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Chris & Trish Meyer
CMG Keyframes is a repository for columns, articles, and videos created by Trish & Chris Meyer of the subject of creating motion graphics using Adobe After Effects and other related programs. It also contains articles on typography, audio, and 3D, as well as links to relevant articles Chris & Trish have published elsewhere. Trish & Chris Meyer are the founders of Crish Design (formerly known as CyberMotion), an award-winning motion graphic design studio that has recently relocated from Los Angeles to the Albuquerque area. Their design and animation work has appeared on shows and promos for CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox, HBO, PBS, and TLC; in opening titles for several movies including Cold Mountain and The Talented Mr. Ripley; at trade shows and press events for corporate clients ranging from Apple to Xerox; and in special venues encompassing IMAX, CircleVision, the NBC AstroVision sign in Times Square, and the four-block-long Fremont Street Experience in Las Vegas. In addition to their motion graphics work, Trish and Chris were among the original users of After Effects, and have written numerous books including "Creating Motion Graphics with After Effects" and "After Effects Apprentice" (both published by Focal Press). They speak regularly at conferences around the country, and perform custom training for studios. Both have backgrounds as musicians, and a close relationship between sound and picture informs much of their work. CMG-BlogMade with After EffectsAdobe MAX 2011 Technology Sneak PeeksCoke Classic: Final Cut Studio is BackNVIDIA OptixAfter Effects Apprentice: ExpressionsAfter Effects Apprentice: ParentingUsing Audition with After EffectsAfter Effects Apprentice: Type and MusicStereoscopic 3D in After Effects CS5.5Updated: Adobe Warp Stabilizer (P)Review
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On Artbeats.com: Panning & ScanningAn update to the time-honored Anchor Point trick for moving around an image.
It’s great to have a source image that is bigger than the final frame you need, as it gives you additional flexibility to reframe it through position and scaling. You can also animate these parameters to fake pans and zooms. We’ve done this for ages with high-resolution still images; cameras such as the RED now allow you to do this with moving footage, even in hi-def projects. The problem with this “panning and scanning” technique is that many use the Position parameter in programs such as After Effects to perform it. However, when you then change the Scale parameter as well, the image will appear to drift, as it does not scale around the center of your composition; it scales around the center of the now-repositioned source file. Therefore, you want to animate the Anchor Point - not Position - to perform these types of moves. We just wrote an article for Artbeats.com going over this technique, including an extension where we use Position in conjunction with Anchor Point and Scale to push in and pull back around a focal point that may not be in the dead center of the frame. In this way, you can perform moves in After Effects that would have driven you crazy trying to perform in camera on the set. Click here to download the PDF of “Pan and Scan” from Artbeats.com. The content contained in our books, videos, blogs, and articles for other sites are all copyright Crish Design, except where otherwise attributed. After Effects Error CodesWonder what those cryptic numbers mean? Here’s a few clues…
Occasionally, After Effects has a hiccup. When it does, it often displays a dialog box with occasionally clear, occasionally cryptic text, as well as a series of numbers. Understanding exactly what these are telling you can help you diagnose the problem and at least work around it, if not cure it. Lutz Albrecht (aka Mylenium) has created a useful page that goes through the logic behind these codes to help you narrow down where the underlying error may be. He is actively trying to expand and refine the list, so if you encounter an error in After Effects, email him the information so he can fold it in. (By the way, Lutz also wrote one of the best overviews of the new features in After Effects CS4 that I’ve seen - you can read it here.) Page 1 of 1 pages Advertisement |
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Keyframe Stretching in Motion
Scaling Keyframes to Retime Your Animation
So you’ve created a great animation in Motion. You’ve tweaked every motion path, set each keyframe interpolation, and pulled and pushed on every bezier handle to get the timing and flow just right. Then your client tells you they love it but it needs to last 2 seconds longer. Before you pull your hair repositioning hundreds of keyframes by hand, check out this video for a quick tip on a handy keyframe editing tool that could save you load of time - and hair.
Business slow?
It’s time to get busy.
So the bursting of the housing bubble that led to the credit freeze that led to the stock market sell-off that led to companies cutting back on spending that led to the recession has now trickled down to freelancers like us. Which means you may have noticed your invoices are getting paid later, your projects are being downsized or cancelled, and client requests for proposals for new work are slowing to a trickle.
What a great opportunity.
Economic downturns come and go - and when they come, it’s a great time to finally take care of all those things you were putting off when you were busy making money. So, here are my three recommendations for how you can prepare for the next big upswing. When the phone starts ringing once again, you’ll be ready.
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