Dean Velez posted 11 free AE 7 Pro fire animations at theanvel.com.
.
May 31, 2006
May 30, 2006
Helpful AE 7 Graph Editor tutorials
"Mylenium" did a video tutorial on the timeline and the graph editor in After Effects 7 for Creative Cow.
Trish and Chris Meyer's column "Camera Control, Part 2," from DV Magazine May 2006 and now online, uses parenting, expressions, and the new After Effects 7.0 Graph Editor to control a 3D camera.
.
Trish and Chris Meyer's column "Camera Control, Part 2," from DV Magazine May 2006 and now online, uses parenting, expressions, and the new After Effects 7.0 Graph Editor to control a 3D camera.
.
May 27, 2006
iRiver gives customers the choice of switching off DRM
Boing Boing:
"iRiver gives customers the choice of switching off DRM...This is an object lesson in how DRM fails in the marketplace..."
.
"iRiver gives customers the choice of switching off DRM...This is an object lesson in how DRM fails in the marketplace..."
.
May 26, 2006
Edit to the Maxx - sorta
via FreshDV...
Edit to the Maxx - The Art of the Digital Cut
Steve Mullen has started a series on shooting and editing to run every other Wednesday at CamcorderInfo. Using Avid's FreeDV, the only NLE that runs on both XP and OS X, the course will cover basic and intermediate editing, but might be a good way to slowly add Avid knowledge.
.
Edit to the Maxx - The Art of the Digital Cut
Steve Mullen has started a series on shooting and editing to run every other Wednesday at CamcorderInfo. Using Avid's FreeDV, the only NLE that runs on both XP and OS X, the course will cover basic and intermediate editing, but might be a good way to slowly add Avid knowledge.
.
May 24, 2006
Windows Media Encoder screen capture
The free MS app Windows Media Encoder can do screen capture -- just don't use VBR encoding. Black recordings mean you have to turn off DirectX overlays. In Windows Media Player, go to options >Performance >Video Acceleration>Restore Defaults.
The situation is similar in Real Player, in case you want to delay viewing of Harold Pinter's 2005 Nobel Lecture.
If you want to capture action going through Direct X or other Video Acceleration, you can record from the video out port of your graphics card or use Fraps, ACA Capture Pro, or similar utilities.
The situation is similar in Real Player, in case you want to delay viewing of Harold Pinter's 2005 Nobel Lecture.
If you want to capture action going through Direct X or other Video Acceleration, you can record from the video out port of your graphics card or use Fraps, ACA Capture Pro, or similar utilities.
Google AdWords adds video
John Dowdell, longtime multimedia guru at Macromedia, comments on the news that Google AdWords adds video ads.
.
.
May 23, 2006
Flash vs. Windows: Can Adobe break Microsoft?
backgrounder on the middleware battle of the Flash-Flex-Spry-Apollo widgets and Microsoft Expressions-Vista:
"...the new Adobe/Macromedia is trying to break Windows, using Flash. Most people in the tech community are viewing this as a battle over web graphics, but it's really about next-generation applications in general, which cuts to the heart of the Windows franchise. Adobe's plan is extremely ambitions, and I think it might even work."
more at Mobile Opportunity...and during Adobe Developer Week starting June 12.
"...the new Adobe/Macromedia is trying to break Windows, using Flash. Most people in the tech community are viewing this as a battle over web graphics, but it's really about next-generation applications in general, which cuts to the heart of the Windows franchise. Adobe's plan is extremely ambitions, and I think it might even work."
more at Mobile Opportunity...and during Adobe Developer Week starting June 12.
Nokia and Adobe team up to offer video editing pack
from ITP.net:
"Nokia has teamed up with Adobe to prepare a new standard sales pack that comprises the former firms’ Nokia N93 mobile phone device and Adobe’s Premiere Elements 2.0 software for Windows XP."
"Nokia has teamed up with Adobe to prepare a new standard sales pack that comprises the former firms’ Nokia N93 mobile phone device and Adobe’s Premiere Elements 2.0 software for Windows XP."
AE7 out of memory problems
on the AE-list, Michael Natkin's advice on AE7 out of memory problems:
'You can generally help these problems by going to Preferences > Memory and Cache and *lowering* the value of Maximum RAM Cache Size. You are probably running into a situation where memory is fragmented, just like can happen to your hard drive. Try knocking it down 5-10% at a time til the problem goes away. (And yes, we are aware this is not really good :).'
.
'You can generally help these problems by going to Preferences > Memory and Cache and *lowering* the value of Maximum RAM Cache Size. You are probably running into a situation where memory is fragmented, just like can happen to your hard drive. Try knocking it down 5-10% at a time til the problem goes away. (And yes, we are aware this is not really good :).'
.
Proxy and Adobe Edge
John Nack reports on 2 Adobe projects featuring tips and clarifications, but not exactly how Flash-Flex-Apollo beat Microsoft Expressions:
"Now ready for download: Volume II, No. 2 of Proxy, the quarterly design magazine from Adobe. This issue features a talk with John Maeda of MIT's Media Lab; type geekery with Robert Slimbach; vectorizing in Illustrator; top 10 keyboard shorcuts in Creative Suite 2; enhancements to Adobe Stock Photos, and more."
"The May 22 Adobe Edge newsletter is also live. Featured in this installment: Driving the Jaguar Experience Online | Edge Interview with Tim O'Reilly | Flex 2: What's in It for Flash Developers? | Merging Two Sites: The New Adobe.com | Get More from Your Ajax Applications | Tips for Rookie Video Producers | Tapping into the Adobe Developer Community."
"Now ready for download: Volume II, No. 2 of Proxy, the quarterly design magazine from Adobe. This issue features a talk with John Maeda of MIT's Media Lab; type geekery with Robert Slimbach; vectorizing in Illustrator; top 10 keyboard shorcuts in Creative Suite 2; enhancements to Adobe Stock Photos, and more."
"The May 22 Adobe Edge newsletter is also live. Featured in this installment: Driving the Jaguar Experience Online | Edge Interview with Tim O'Reilly | Flex 2: What's in It for Flash Developers? | Merging Two Sites: The New Adobe.com | Get More from Your Ajax Applications | Tips for Rookie Video Producers | Tapping into the Adobe Developer Community."
Exploring Videoblogs
Authors of Secrets of Videoblogging wrote an 8-page overview of the subject for CreativeMac:
"Exploring Videoblogs: Videoblogs are easy to explore, but you’ll need a way to keep track of all the good stuff you find"
"Exploring Videoblogs: Videoblogs are easy to explore, but you’ll need a way to keep track of all the good stuff you find"
May 22, 2006
Flash experiments and tutorials
via gotoandlearn.com...
brendandawes.com has many interesting Flash experiments and downloads, some even ported from AE. gotoandlearn.com has tutorial movies that use explain some of his stuff. The movies are by Lee Brimelow who also writes theflashblog.com.
.
brendandawes.com has many interesting Flash experiments and downloads, some even ported from AE. gotoandlearn.com has tutorial movies that use explain some of his stuff. The movies are by Lee Brimelow who also writes theflashblog.com.
.
May 20, 2006
Transcribe with QT Movie NoteTaker
via DV Guru...
QT Movie NoteTaker, a Mac app, seems like it might do eventually do what Clip Notes does in Premiere -- and more.
A free download, it lets you "watch a series of video clips and take notes, or if you need to get dailies or raw footage to clients or collaborators for comments, you know what a huge hassle it can be- doing window burns, waiting hours for renders, making DVDs, spending hours encoding, and then there’s the hassle of the review process- having to continually hit pause on a DVD remote and write down the timecode you see on the screen.
QT Movie NoteTaker, a Mac app, seems like it might do eventually do what Clip Notes does in Premiere -- and more.
A free download, it lets you "watch a series of video clips and take notes, or if you need to get dailies or raw footage to clients or collaborators for comments, you know what a huge hassle it can be- doing window burns, waiting hours for renders, making DVDs, spending hours encoding, and then there’s the hassle of the review process- having to continually hit pause on a DVD remote and write down the timecode you see on the screen.
May 18, 2006
More on Conduit at dvGarage
More on Conduit, including a movie, at dvGarage...
from Mel Matsuoka on FCP-L:
"As a Shake user, it's pretty amazing how much performance I get out of Conduit running in the lowly Apple Motion. It's lacking some important nodes, such as a blur node and a matte-choker/dilate node. Kind of a bummer, but I'm sure they'll add that in the near future. But being able to color-correct with Curves...in float...in real-time, and with all the added power and flexibility of a node-based workflow just rocks my casbah! ...If Apple can somehow integrate the the same realtime FXplug architecture that Motion has into Shake, it would be a most amazing product."
.
from Mel Matsuoka on FCP-L:
"As a Shake user, it's pretty amazing how much performance I get out of Conduit running in the lowly Apple Motion. It's lacking some important nodes, such as a blur node and a matte-choker/dilate node. Kind of a bummer, but I'm sure they'll add that in the near future. But being able to color-correct with Curves...in float...in real-time, and with all the added power and flexibility of a node-based workflow just rocks my casbah! ...If Apple can somehow integrate the the same realtime FXplug architecture that Motion has into Shake, it would be a most amazing product."
.
May 10, 2006
Conduit: Shake in Motion
found at MGLA
Next Meeting, Tuesday, May 16
Pixel Corps Presents: Conduit for Motion
"Alex Lindsay will be showing off dvGarage's latest software marvel: Conduit. Conduit is the new plug-in for Apple Motion 2 from Pixel Corps and dvGarage that gives you the basic nodal compositing functionality of Shake, but at a fraction of the price. Like dvMatte Blast, Conduit takes advantage of Motion 2's processing capabilities, meaning that it works...in real time."
It appears Conduit, heir apparent to Edo, was already previewed on G4's cable show Call For Help and discussed among VJs.
.
Next Meeting, Tuesday, May 16
Pixel Corps Presents: Conduit for Motion
"Alex Lindsay will be showing off dvGarage's latest software marvel: Conduit. Conduit is the new plug-in for Apple Motion 2 from Pixel Corps and dvGarage that gives you the basic nodal compositing functionality of Shake, but at a fraction of the price. Like dvMatte Blast, Conduit takes advantage of Motion 2's processing capabilities, meaning that it works...in real time."
.
Trapcode Particular 1.5 released
Trapcode Particular 1.5 , currently the premier particle system for After Effects, is out as a free upgrade. Check out the posted movies on new (and old features) which include Depth of Field, Motion Path (ability to precisely control the path particles take after being emitted), and Particle Count in Info window.
.
"The Forest in Winter"
Interesting little Japanese movies, and history docs, at YouTube: "The Forest in Winter" and "Rolling Bomber Special." Don't eat the swine!
Plus there's videos by DJ Krush with Japanese traditional instrumentals and with rock guitarists.
.
Plus there's videos by DJ Krush with Japanese traditional instrumentals and with rock guitarists.
.
May 9, 2006
Open source algorithm for denoising, interpolation and resizing
Hey, where's the free AE version?
GREYCstoration is an open source algorithm for image denoising, interpolation and resizing, using state-of-the-art image processing techniques. The original GREYCstoration algorithm is distributed as a command line program. There are some variants done by other people, including a Windows stand-alone GUI and a GiMP plug-in:
http://www.greyc.ensicaen.fr/~dtschump/greycstoration/index.html
.
GREYCstoration is an open source algorithm for image denoising, interpolation and resizing, using state-of-the-art image processing techniques. The original GREYCstoration algorithm is distributed as a command line program. There are some variants done by other people, including a Windows stand-alone GUI and a GiMP plug-in:
http://www.greyc.ensicaen.fr/~dtschump/greycstoration/index.html
.
The Anvel offers free AE projects
The Anvel, producer AE tutorial CDs, has launched a new site and as enticement to visit posted the AEPs that were used for the NAB Post Production World classes presented by Dean Velez. There's even preview movies that you can flip through to see if there's something you want to deconstruct.
.
.
May 8, 2006
Direct X 10 might be Vista-only
A wrinkle for both Mac and XP users: the switch...
"...unconfirmed, that the next version of Microsoft's graphic routines and APIs will not be portable to Windows XP or other Microsoft users. Buy it all, or none, if this report is correct."
from John Dowdell, via Internet Nexus, via [H]Enthusiast
.
"...unconfirmed, that the next version of Microsoft's graphic routines and APIs will not be portable to Windows XP or other Microsoft users. Buy it all, or none, if this report is correct."
from John Dowdell, via Internet Nexus, via [H]Enthusiast
.
Apple towers, new Intel chips, WWDC delay
Insight from HD For Indies on upcoming MacIntel towers...and it looks like the MacBooks and MacMinis do NOT support Final Cut Studio! And it's not yet clear that they support Final Cut Express HD 3.5.
Clarity on Zaxwerks plug-ins
If you were wondering what the differences are between Zaxwerks ProAnimator for After Effects and Zaxwerks’ 3D Invigorator plug-ins, John Dickinson posted a PDF comparison which should make things clearer.
.
.
Premiere plug-ins listed at Toolfarm
Premiere plug-ins are now included in our Toolfarm's Plug-in Finder.
They plan to add other plug-ins and other host applications, such as Final Cut Pro, Shake and Motion.
.
They plan to add other plug-ins and other host applications, such as Final Cut Pro, Shake and Motion.
.
May 5, 2006
Google SketchUp
Awhile back Google bought SketchUp, 3D modeling program, and has now released Google SketchUp for free download along with hooks for insertions into Google Earth.
SketchUp is simple but powerful -- enough so that a UI guru at Adobe called it his favorite tool. There are several video tutorials available to get started quickly with SketchUp, or SketchUp 4 and 5 for commercial work.
.
SketchUp is simple but powerful -- enough so that a UI guru at Adobe called it his favorite tool. There are several video tutorials available to get started quickly with SketchUp, or SketchUp 4 and 5 for commercial work.
.
May 4, 2006
Ten video sharing services compared
from DV Guru:
"The number of video-sharing sites has shot through the roof recently, as dozens of companies try to become the Flickr of the online video world. To this end, many video services have started offering new features like editing and remixability in an attempt to snatch a piece of the ever-expanding online video pie. But for the average user--who just wants to post a video on the 'net and share it with some friends--there are already too many options out there. All one really wants to know is, which site is going to work, with the least amount of hassle?
I took 10 of these sites out for a test drive, and picked some winners. If you want to post, watch, share, or edit video online, this post's for you."
.
"The number of video-sharing sites has shot through the roof recently, as dozens of companies try to become the Flickr of the online video world. To this end, many video services have started offering new features like editing and remixability in an attempt to snatch a piece of the ever-expanding online video pie. But for the average user--who just wants to post a video on the 'net and share it with some friends--there are already too many options out there. All one really wants to know is, which site is going to work, with the least amount of hassle?
I took 10 of these sites out for a test drive, and picked some winners. If you want to post, watch, share, or edit video online, this post's for you."
.
Video CoPilot tutorials
Video CoPilot is a resource for visual effects and digital post production offering free tutorials -- in association with Creative Cow -- as well as inexpensive for-sale tutorials, AE presets, and stock footage.
Video CoPilot joins LayerLab in offering presets and projects: one set, "Film Magic Pro," offers film look coloring.
.
Video CoPilot joins LayerLab in offering presets and projects: one set, "Film Magic Pro," offers film look coloring.
.
May 2, 2006
Expression Driven Pie Charts & more
Harry J Frank composed these helpful movie tutorials:
>> "Creating a Camera Shake Using Motion Tile and Expressions"
>> "Using the 'Set Matte' filter with the AE Type tool"
>> "Expression Driven Pie Charts"
.
>> "Creating a Camera Shake Using Motion Tile and Expressions"
>> "Using the 'Set Matte' filter with the AE Type tool"
>> "Expression Driven Pie Charts"
.
May 1, 2006
ABC shows use Flash
ABC.com is testing a Flash Player 8-based video player for streaming primetime TV shows for free, see Mike Downeys' blog for comments and links to a Flash Insider story.
JD adds "... congrats to Schematic and Robert Reinhardt for their UI/Flash role in this..." and notes the role Flash plays in YouTube, Google Video, and other services.
.
JD adds "... congrats to Schematic and Robert Reinhardt for their UI/Flash role in this..." and notes the role Flash plays in YouTube, Google Video, and other services.
.
Moving Between Final Cut Pro And After Effects: The Scripting Option
from AE Enhancers:
Dale Bradshaw of creative-workflow-hacks.com posted a tutorial on moving elements between Final Cut Pro and After Effects using FCP-XML and JSON.
.
Dale Bradshaw of creative-workflow-hacks.com posted a tutorial on moving elements between Final Cut Pro and After Effects using FCP-XML and JSON.
.