Motion Graphics & Visual Effects

We’re very proud of the line-up of users and experts we have writing for PVC. However, not all potential writers have the time to fill an entire channel of their own. Therefore, in the coming weeks we’ll be launching a series of “themed” channels, each containing a rotating cast of several additional writers.

The first such new channel is Motion Graphics & Visual Effects. Among the writers we have slated to share their expertise are:

John Dickinson of Motionworks

Jonas Hummelstrand of General Specialist

Alan Shisko of Motion Graphics ‘n Such

Mark Spencer of All About Motion

David Torno of AE I Owe You

All of these guys are well-known users in the community, and as witnessed by the above sites, have already been sharing information with others. We’re happy to have them sharing information with you up here on PVC.

Additional channels we have planned include Editing & Post Production, Cameras, Lights, Action, and Web Video & Beyond.

If you are interested in writing for PVC, please contact me at cmeyer @ this site’s domain. Tell me your expertise, what you’re interested in writing about, and show me a few examples of your writing. If you’re accepted, you’ll share in the ad revenue generated by PVC based on your traffic. Help us make PVC an even better resource for all who visit.

Best Regards -
Chris Meyer
PVC Editorial Director

TED Talk: The Truly Soft Side of Software

The annual TED (Technology, Entertainment, and Design) conference is a place where Big Thinkers gather annually to inspire and be inspired. I’ve been going through their online archive of talks for my own amusement and education, and sharing with you ones I found to be particularly interesting.

Back in June, I highlighted Jakob Trollback’s talk on Rethinking the Music Video. This time around, I want to highlight a “music video” that’s considerably in the more abstract domain. In this presentation, Golan Levin discusses the custom performance software he writes which allows him to improvise music with accompanying visuals. We’re strictly in the experimental realm here (the soundtrack is 60s-era avant-garde electronic music - listen with your speakers on to annoy your cubemates), but sometimes, great inspiration comes from the very fringes of an art. Note: The visuals are initially very simplistic (the piece is titled “Scribble”), but become much more complex about 4:40 into the video.

Aside from Levin’s TED Talk, I strongly recommend you check out the Flong Interactive Art site (pictured above) which contains a number of interesting audiovisual works by Levin and his friends - there’s lots of cool interactive visual pieces on there.

On Artbeats.com: Article on Type Basics

Every month, we write a Tips N Tricks article for our friends at Artbeats.com. This month we wrote a basic introduction to using text - including a few simple rules of typography that many miss, plus a more subjective discussion about choosing the right fonts for a job. (This is obviously a companion for the piece on Font Resources that we just posted here on PVC.)

Click here to download a PDF of “Type Basics” 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.

Adobe CS4 Just Around the Corner

Want to find out everything new in Adobe Creative Suite 4? Trust me… there’s some really cool things coming. Adobe has an invitation out to view their Web broadcast on September 23rd. But you do need to go to the sign-up page at www.adobe.com/go/somethingbrilliant.

By the way… I am going to be releasing something very special on the 23rd as well as a “thank you” to all my viewers. Be sure to stick around and keep an eye out.

Font Resources

We love fonts. We rank font selection right up there with choice of music and color scheme when it comes time to design a spot. Therefore, we’ve amassed quite a large font library over the years. Which then begs the obvious questions:

• Where do you get your fonts?
• How do you keep them organized?
• What are some good design resources to inspire the use of fonts?

We’d like to share with you a few tools, links and lists we’ve found to be handy over the years.

Photoshop for Video – Making Selections: Channels

TED Talk: The Power and Beauty of Organic Design

The annual TED (Technology, Entertainment, and Design) conference is a place where Big Thinkers gather annually to inspire and be inspired. I’ve been going through their online archive of talks for my own amusement and education, and sharing with you ones I found to be particularly interesting and relevant.

This week I’d like to share a talk by “Captain Organic” Ross Lovegrove of Studio X in Notting Hill, England. He is the celebrated designer of objects such as the iMac, Ty Nant water bottle, and Go chair. Ross is a proponent of what he calls “fat free” design that draws inspiration from natural forms - not just organic blobs in the name of nature, but shapes, processes, and sensibilities derived from the inner logic of natural objects. Although this talk is focused primarily on industrial design, those who are designing logos, 3D objects, or who just want to be inspired about someone deeply passionate about his field should enjoy it.

This talk is part of TED’s series Design Like You Give A Damn. Some who commented on the talk found Ross to be impractical at best and arrogant at worst; I found his laser-like focus on his ideals to be energizing.

After Effects Tips - Installment 2

Here is a second installment of random tips for working more productively with Adobe After Effects CS3, including the best place to find Help information (surprise: It’s not the Help file installed on your hard drive alongside After Effects…). Please feel free to add your own questions and alternative solutions in the Comments field at the end.

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