Putting the After Effects CS6 3D Camera Tracker to the Test

Since the announcement of the Adobe CS6 Production Premium was made, there are a lot of great tutorials and examples made with the product to show off the new features. Most use nicely shot footage with dolly shots or smooth steady-cam work with lots of great contrasting detail to track, which provide great results. Naturally had to try it with some of my own horrendous handheld DSLR video clips to see if I could put it to the test and how it held up. Let’s see how it did.

Making a Matte Painting with Elements in Motion in After Effects

In the days of early motion picture making the art of “matte painting” was a process of actually painting with oils on a plate glass that was then shot in position in front of a scene on location or in the studio where the film would be exposed by the combined images through the camera’s lens, creating an illusion that the actors int eh scene were in a totally different location or that the surrounding set or location was enhanced greatly. This process has evolved over the years and with modern day digital compositing and illustration/animation techniques, there’s little that can’t be created or replicated with computer graphics or manipulation. In this video tutorial, I show you how I used simple photographic components, combined with masked elements extracted from the original footage and re-timed - all using After Effects & Photoshop, along with some CG elements from a simple plug-in call Psunami from Red Giant.

Product Review: Tiffen Dfx v3 Video/Film Plug-in

Tiffen has released the latest version of their popular sophisticated filter effects. Unlike most other plug-in effects for After Effects, Premiere Pro or Final Cut Pro that often cater to creative whimsy and visual effects, the Tiffen Dfx v3 Video/Film Plug-in offers more real-world simulation of glass filters, lens effects and film stocks in a sophisticated and easy-to-use UI. This filter set will bring back memories of film cameras and glass filters we’ve all be familiar with in days gone-by, but with much more control, finesse and options beyond your wildest dreams!

9th Annual Editors’ Lounge Panel Predicts a Cloudy NAB

The panel was hosted by Alpha Dogs, Inc. and Key Code Media, and the event drew an audience of well over 100 production and post-production professionals, all eager to learn what’s in store at NAB 2012. attendees were welcomed by panelists that included; Debra Kaufman, Associate Editor at Creative COW (as moderator) Terence Curren (Editor/Colorist and Founder of Alpha Dogs Post), Mark Raudonis (VP of Post Production, Bunim/Murrary Productions), Steve Cohen (Film/TV Editor and author of “Avid Agility) and Michael Kammes (Senior Technology & Workflow Consultant, Key Code Media).

Some of the subjects covered in part one include:

0:00 Introductions
1:39 Who is under NDA?
2:25 Editing for the internet
7:15 Drawbacks to the 3D experience
10:28 Apple in the “post PC world”
15:47 Quality of internet content
18:08 How do we monetize internet content?

Adobe Production Premium CS6 FREE Hands-on Workshops @ NAB

Adobe announced the unveiling of their latest video production tools this week prior to the NAB Show, featuring the CS6 Production Premium suite, which includes After Effects, Premiere Pro, Audition, Encore, and the newest additions, Prelude & SpeedGrade.

I will be giving hands-on mini-workshops for After Effects CS6 and Premiere Pro CS6 for the Manhattan Edit Workshops several times a day during the show. Of course you can stop by any time and just watch, but to get a seat and take CS6 for a “Test Drive” yourself, be sure to sign up ahead of time!

Product Review: Wacom Intuos5 Touch

Wacom hits another home-run with this innovative and user-friendly pen tablet and touch-sensitive input device. You can greatly reduce the need of a mouse and keyboard for general editing and compositing/roto/paint workflow with custom Express Keys, stylus controls and finger-input gestures directly on the surface.

Product Review: Monsters GT v7

GenArts has released an update to their Monsters GT v7 - which includes some new effects like Sky, Starfield, Water, Roman Tile and Candle. This brings the Monsters GT suite to 55 effects plug-ins ranging from physics-based particles, fluids, fire, smoke and time-based feedback and artistic effects.

Simulated Rack Focus for Believable Composites

If you’re looking to give your green screen composites another step of realism or to simulate the look of a shallow DOF with a DSLR, then this video tutorial will show you how! Using Adobe After Effects, I show you first how to get a great green screen composite with Keylight and then alter both the foreground and background plates along the Timeline to give a simulated rack focus pull. Check out this step-by-step video tutorial and feel free to leave comments and questions below.

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