September 29, 2008
Embeddable Google Books
September 28, 2008
CS4 at SFMograph October 16
![](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_JHaxm312XQo/SOA4gI1DkMI/AAAAAAAABoY/WrS7d33xFvk/s200/mog.jpg)
Update: Matt Silverman, Creative Director at Phoenix Designs (and sfmograph co-host) will break down the motion graphics stinger his team created for the Adobe CS4 launch. "Created in collaboration with Nando Costa from Portland design studio Nervo, and Barcelona's Vasava, the piece explores the CS4 Master Collection as we travel through the Nervo and Vasava artwork. Phoenix completed this heavy AE project in After Effects CS4 (along with Photoshop CS4, Maya, and Cinema4D), and will go over some of the new features which they used to complete the animation including 3D model import and separate X/Y/Z transforms, as well as go over an interesting use of 3D transmission layers with falloff lighting using Buena Depth Cue. Bring the kids for this one... it's going to be swell. A QuickTime of the stinger can be seen here."
"Plug-in of the Month" for October is MochaAE.
September 27, 2008
CS4 Learning Centers at Layers & Photoshop User
![](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_JHaxm312XQo/SN5qkBKuRrI/AAAAAAAABoQ/Oyg2R0kGuPs/s200/CS4_glasslow.jpg)
Also, Photoshop User has more specific video at its Photoshop CS4 Learning Center. In particular, check out the less flashy new features like the Adjustment Panel, Dodge & Burn, On-Image Controls (also works in Hue/Sat and Curves), Live Brush Previews, and the Mask Panel (with dynamic edges).
Update: Richard Harrington is posting a growing library of video on Photoshop CS4 in different places, like his CSFour.com.
September 25, 2008
CS4 AVCHD Editing + big AE feature list
![](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_JHaxm312XQo/SNwos2IbbSI/AAAAAAAABoI/0KQrn_ZGr_M/s200/CS4Icon.jpg)
Todd Kopriva details an unordered, approximately comprehensive list of new features in After Effects CS4.
September 24, 2008
SF Cutters Sept 25 @ Adobe
![](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_JHaxm312XQo/SM1u90hVwQI/AAAAAAAABlQ/b8n49PBI_O0/s200/128color_wheel.png)
The agenda includes CS4 Production Premium, G Tech storage, and "Mini Reel" finalists -- and of course door prizes. This meeting is free, but you do need to pre-register to make sure there is a badge waiting for you and that you get refreshments courtesy of Adobe.
By the way there are other AE user group meetings the 25th including New York and Dallas, and in the LA area Adobe CS4 at Editor's Lounge on the 26th.
Spilling the beans on Pixel Bender
![](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_JHaxm312XQo/SNr9EkJfEDI/AAAAAAAABnw/p1_6oksbHvA/s320/mrdoob_shaders_planes.png)
![](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_JHaxm312XQo/SNr9FAQmLJI/AAAAAAAABn4/8umJwMnFTJM/s320/TunnelTest.jpg)
david van brink comments on the Kevin Goldsmith post Spilling the beans... Pixel Bender in CS4:"Pixel Bender is Adobe’s way of packaging up (essentially) OpenGL Shader Language, for use as effects plugins to their imaging products.
The outcome will be a lot of extremely cool effects plugins. Some of these will be old effects that run much faster, meaning we can use them more freely. Some of these will new effects that would have been prohibitively slow, but are now merely non-realtime."
In CS4 can you share these pieces of code, like the early shaders and filters done for Flash 10 pictured above (from Pixelero and Mr.doob, or even something akin to Fluffy)? I'm not sure, but After Effects is supposed to support the whole set of Pixel Bender functions, while Flash currently supports only a smaller subset, e.g., no GPU acceleration.
As noted earlier today, the Cartoon filter is a Pixel Bender filter, and the other 2 new GPU-accelerated effects, Turbulent Noise and Bilateral Blur, probably are too. And from an old post here, Pixel Bender in action in the Flash beta.
Update: Create Digital Motion (9/25) covers the same ground as this post and attracted clarifying comments by Kevin Goldsmith:
"Pixel Bender runs on the GPU in the Toolkit, in Photoshop and in After Effects. Photoshop’s new pan-rotate-and-zoom of super large images is also using the GPU. Premiere is using GPU acceleration built on AIF technologies, but does not support Pixel Bender filters in CS4.
Flash runs Pixel Bender multi-threaded on the CPU in 10.0
Peter’s original point is absolutely correct. Adobe was already using GPU acceleration before CS4, but in CS4 we’re pushing it even further. We’re also doing a lot of work on scaling for bigger numbers of multiple-cores. Run a complex Pixel Bender filter in FP 10 on an 4 or 8 core system and watch the CPU utilization."
Update 2: Kevin Goldsmith adds more with CPU, GPU, multi-core.
'Grave Threats' To Economy
![](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_JHaxm312XQo/SNqF_ZNlE2I/AAAAAAAABnI/pDspx9RDQD4/s400/blackmail.jpg)
picture via Digby
![](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_JHaxm312XQo/SOB8n3_cdEI/AAAAAAAABoo/X0wOp5fYSS4/s320/pottersville.jpg)
The actual wealth is still around; it was just skimmed off quick to protect it. After all, in Pottersville we serve hard drinks for men who want to get drunk fast.
The Cartoon filter story
![](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_JHaxm312XQo/SNqSk1F698I/AAAAAAAABnQ/V4MUjmgUsXY/s200/AECS4_cartoon3.jpg)
Lost in the shuffle is that Cartoon is one of 3 the new GPU-accelerated effects; the others are Turbulent Noise (an improved version of Fractal Noise, but without looping) and Bilateral Blur (like a fast Smart Blur). Anyway here's the story:
Todd Kopriva:
The Cartoon effect was written using the same foundational technology that underlies Pixel Bender. So, rather than thinking about the time spent on the Cartoon effect as being just spent on the Cartoon effect, think of it as time spent by our best people on implementing, testing, and improving a platform on which all sorts of fast and flexible effects are being built.
If you want After Effects to use your GPU effectively and provide an easy way for users to create effects, then you should be happy that time was spent on the Cartoon effect.
Dave Simons:
For the whole back-story, it's what Todd said, plus this detail: Holger Winnemöller was hired into the research group at Adobe after doing his PhD thesis on real-time video abstraction.
Siggraph paper: http://videoabstraction.net/papers/videoabstraction.pdf
Demo movie: http://videoabstraction.net/movie.php?size=large
BTW, the technically superior Red Giant ToonIt costs $379. Upgrade to AE CS4: $299.
September 23, 2008
Adobe responds to 23 After Effects gripes
Update: Helpdesk support back in the day, with English subtitles.
AE LiveDocs for CS4 +Premiere
![](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_JHaxm312XQo/SNlPMzn94uI/AAAAAAAABmw/EI06PccIy0I/s200/ae.gif)
There's a PDF, a page that describes all changes to the UI, and a new features page. Commenting won’t be turned on until the software is released.
Update: Todd Kopriva has more in After Effects CS4 Help is live! (...but it's still in beta).
Update 2: Adobe has also posted Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 Help on the web where you can search it. You can also go straight to the list of new features.
Grain Matching on new PVC channel
![](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_JHaxm312XQo/SNlVcQsH3MI/AAAAAAAABm4/cQPaGBfTbik/s200/GrainMatchingBannerAEIOY.jpg)
- 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
September 22, 2008
CS4 now public with previews
![](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_JHaxm312XQo/SNiuZOuy_jI/AAAAAAAABmY/Kts-WLwN55E/s200/box_production_premium_cs4_grey_60x88.png)
As the teams release more info, you'll find more on Adobe Blogs. John Nack has the first round-up of external resources in (CS)4 On The Floor!
For the continuing blow-by-blow on AE, Todd Kopriva, keeper of the docs, is keeping track new resources at After Effects region of interest. Also, you might watch AE product manager Michael Coleman's Keyframes blog for more information.
Chris & Trish Meyer are at the ready with After Effects CS4 New Creative Techniques at Lynda.com, which has previews for the other products too. There's more at ProVideoCoalition, Layers Magazine, and elsewhere:
- Chris & Trish have an After Effects CS4 quick tour
- Mark Christiansen posted a video about 3D in Photoshop/AE
- Richard Harrington has a video look at Photoshop CS4 User Interface Changes
- Stu Maschwitz on the Mini-Flowchart
- Zoom in Online has overviews, podcasts and tutorials starting
- Creative Mac has Adobe CS4: Six Things to Keep In Mind
- Real World Illustrator has CS4 facts and more
- Angie Taylor showed off After Effects CS4 at IBC
- Flash CS4 Feature Tour from Lee Brimelow
- Layers Magazine has a CS4 Learning Center with video reviews and tips for most of the CS4 applications, including After Effects.
- Mylenium has nice in-depth overviews of AE CS4 and 3D in PS
But wait, there's more: Check out Russell Brown's PS CS4 tutorials on AdobeTV; here's CS4 3D Mesh from Grayscale:
The Making of 'Reverie'
'if the Canon still camera team and the video team have come together to produce the Canon EOS 5D MKII - the next HD camcorder they come out with - may just floor us all… these are very exciting times - to be someone who focuses on “creating” as opposed to the “process” and “technique” of making your vision match the “reality” of the tools you have at your disposal.'
Here's a web version of Reverie. The QuickTime version is much better, and again you can find it and detailed comments though Prolost:
Update: The Full-Resolution Video Clips for Reverie were posted by Canon; Vincent Laforet’s Blog has the details at Original “raw” clips from “Reverie” Now Available for Download.
Update 2: Adam Wilt posted with humorous perspective on the SF Cutters list:
Does the EOS 5D MkII change everything?
Sure! Just like (in my short time following the business) Super8mm, AV-3400 Portapaks, Super8 Sound, Trinicon cameras with Betamax portapaks, one-piece camcorders, the ECS-90, the CMX 6000, EditDroid, VHS-C, Video8, Montage Picture Processor, Avid running on Apollos, Hi8, TAO Editizer, DV, Lightworks, the HDW-700, Panasonic WJ-MX12, FCP, the HDW-F900, Varicam, Vision2 Expression stock, the DVX100, HDV, P2, Vision3, Viper, Dalsa, SI2K, RED ONE, and XDCAM EX HQ (sorry if I missed your favorite world-changing revolutionary technology / camera / format / film stock).
More, better, and cleverer tools? Bring 'em on! Expecting the tool itself to cause an explosion of creativity and talent, and to turn the world upside down? Maybe not so much. Evolution, sure. Revolution? Um, hmm, erm...
As to some of the more breathless reports that the EOS 5D MkII eliminates the need for (a) lighting and (b) truckfuls of expensive cine lenses, tripods, dollies, crews, and such?
HD was supposed to have done away with lighting already, right? Turns out, it's not about candlepower, it's about control.
And with Canon and Nikon adapters readily available for the various 35mm relay lens adapters, RED ONEs, etc., how come Zeiss is several months behind making $15,000 Ultra Primes and Angenieux is scrambling to churn out enough $47,000 Optimos to meet demand? Perhaps there are *reasons* why cine lenses are different from stills lenses; could that be it?
Tripods & dollies & cranes, oh my? Don't need 'em--if you shooting "Blair Witch Project", or "Cloverfield", or "Medium Cool", or any "Bourne" film, or the opening shot for "The Bridegroom, the Comedienne, and the Pimp". If you're doing the *rest* of "The Bridegroom, the Comedienne, and the Pimp", or "Citizen Kane", or Wavelength", or "Michael Clayton", or "Casablanca", well, not sure a handheld 5D is gonna rock your world.
Adam Wilt / filmmaker, Meets The Eye / writer,
provideocoalition.com / Mt View CA USA
Update 3: Vincent Laforet spoke at ILM Nov 13th.
HDR Time-Lapse movies
Twin Peaks San Francisco Sunrise from Chad Richard on Vimeo.
Also, TimeTraveler notes a cool blog called Abducted By Design that features various inspirations, like Motion Experiments from Norway's Klipp og Lim:
AE training resources
![](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_JHaxm312XQo/SNgqvE1fbYI/AAAAAAAABl4/w4z5ayzExjo/s200/portlogot.png)
September 21, 2008
ProEXR 1.3 released
![](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_JHaxm312XQo/SNaZecKCKaI/AAAAAAAABlw/nFgZ4XLhjbo/s200/ImpOpt.png)
Update: CS4 comes with several third-party plug-ins, including Foundry Keylight, Synthetic Aperture Color Finesse, fnord ProEXR, and Cycore FX.
Update: (Feb 2009) see the long discussion of this file format on an Adobe forum on Photoshop. Brendan recaps: "OpenEXR files use premultiplied images, while Photoshop long ago chose to use straight."
September 20, 2008
'The Wire' creator on journalism
Watch the interview and check out his comments at PrepShootPost.
September 17, 2008
DSLR HD movie samples
Digital Photography Review posted movies from both the Nikon D90 (AVI/MJPEG and MPEG4) and the Canon EOS 5D Mark II (MOV/MPEG4). There's also movies on the Nikon and Canon sites.
The D90 has 3 sizes at 24fps: 1280 x 720, VGA (640 x 424), and QVGA (320 x 216). The Mark II does 30fps at 1920 x 1080 (38.6 Mbits/sec ~ 4.8 MBytes/sec) or 640 x 480 (17.3 Mbits/sec ~ 2.2 MBytes/sec). Below is a reported test from the Nikon D90.
Update: Apart from RED products there are more cameras along these lines. Prolost and others have discussed the Ikonoskop A-cam dII (see the MacVideo.TV report and another movie from IBC), and there's the Casio Exilim EX-FH20 can record up to 1200 fps movies although at small sizes. Now back to the pages of the camera geeks and gadget blogs.
Update 2: I was going to stop but Prolost posted about Reverie an impressive new video by Vincent Laforet on the Canon site (direct link).
Update 3: The EOS 5D Mark II: Full-Resolution Video Clips for Reverie were posted by Canon; Vincent Laforet’s Blog has the details at Original “raw” clips from “Reverie” Now Available for Download.
Ball of Confusion (That's What the World Is Today)
He also wrote and produced this song by The Temptations that still seems fresh today (despite the decline of the Motor City):
Pixel Bender video tutorials
![](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_JHaxm312XQo/SNCvtrufdYI/AAAAAAAABlg/bTNDzpv4rGM/s200/hydra.jpg)
Pixel Bender will be tough going for most of us, but mere mortals can get a peek. Lee Brimelow posted 2 video tutorials on getting started with Pixel Bender and using the filters in Flash on his site gotoandlearn.com.
You also can check out an online demo app and download the Pixel Bender Toolkit from Adobe Labs.
-via Kevin Goldsmith's blog
Update: John Nack posted some notes (9/21/08) on Photoshop and Flash in New Pixel Bender hotness.
Rebel CC video tutorial
You can watch the tutorial at Filmmaking Central...
September 16, 2008
Bigfug FreeFrame access for AE CS3
![](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_JHaxm312XQo/SNAZtlLk3nI/AAAAAAAABlY/LQuZqa4d4Vs/s200/fugged.jpg)
Bigfug has now released a version of their inexpensive commercial product Frame Runner (Windows-only) that enables FreeFrame filters in CS3. It seems like the filters come separately.
FreeFrame is an alternative framework for developing video effects plug-ins and hosts on Windows, Linux and Mac OSX and was initially intended for use in VJ applications. Pete Warden provided a free FreeFrame filters and an AE plug-in to access FreeFrame filters on Windows and Mac OS X, but he didn't update his work for CS3. Pete appears to have moved on to Apple Motion (working at Apple), but the BSD licence will let you maintain the AE versions. His Freeframe filters are still free.
September 15, 2008
After Effects CS4 at IBC 2008
![](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_JHaxm312XQo/SM1u90hVwQI/AAAAAAAABlQ/b8n49PBI_O0/s200/128color_wheel.png)
-- After Effects CS4 ships with Imagineer System’s Mocha-AE
-- a Cartoon filter that turns clips into animated movie
-- AE compositions on the Premiere timeline and other Dynamic Link enhancements
-- automatic creation of compositions to match the size and framerate of mobile phone templates from Device Central
-- a Mini-Flowchart and other UI enhancements
-- 3D functionality with raytrace rendering moving between PS and AE
-- export a multilayered AE comp to a Flash project
-- separate keyframes and curves for X, Y, and Z
Update: a Cartoon filter that's fast and works easily would be a good thing, though it might not appeal immediately to strict visual effects types. The full feature set has not been announced; these preliminary reports.
Update 2: Apple Insider says Adobe Creative Suite 4 details emerge, but nothing on After Effects.
Update 2: Digtial Arts jumps the gun again with a beta preview (it's Tuesday in England earlier), and CNET has a teaser:
September 14, 2008
SF Cutters Sept 25: New @ Adobe
![](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_JHaxm312XQo/SM1u90hVwQI/AAAAAAAABlQ/b8n49PBI_O0/s200/128color_wheel.png)
This meeting is free, but you do need to preregister to make sure there is a badge waiting for you and that you get refreshments (courtesy of Adobe).
September 13, 2008
Zorro-The Layer Tagger +more
Zorro Video Tutorial from Lloyd on Vimeo.
September 12, 2008
Video Sampling Workflow with After Effects Scripting
![](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_JHaxm312XQo/SMrFgCcjJsI/AAAAAAAABk4/Z2zQg-FI_1g/s320/SAMPLE.jpg)
"Like to cut up and sample video? Sick of all that time-consuming scrubbing, slicing and rearranging in Vegas or Premiere? Well I’ve figured out a workflow using a collection of After Effects scripts which turns lots of tedious editing into a very quick process to output a series of video clips for your VJing pleasure."
Leveraging tools for journalists
![](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_JHaxm312XQo/SMrN4kvZGHI/AAAAAAAABlA/IzBFoKipaeA/s320/20080819_wordcloud.jpg)
Wordle for tag clouds and more,
mostly via Andy Dickinson:
- Invisible Inkling's Online Tools List,
- Tools You Can Use group at Wired Journalists,
- How to create graphs and charts that pop,
- Embeddable slides and other tools for journalists,
- Flickr’s superior slideshow tool.
Photoshop's 3D plumbing
Update: 3D surfaces could be in Photoshop someday too. According to New Scientist, Textured graphics can be captured in a flash.
Artweaver: Photoshop in a pinch
![](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_JHaxm312XQo/SMqy7i8PvtI/AAAAAAAABko/yZAM_w5tV-k/s200/artweaver.jpg)
I can't decide if Photoshop Express is already already less annoying than Artweaver or GIMPshop.
September 10, 2008
Free Glitter filter from Boris
![](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_JHaxm312XQo/SMe1Tul2X5I/AAAAAAAABkY/EPvrn4WT7Bw/s200/glitter6.jpg)
Glitter is available for After Effects, Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro, Motion, and Avid editing and finishing systems until September 30, 2008. There's also a free tutorial: Generate a Glittering Sky.
Update: Ko Maruyama has a quick tip video to show you how to get around some little gotchas that might pop up.
iTunes new visualizer is Magnetosphere
For more on Hodgin, see an earlier post Flocking with 3D Perlin noise, which was born from mistaken identity of Trapcode Klangfarbe and AlphaOmega iTunes visualizer (in Mac beta). Not coincidently Trapcode leverages Perlin Noise expertly.
Magnetosphere revisited (audio by Tosca) from flight404 on Vimeo.
September 9, 2008
Project: Report - YouTube/Pulitzer Journalism Contest
Hullfish color correction tutorials
![](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_JHaxm312XQo/SMZkv4gmHOI/AAAAAAAABj4/l4Th8vGmlO4/s200/eclipseclean_thumb.gif)
The tutorials will be part of a completely revised edition of the 2002 book Color Correction for Digital Video (Google Books sample) by Jaime Fowler and Hullfish, which should be out in December.
UV maps, channels, mattes, & integrating 3D
![](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_JHaxm312XQo/SMZgrgGEoWI/AAAAAAAABjw/59P6JCByZ0M/s200/adc_lockup.gif)
Another Photoshop CS4 sneak peak
![](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_JHaxm312XQo/SMZqQ4SKAnI/AAAAAAAABkA/kDYCLgjKQKQ/s200/pswkeynote.jpg)
The first 20 minutes are interesting too though, for Photoshop Express-mobile features and Lightroom. Other sneak peaks can be found in these posts.
September 8, 2008
Live hurricane video and data
Beet.TV notes that Gannett Has Live Hurricane Coverage on Mogulus Platform....msncbc.com has New Flash Hurricane Tracker.
NBC's hurricane tracker is nicely interactive but has no video. By the way, another nice weather site is Weather Underground. Google Earth has been used to visualize tracking data from Hurricane Hunters planes, but it's can be complicated, so see Google Earth Blog and Google Earth Design on the Tropical Atlantic visualization effort.
The Gannett widget pictured below integrates several live feeds from Mogulus (the embedding was imperfect).
Picasa 3.0 beta
![](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_JHaxm312XQo/SMUhbi7aubI/AAAAAAAABjU/hWf59BgNDW0/s200/plogo.jpg)
The slideshow movie export is limited to Windows Media 8 and YouTube at 5 sizes.
RealDVD legally copies DVDs +Amazon video
![](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_JHaxm312XQo/SMUmMfEl1tI/AAAAAAAABjg/J_spqtcIJ3Y/s200/realdvd_library_sort.jpg)
Read more at TechCrunch...
![](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_JHaxm312XQo/SMUoEgW_aCI/AAAAAAAABjo/6DMHB99gDM8/s200/amazon_tivo_screen.jpg)
Beet.TV seems excited about this with a "Real" interview in Bombshell from RealNetworks: Rip Save Burn Unlimited Hollywood Movies with $30 Program.
September 4, 2008
Mark Coleran on screen design
Update: Check out Mark Coleran's Flow of Visual Design for Film for even more info; there seems to be blog in the works for after Gridiron Flow ships.
Here's a Coleran reel sample from Vimeo (it works better on Vimeo).
Update: The MossyBlog has another Interview with Mark Coleran.
YVAN EHT NIOJ + Hippie Fantasy
September 3, 2008
Adobe CS 4 at Editor's Lounge
Of course, yesterday Adobe set a September 23 webcast for an announcement about CS4.
September 1, 2008
Flocking with 3D Perlin noise
He talks about the Processing environment and his use of 3D Perlin noise for flocking. Flash people were quick to experiment after an earlier presentation on Perlin noise; here's one, Animated Perlin Clouds in Papervision3D.
There's a bunch more generative processing stuff around beside the recent video by Radiohead. Toolbox is a node-based generative editor app that was featured recently on Create Digital Motion, which also features regular write ups on Processing projects. You can find demo movies of Toolbox on Vimeo, where the programmer links to Vector Field animations that do not use Perlin noise (implemented in After Effects in the Fractal Noise filter).
Open Encore DVD projects cross platform
![](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_JHaxm312XQo/SLxINOfHkqI/AAAAAAAABjE/IQE8KCU8bBY/s200/blu-ray_285x200.jpg)
But, from the aether, there's an unsupported trick to open a Win/Mac project in OS X /Windows. If you delete the file “ProjectMedia.acx” from the project folder before opening the project it'll open, but then you'll need to locate asset files and transcode all over again.