Tuesday, November 08, 2005

Map Exploration

Exploring ways to direct a viewer around a map using effects, text animators, and other tricks using Adobe After Effects.

A common task is navigating around a map-like image. In this column, we’ll discuss three different approaches to this challenge: stroking a line, animating text elements along a path, and auto-orienting an object of your choosing along a path.

These techniques use features that are spread around Adobe After Effects. Our goal is to pull them together for you, and show the different approaches and options. We’ll be assuming a basic working knowledge of the program; you can also download and explore our final After Effects project (created for AE 6.5 and later) by clicking here (12.5 MB .zip file). Movies of the three techniques are included with the download.

Motion Graphics •
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Thursday, September 15, 2005

The Hi-Def Checklist

Questions to ask and issues to consider when you tackle a high-definition graphics job.

Many motion graphics artists are tackling their first high-definition jobs. In some respects, hi-def is just like normal video; only larger. However, hi-def also comes with a number of issues which can throw some major curves at you. As with all problems in waiting, it’s best to solve them before you start, rather than when you think you’re almost finished. Here are a series of questions you need to ask, and what the implications are – both technical and artistic – of the answers you may get.

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Sunday, July 31, 2005

Visual Rhythm, Part 2: Motion & Cinema Tricks

Tricks in Motion and Cinema 4D for coordinating multiple, duplicate objects.

In the previous column, we detailed a number of techniques for animating multiple layers in Adobe After Effects. In this column, we turn our attention to Apple’s Motion and Maxon’s Cinema 4D.

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Tuesday, July 05, 2005

Visual Rhythm, Part 1: After Effects Tricks

Techniques for easily creating and coordinating multiple objects.

Rhythm - repetition, with variation - is the backbone of many pieces of fine art, as well as motion graphic designs. However, it can be tedious to create and animate hordes of layers - and tedium is not a ticket to inspiration. In the next two columns, we’ll discuss approaches to more easily creating visual rhythm. In this column we’ll start with techniques that can be executed inside Adobe After Effects; in the next column we’ll discuss alternate tools such as Apple Motion and Maxon Cinema 4D.

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Thursday, June 30, 2005

Motion + MIDI

Adding a new level of control to crafting motion graphics.

An intriguing feature introduced in version 2 of Apple’s Motion Apple’s Motion is the ability to control it via MIDI: the Musical Instrument Digital Interface. This allows users to choose among a wide variety of third-party input devices to edit parameters in Motion - such as scale, opacity, rotation, or most effect parameters - either while parked on a still frame, or while previewing in real time. The user’s gestures can also be recorded in real time, allowing you to “perform” parameter edits, reacting to the video or soundtrack. This capability has also caught the attention of the VJ (video jockey) market, giving them another tool to perform video transformations in real time. 

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Tuesday, April 05, 2005

The Almost Perfect Font

What to do when the client loves your font choice, but asks could you just change one character?

When planning a new project, the font you choose can lift a design to a new level, or add an all-important attitude. So when you’ve spent hours picking a font that the client agrees is “just perfect,” panic can set in when they object to a couple of characters as being too weird or difficult to read. The more high profile the job, the fussier the client will be; after all, if they’ve paid millions to open their movie with the name “Zellweger,” the Z better look good! Rather than picking a different font and possibly disrupting the schedule, an hour spent editing the troublesome characters can save the day.

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Tuesday, November 30, 2004

A Different Light: Gamma-Corrected Compositing

A simple introduction to gamma-corrected compositing.

Most of us have been navigating the waters of computer graphics with the assumption that the world is flat. And it’s remarkable how well we’ve done with this fundamentally flawed assumption. However, some of you may have heard whisperings that the world is actually round - often couched in terms of how important it is to understand the subject of gamma, and to composite within a “linear light” model.

Motion Graphics •
Post Production •
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Thursday, September 02, 2004

An Old Friend Returns: CC Effects

The Cycore CC effects that come bundled free with After Effects are an evolution of one of the original plug-in sets for AE.

When you install Adobe After Effects 6.5 or later, it’s easy to miss all the goodies it comes bundled with, such as Color Finesse from Synthetic Aperture and the world-class keyer Keylight from The Foundry. But the inner child in many of us is perhaps most excited by the inclusion of Cycore FX.

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