Your Daily After Effects Fix

I’ve mentioned previously that Todd Kopriva’s Region of Interest blog is one of the best sources of essential After Effects information. And it still is. But a few additional sources have really blossomed as constant fountains of After Effects goodness:

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Classic Visual Effects Knowledge

Chris Zwar - After Effects power user and occasional PVC contributor - shared on the media-motion.tv After Effects list that Peter Sciretta of /Film had recently compiled the first 12 episodes of Discovery Channel’s Movie Magic documentary series. As it was recorded in the mid-90s, a substantial portion of the effects are “practical” rather than done in the computer. Nonetheless, it’s a good background on matte paintings, miniatures, stop motion, pyrotechics, and similar techniques, plus a reminder of how easy we have it to day compared to the early days of computer graphics.

Greenscreen Resources

As much as we like to keep up with the newest products and latest trends, some information is timeless - such as advice on shooting greenscreen. The After Effects Facebook feed forwarded a link to a very useful article by Jonas Hummelstrand of General Specialist posted back in 2006 that everyone should read before setting up a keying shoot. If I had to add one amplification, it would be to try to hire a stage that has some depth to it, so that the screen - and lighting for the screen - can be some distance behind the action; this will further blur it out, and reduce spill.

Here’s a few more links of note:

• We recorded a quick video tutorial on using Keylight in After Effects with lynda.com for Adobe
• Rosco and Composite Components sell paint, tape, fabrics, and lights for keying
• Alex Lindsay of Pixel Corps wrote a two-part Greenscreen Primer for PVC, broken down into the set and the camera

(By the way, we also overhauled the keying chapter in Creating Motion Graphics 5th Edition, including high-def sources to practice with courtesy of Hollywood Camera Work.)

If you have any other favorite resources, please feel free to post them in the Comments below!

Making It Look Great 7 Review

Last summer I wrote an lengthy review of the Motionworks’ Making It Look Great 6 training series, where Tim Clapham did a great job covering the integration of Cinema 4D and After Effects. I mentioned my wish for Tim to do a full series on using Cinema’s MoGraph module, and little did I know that such a series was already in the works. Not wanting to wait, I offered to proof it as it was being developed (crafty, huh!), and now it’s arrived in a store near you as Making It Look Great 7.

MILG7 consists of six projects produced using a wide variety of MoGraph objects and effectors. Not only will you learn tons of MoGraph techniques as you create some fun animations, but sprinkled throughout are a great many solid Cinema working practices that will serve you well in any project.

Masters of Visual Effects - Online

Matt Silverman, Creative Director of Bonfire Labs, is a certifiable After Effects old-timer (although he also has experience in many different systems), particularly known “back in the day” as being a roto expert in addition to an all-around top-shelf motion graphics and visual effects artist. Several years ago, he took it upon himself to enlist some of the best users in the field to construct a set of timeless, concept-based, software-agnostic visual effects training videos. These VHS tapes are long out of print, so Matt has started to digitize them and place them online. The links for Series 2 (covering compositing, keying, tracking, paint, and rotoscoping presented by Ron Brinkmann, Stu Maschwitz, and Scott Stewart) are below; watch them while you can:

Trish & Chris, Unplugged

We recently had the pleasure of being interviewed via Skype by John Dickinson of Motionworks for his excellent Unplugged series, where he chats with people who either create After Effects plug-ins (such as Peter Norrby of Trapcode or Zax Dow of Zaxwerks) or training (such as Brian Maffitt of Total Training or Andrew Kramer of Video Copilot). It was a freewheeling affair - we thought he was going to cut out that intro when we were making faces at him, and yes, those are margaritas we’re drinking - and we covered a lot of ground, including the early days of After Effects, how we got started in the industry, what we do for inspiration, our opinions on the training market, and our philosophy of learning a complex program such as After Effects for motion graphics production. We hope you enjoy it.

• cllck here for Part 1 on the early days, and breaking in
• click here for Part 2 on the training landscape, and what we do for inspiration

The content contained in our books, videos, blogs, and articles for other sites are all copyright Crish Design, except where otherwise attributed.

Review: After Effects Camera Training

Motion graphics artists used to animating in 2D in After Effects will find that working in 3D space takes a lot more patience. You need to consider how to set up the 3D views, move layers in 3D, and animate cameras and lights. Rob Birnholz’ training series tackles the camera portion of the equation (watch a free sample and the Table of Contents here). (If you’ve already purchased this training series, don’t go just yet; I promise to share some personal tips and advice as I go…)

Making It Look Great 6 Review

Unless you’ve spent the past few years hiking the Appalachian Trail, you’ll be aware how much 3D animation has infiltrated the broadcast motion graphics world. Not so long ago, being an accomplished After Effects artist was enough to land a good job, but now employers and clients are also looking for good 3D skills (and in this economy, anything that increases the chances of landing a plum job can’t be ignored).

Surveys by us and others indicate that Maxon’s Cinema 4D is the 3D program of choice for After Effects motion graphic artists. In case there was any doubt, Cinema’s MoGraph module sealed the deal. In our report from NAB, we blogged how small studios are successfully integrating Cinema and After Effects, so how fortuitous for us that Cinema master Tim Clapham has released a fabulous training series on just this subject. Making It Look Great 6: Design and Production Techniques for Cinema 4D and After Effects is the latest release from John Dickinson’s company Motionworks. As Company Director of LUXX (and before that, HYPA), Tim Clapham’ credentials are impeccable - so you know that this will be the best $89 you’ve spent in a long time…

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