snuff and prompted me to start making it act the way I want it to. So, I wanted to pass on a website and quick tips that I've picked up...
Continue reading "Making Vista play nice - make it bend to your will" »
November 29, 2007
Exploding Planets courtesy of Video Copilot
Over the past couple of months and in the spirit of my blogging mission (i.e - easy!) I've posted a couple of topics on "strange planets": showing how easy it is to make a planet and put it in space. Yesterday, I learned of another terrific free tutorial that is simply terrific, albeit more destructive - an exploding planet!
Continue reading "Exploding Planets courtesy of Video Copilot" »
November 27, 2007
Another great resource for AE content
One of the two super guys who help run AENY (After Effects New York) was recently asked to help blog/write on motiongrapher.com. Well, after seeing the link about an upcoming AENY meeting (Thursday in case you're wondering), I started to browse thru the site. Wow....
If you want to see what some truly crazy creative people are doing with our products, then click on some of the websites that are on the left side of the site. I specifically remember Psyop coming to AENY and the stuff they presented was simply stunning. They're listed on this site. So is Blur, Nailgun, REZN8, Interspectacular and so on.
Beyond a list of great animation and post houses, there is a blog with a bunch of current work that is being done whether it's websites or tv/film. Definitely worth reading and if you do, you may start to get a glimpse of where I may pull some of my material!
Sounds corny,but I love working for a company that allows people to create this kind of stuff.
November 26, 2007
After Thanksgiving technology tidbits
I love Thanksgiving - I mean hey, what's not to like? Too much food, family, friends and deserts makes for a lot of goodies after the holidays. Here's some of my after Thanksgiving tidbits (They're not leftovers!) for you to peruse.
November 19, 2007
AVC HD on Premiere Pro
Update 10-3-08 - CS4 has been announced and included in Premiere Pro CS4 is native AVCHD editing. Please go visit the Adobe website and check out all of the new features that are a part of Production Premium and Premiere Pro CS4
Update 6-16-08 - I've posted another entry that outlines several compatible solutions and one that you should take a look at. Here it is AVC HD and Premiere Pro Revisited
_______________
Main Concept, a company that Adobe has long worked with just announced and shipped their MPEG Pro HD 3 plugin for PC. This new package delivers a variety of new editing capabilities to Premiere Pro 2 and CS3 users including AVC-HD.November 13, 2007
Strange Planets revisited - After Effects Tutorial
In an earlier post that I'll link you back to, I showed how simple it is to create a planet in space inside of After Effects. I took a 2D map of the Earth and turned our 3D world. However, one major thing I lacked - the Moon! Well, thanks to my buddy Aharon Rabinowitz from Creative Cow, I can now present another Strange Planet tutorial - namely how to take the next step and integrate our satellite into our sphere of influence.
Continue reading "Strange Planets revisited - After Effects Tutorial" »
November 9, 2007
Premiere Pro Tutorial: keyboard shortcuts
As a follow up to my e-Seminar yesterday on hidden gems inside of Premiere Pro, I was asked to publish a list of my favorite keyboard shortcuts. So, after a foray into InDesign and Photoshop, I have this small PDF for you to print up and use the next time you sit in front of Premiere Pro. Read on to get the doc and the details...
Continue reading "Premiere Pro Tutorial: keyboard shortcuts" »
November 7, 2007
The Anvel is now Motion Graphics Lab
Dean's changed his website and his focus. Take a look, grab some of the free After Effects projects and see what's the latest from this talented After Effects designer.
November 6, 2007
Hidden gems in Premiere Pro
That's the title of my upcoming e-Seminar this week. As with any professional editor, there is a lot of power under the hood: some significant, some less so. However you rate these little things individually, if you put them together, it changes your effectiveness as an editor. Click on to register for the seminar...
November 2, 2007
Disk optimization tool for Mac
One of the things that I like about Windows is that there is a basic defrag tool built in with dozens of 3rd party products available. With the Mac, I thought there were none until I came across iDefrag.
November 1, 2007
Premiere Pro 3.1 update now on web
Just a quick entry here to note that Premiere Pro 3.1 is available as an update to all current users. The 3.1 update introduces Panasonic P2/MXF support in addition to some fixes.
Macintosh: Premiere Pro 3.1 update for Macintosh
Windows: Premiere Pro 3.1 update for Windows
October 31, 2007
Upcoming NY area events
If you're in and around the NY city area, I'll be presenting Adobe Production Premium at the following dates:
11/12 - at TekServe. They are on 23rd street and a hard core Mac place. Guess what platform I'll be demoing on? ;-) Adobe will be there with BlackMagic Design, so a great lineup for the night
11/27 - at B&H. Partnering again with BlackMagic.
12/6 - at B&H. This one will be with Matrox and their RT.X2 and Axio platforms.
All of the above will have at least two seminar times. I'll try to post back here again and give you more information.
October 29, 2007
Tracking 101 in After Effects tutorial
Tracking is the process where you collect data on a particular point in video footage and then apply it to something else. Sounds boring, right? I'm with you, but it is an essential tool for a variety of effects and looks that you see quite often. In this tutorial, you can get the basics on how to use After Effect's internal tracking tool.
October 23, 2007
Hey it's Halloween, so...
Got be straightforward here and say that I'm not a fan of Halloween. I mean with a blog called the Genesis Project? ;-) Or my 4 kids and too much candy? Ugh...sugar highs and sugar crashes!
However, it being close to Halloween, what better time to mention a tutorial by Andrew Kramer, appropriately titled, "Demon Face Warp." This terrific tutorial will teach you a bunch about masks, tracking, liquify and a whole bunch more and it will make your friends look at you strange because you'll shoot the video of yourself (I admit, I'm tempted too!)
October 19, 2007
Premiere Pro 3.1 is here
Premiere Pro 3.1 which is a FREE update provides editors with Panasonics DV25, DV50 and DV100 - also known as DVC Pro HD. Checking out the Adobe forums indicates that the response so far has been very good and we hope that you'll be happy too. Simply go under Premiere Pro's help menu and select Updates - it should sense it and download it for you.
October 15, 2007
More Free AE Plugin goodness
I spent a little time this morning collecting a couple of links for some more AE plugins. I found my favorite one again and will test it with CS3. This plugin is called AEFlame and it provides some interesting fractals that are somewhat like frames.
Anyway, the links are pages from other websites collected by Steven Gotz, a longtime Adobe user and I believe is also on the Creative Cow forums.
John Nack also posted on PSD and AE work and one of his comments had a destination page as well which I'll post here:
One more to complete the trifecta of free...
Updated: Oops - forgot to mention Toolfarm's Plugin Finder
October 12, 2007
Premiere Pro Keyboard Shortcuts Tutorial
I could be accused of a 'me too' approach on this, but after seeing Michael Coleman's excellent tutorials from his blog Keyframes: After Effects and Flash Tutorial I had to give the recording style he did a try. So, now we have this tutorial/test on Premiere Pro keyboard shortcuts.
Continue reading "Premiere Pro Keyboard Shortcuts Tutorial" »
All things Photoshop in NY area
If you're into Photoshop (and really, who isn't?) and you want to learn more then let me mention two events (one a repeat) that focus on Photoshop and in the New York area.
October 9, 2007
Free After Effects plugins
If you're like me, you love the word 'free.' Free is a beautiful word, one full of promise and excitement and hey, it feels good on the pocket too...
October 4, 2007
After Effects 101: Tutorial Content
Today's E-Seminar is/was a blast and as promised, here is the tutorial for you to download. While you are here, take the time to bookmark me, or subscribe to Adobe blogs...there's a ton of good information to be had here. Read on to download the tutorial file.
October 1, 2007
After Effects 101 E-Seminar on October 4th
One of the most popular E-Seminars I've done so far was the After Effects 101 seminar which I did twice within the last year. They were a lot of fun to do and the people who came had a lot of great questions. It's now available as an onDemand seminar if you're interested...It's tough to navigate directly to it, but you can find it here: After Effects onDemand content
It turns out that there are a lot of people who want to learn After Effects or learn more about it.
Continue reading "After Effects 101 E-Seminar on October 4th" »
September 28, 2007
Dean Velez's latest - more great AEPs for download
Dean, perhaps more than any other designer out there, is the guy I wish I was - talent oozes out of his pores. I look at his latest work and understand how he does it (after all, he taught me some of his tricks when I was learning After Effects), but I just don't have his creative skills.
Continue reading "Dean Velez's latest - more great AEPs for download" »
September 20, 2007
MAX in Chicago
If you're involved with Flash design or programming..or Adobe Media Player..or Adobe integrated Runtime (AIR)..or...you get the idea...you'll want to be there. So take the time to look at the events, seminars, parties, etc that will be happening at MAX this year.
September 17, 2007
Fall Video E-Seminars
"Get 'em while they're hot!" Sign up is a straightforward process and hope to see you at several of them. Of course, we will record them and post them online for future on demand access.
September 13, 2007
Lower Third example tutorial
I was on tap to do an eSeminar today (which you should still go to!!!) but my buddy Steve is doing it so I've got some content with no purpose...Ah, a blog entry - that's it!
September 12, 2007
Encore update available
If you have Production Premium CS3, there's a new Encore update that has been posted yesterday. This will make Encore 3.0.1 which includes a bunch of fixes. Run the updater or check this out
Photoshop Video tutorial on Lighting
DMN has posted a tutorial on using Photoshop's lighting feature on video. The end result was surprising to me and so I am passing it on to you.
September 11, 2007
Bridge Home - source of knowledge and fun
Browsing through Bridge Home, which is a new feature of Bridge CS3, which is included with just about every creative Adobe desktop application. Have you used it yet? Do you like free stuff? Thought so...read on.
Continue reading "Bridge Home - source of knowledge and fun" »
September 10, 2007
onOne Photoshop plugins
How can you go to Photoshop World and not come back excited about Photoshop? Or more to the point for me, how can I go to Photoshop World and not come back and post about something cool I saw in it?
August 23, 2007
eSeminar today - new features in After Effects CS3
Nothing like a little last minute promotion for an eSeminar coming up.
Fact is, I've updated the hard drive in my laptop and slowly have been putting everything back together and today I finally reconnected my blog to Contribute CS3. I've got a lot of catching up to do as it relates to blogging, but in the meantime, I wanted to offer you a chance to join me in an eSeminar that will happen in just a few hours. It's all about new features in After Effects and boy, there are a ton of them in this pariticular release, so we'll be busy for the full hour.
If you're interested in registering for the seminar, please click here: eSeminar: After Effects CS3 - what's new!
If you miss it (and you won't I hope!), it will be recorded for future viewing as an onDemand presentation.
See you there,
Dennis
August 12, 2007
The Solar System for Sunday viewing
This (for me at least) was a rather larger project for me to post than most of the others. I might even categorize it as 'intermediate.' Anyway, I have had the project done for a while, but haven't had time to type up an outline on how to recreate it.
I will post the files and an outline here in the future, but in the meantime, here is an example of how you can use After Effects to sail through the Solar System. I also used Audition to build the soundtrack with some help from my friends at Digital Juice with their Sound FX library. Enjoy!
August 7, 2007
Track Matte tutorial
Track Mattes are one of the most powerful and versatile effects in non-linear editors and Jeff Schell from DMN has just done a great one. Check it out as it is well worth the time and will give you some great new ideas for using this venerable effect.
July 24, 2007
eSeminar on 8/2 - are you ready for CS3?
I'm going to be honest here and say that I really want a lot of people to not only sign up but actually show up online at check out the latest eSeminar that I'll be doing. Why? Lots of reasons. Firstly and selfishly, it is like when I was a kid playing shows at bars or recitals: you like playing for a full house (even if it's virtual). How about that for honesty? Secondly, I believe in Production Premium CS3 and in my recent travels, I can't tell you how many people are looking for information about what it is, to see it in action and to ask questions (which you can do in this seminar). Lastly, it uses some great technology from Adobe that is based on Flash called Connect. If you have the Flash player (and you do) then you have all that's needed to use Connect.
So, how 'bout it? Join in the eSeminar by clicking on the following link:
July 23, 2007
Premiere Pro 3.01 posted
Quick hit here. Premiere Pro has a 3.01 update posted. It's so fresh, that it's not posted on the Adobe website, but by going under the help menu and running the updates command, you should have it show up. I'll try and come back to post a link if I can find one.
July 21, 2007
Free tutorials from Anvel
It's the weekend, and while I wait for the rest of the family to wake up, I took a look at Dean's site and checked out the animations he sent me about a month ago. These are terrific animations and they're also good for learning how he does. I've found that 'reverse engineering' is a great way for me to learn. While these looks are sophisticated, you might be surprised how easy the basic concept is.
In looking at many of them, I'm like "I can do that!" which means you can to...
July 17, 2007
AENY.org - 7/26
After Effects New York is all about After Effects and our next meeting is coming up on 7/26 (a Thursday). If you're in the area, interested in After Effects or just like to hang out with cool people, you'll want to stop on by. Get all the details at the website.
July 16, 2007
New Premiere Pro video podcast
Digital Media Net has Jeff Schell starting a regular video podcast for Premiere Pro CS3. In this episode, Jeff goes over new features with a mix of powerpoint and Premiere Pro directly. Take a look - good stuff
Quicktime 7.2 - stay away for now...
Internally, emails sometimes fly about within Adobe. We use this as a way of keeping each other informed about the good, the bad and the ugly. I'm not sure which one this falls under, but it certainly isn't under 'the good'.
July 13, 2007
The Power of the Sun...
As I mentioned recently, I'm trying to put together some new tutorials and one of them, Strange Planets, is proving to be rather large and so, I want to break it down a bit more by starting at the center: the center of our solar system that is...
Premiere Pro Mac seminar now available on demand
Technology is AMAZING! I did an E-Seminar in the morning and now at the end of the day it's available as an on demand seminar.
So, if you'd like to see Premiere Pro, especially on the Mac, then click on the link below and check out the content. The time to watch this is a little less than an hour and will cover where Premiere has come from, where it is today and give you a good understanding of how it may fit for you. And it's all done on a mac, but PC users fear not, everything covered here is applicable for you too!
July 11, 2007
Quick hits - two cool tutorials
I always want to keep feeding
information and tutorials to you so that you can continue to grow in applications like After Effects. To that end, here are a couple below that I highly recommend. The first is about taking fleurs and the like and growing them and the second demonstrates one of the new features of After Effects CS3: namely per character 3D.
July 6, 2007
Adobe's Design Center has the goods
One of the good and bad things of working for Adobe is that you often get access to a ton of materials, training DVDs, etc. etc. but never have enough time(!) to really go thru them. I would characterize it as an occupational hazard.
So today, as I was perusing to get the Premiere Pro page link, I saw the Design Center at the bottom of the page. Wow! These are great nuggets of information that are easily digestible (i.e - they're short) and informative as well.
So, if you have 3-5 minutes, stop on by the Design Center Video section and bookmark it. It's yet another FREE resource that can help you be productive and creative.
E-Seminar for Mac Users - a chance to take a look at Premiere Pro on the Mac!
Premiere Pro on the Mac - it sounds sweet to the ears. To some it may sound like an oxymoron, but it is not! So, if you're a Mac user or perhaps just someone who wants to see Premiere Pro being demonstrated (that means you PC users!), come join me for an E-Seminar next Thursday, July 12th. Read on to register.
Continue reading "E-Seminar for Mac Users - a chance to take a look at Premiere Pro on the Mac!" »
June 14, 2007
Dan Ebbert's - AE scripting genius
Dan is one of the forum moderators at Creative Cow's AE forum and also a guy who knows AE's scripting engine inside and out. I'll be honest - I DON'T know it (much) but hope to learn more. Anyway, if you're into scripting and automating After Effects, this is a great resource to dive into...
June 11, 2007
A Hidden Gem (for me) in After Effects CS3
So there I was last week, biding my time at the Jersey Access Group convention and was noodling with After Effects CS3...interpretation - I was making awful stuff. So, I was reviewing some other half baked compositions and then stumbled upon one of the most important new features in After Effects CS3 not mentioned in Adobe web pages.
You Tube is really letting me down today, but hopefully you see the video now...
Continue reading "A Hidden Gem (for me) in After Effects CS3" »
June 6, 2007
Some ramblings, whereabouts and whats coming
Tonight is another hit and run entry, but I still hope you'll find it entertaining and useful. But in order to tempt you to read on...ah well, I trust you.
Continue reading "Some ramblings, whereabouts and whats coming" »
June 4, 2007
Grunge up in Photoshop!
Photoshop is so nice and clean, from it's interface to it's pristine handling of files. You almost forget that there are lots of ways to rip up, chew up, distort, mangle and otherwise maul images and artwork. Over the weekend, I found some Photoshop brushes that make this kind of work easy and fun...
May 31, 2007
Got E-Seminar?
If you haven't guessed yet, I'm from the NY/Metro area and I can honestly say we're pounded by vendors left and right to go to seminars. Ditto for LA. It's fun to go to them if you have a true interest in the product and can take a day off...or better yet - get paid to go! However, what if you don't live around a super metro area? What if you're the hot video professional in your area but you're it and you need to be kept informed? What's a video professional to do???
May 29, 2007
Some more new Adobe Bloggers
A quick hit as I'm traveling to NYC on the bus today (technology is amazing isn't it?)
Previously, I mentioned Dave Helmly and his Tech Table blog and now I'd like to introduce you to a couple more on After Effects:
Michael Coleman is the new product manager for After Effects and his new blog is called Keyframes (Kudos to him for an incredibly cool blog title) You can find him here: Keyframes
Next, my traveling buddy and After Effects aficionado Steve Whatley has started up a blog as well that you'll find handy. I can't speak for his cooking, but I can for his love of all things Adobe. Check it out: AfterEffectsCookbook
May 24, 2007
A couple of AE animators and their stuff
A quick hit here today as I've got to join an e-seminar at 1PM.
Dean Velez is the owner of the Anvel website and has posted 29 free AE projects from A-Z (really) that you can download. Dean is a talented fellow and he loves to teach After Effects, so these are definitely worth a look. TheAnvel
Also, just starting to go thru a couple of Andrew Kramer's training content and will try to give more about it as I get thru it. Andrew is mostly about visual effects, so it's a different take from something like Dean does. So far, Andrew's training DVD is excellent and he's entertaining to boot. Give his site a looksie. Video Copilot
I'll only add that both of these guys make me whimper into submission at their After Effects prowess. Grrrr... ;-)
May 23, 2007
Visual Communicator 3 up on the Adobe Labs site
When I joined Adobe, one of the things I was immediately struck by was the amount of communication that you had to try and keep up on. The amount of technology, the number of internal people that you had to know, etc. One of my friends and coworkers called it, 'drinking from the Adobe hose.' By it, he implied that it was sometimes an overwhelmling experience. Well, two years later, it's no different and I found out just a couple of days ago that we just put up one of the exciting applications from the former Serious Magic company - Visual Communicator 3.
Continue reading "Visual Communicator 3 up on the Adobe Labs site" »
May 18, 2007
DMN has Shape Layer Presets for AE8
Ahhhh, I love it when other people beat me to good ideas! Props to Jean Hauptman for spending some time digging into this. One of the new features of After Effects CS3 (or version 8 if you prefer) is Shape Layers. If you're new to After Effects, this will be a feature that is both easy and fun to play with. For motion element design, I think it will be one of the defining features that push design forward in 2007/2008. Anyway, check it out at: DMN - Shape Layers
March 31, 2007
After Effects 101 Tutorial: Bringing the basics together
The basis of this tutorial is about taking a path from Photoshop (or Illustrator) and then using it within After Effects to create a simple animation background.
I've seen this a lot recently, so thought you might find it useful. The attached files are there with a little extra animation and a PDF to give you the essential instructions on how to make a path in Photoshop and animate it in After Effects.
The next version of After Effects will expand its shape capabilities dramatically, but even still, the tutorial here is an essential skill for After Effects users.
One last note - if you're pulling these down, let me know if they're useful or not. Also, feel free to ask for specifics.
March 22, 2007
'Da Font!' - great website for fonts and more
I stumbled across this when I needed some zapf dingbat symbols for a composition or a mask, or...well I don't really remember right now... The point is that this website has some fantastic stylistic fonts that are groups by categories. Most of them are free. Most of them are Mac and PC. Nearly all of them I could imagine using - they're quite good.
Sometimes inspiration can come from the littlest thing - maybe it's a new font that inspires you today.
March 17, 2007
A great resource for all things Photoshop
I wanted to put this up since the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP) has been a fantastic resource that has taught me a TON of things about Photoshop...
If you've never heard about NAPP or what they do, I would encourage you to check them out. Their magazines are Photoshop User, Layers and others including one on Illustrator and perhaps one on Lightroom.
What I really like about them is that they offer expansive articles on topics that are important to video professionals (especially on Layers) but they also offer simple 'how-to's' on practical things
While I don't often get the time, as a member, their online tutorials and help staff is absolutely fantastic.
If you'd like to learn more about Photoshop, NAPP is a great resource.
March 4, 2007
After Effects Experts to look to...They’re Jedi Masters and I’m a Padawan learner
Poor allusions and metaphors are part of the whole package with me but they’re fun too. Allow me to continue with my Star Wars metaphor in order to point you to people who can really teach you about After Effects.
Aharon Rabinowitz “Qui-Gon Jinn” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qui-Gon_Jinn – Aharon is really a fantastic guy who happens to not only be a great AE artist, but also a great teacher – just like Qui-Gon Jinn who was portrayed by Liam Neeson. My experience has taught me that this is a rare combination indeed. Better yet, most of his work you can find for free at the CreativeCow.net forums. I just checked out one of Aharon’s tutorials on basic expressions (a scary topic indeed) and walked away from it thinking that I should dive into it again. Note to self – stop saying that about every Adobe product. Aharon was instrumental in helping get the After Effects New York group started. Check out http://www.AENY.org if you live around the NY area. You can find Aharon on http://www.creativecow.net under the AE forums
Dean Velez “Mace Windu” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mace_Windu
Besides having a matching hair do, Dean does share a certain quiet passion (okay if you know Dean, he’s not quiet!) that characterizes Mace Windu in the Star War movies. Dean is also about motion graphic design, he doesn’t focus on visual effects as much. He has that instinct about creativity and he teaches how to harness your creativity to create within After Effects. Dean runs a training site at http://www.TheAnvel.com He has a number of CDs that you can buy. I like them because it not only gives you all the goodies, but step-by-step PDFs that walk you thru creating what you see.
Brian Maffitt “Yoda” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoda
If the title of “Mr. After Effects” had to be handed out, you’d have to give it to Brian. Brian started selling VHS tapes about After Effects with version 3.0. If you were going to learn After Effects, investing in one of his Total Training products was almost a prerequisite. Along the way, his company grew and now encompasses all Adobe products and a few others as well. You can find Brian’s product offerings at http://www.TotalTraining.com. Total Training products are encyclopedic in their approach in that they cover just about everything depending on which products you look at. The After Effects collection currently covers about 60 hours of training. That’s right, a week and a half of work just to get through it all.
Are there other companies, resources and individuals that will help you? Definitely. Lynda.com and DigitalMediaNet.com are two that readily come to mind. Just type After Effects Tutorials in your search engine and see what pops up.
May the force of AE be with you my friend,
Dennis
March 2, 2007
'If AE can make it there, it can make it anywhere...'
On February 22nd, we had our first After Effects New York user group meeting. It was a great fun and I think a great success for the After Effects community. Rather than have me regurgitate what's already been written check out http://www.aeny.org/meetings/meeting_02_22_07/recap_02_22_07.html
If you're interested in starting a similar group, let us know!
Cheers, Dennis