Maltaannon.com has a free project file that shows you how to create extruded text and shapes with AE CS3 without plug-ins and without duplicating 50 layers. Check out CE ShapeExtruder. It looks pretty great.
Via AE Portal
http://www.toolfarm.com
The Happenin’ Hotspot for After Effects Artists
Archive for September, 2007
How to animate a walk cycle with Flash and a Wacom
Kind of a big ad for Wacom, but this is cute. I think they used a voice effect to make it sound like a child.
You could use this same technique with After Effects paint set to single frame.
Zed=Z for all of you Americans. Zed’s dead, baby. Zed’s dead.
FCPToAE going (mostly) CS3 Only
Dale Bradshaw’s blog, Creative Workflow Hacks, has a script that he’s been working on called FCPToAE to help users move between Final Cut Pro and After Effects.
Zaxwerks ProAnimator Tip #1: Reversing an Object Animation
John Dickinson, a Toolfarm Forum Expert, has posted a nice tip at Zaxwerks Blog. Watch John’s video tip. (Also, check out John’s Creative Background Design Training Bundle.)
ProAnimator is a great plug-in for After Effects. I encourage you to Download a demo and take it for a test drive.
Vanishing Point Tutorials for After Effects and Photoshop
The ever prolific Ko Maruyama has produced a couple of videos for the Adobe Design Center about Vanishing Point.
Working with Vanishing Point in Photoshop and After Effects
Using Vanishing Point to map a 3D environment
Tutorial: Using BCC Filters to Generate a News Show Opener – Part 2
In a recent tutorial, Boris took a still image file of a world map, and used BCC LED to transform it into a wall of blinking LED lights. Then, they used BCC DVE to spin the image 50 degrees along the Y axis to place it at an angle to the viewer. To continue the effect, they’ll take the same image and add a particle filter to make the lights appear as though they are being sprayed onto the wall, creating a blinking and glowing LED map over time.
View tutorial: Using BCC Filters to Generate a News Show Opener – Part 2
Free Cinema 4D Projects from Chris Smith
Chris Smith, one of Toolfarm Expert Forums Experts. Chris made some free tools for Cinema 4D called CSTools.
Ko Maruyama… our friend, our buddy, our pal… has but together a great tutorial about one of the CSTools.
Awesome Scripts for Photoshop CS3 and Bridge: Dr. Brown’s Services 1.9.2
Via Jeff Tranberry’s Photoshop Crawlspace:
Russell Brown has produced a great collection of FREE workflow scripts for Photoshop CS3 & CS3 Extended in Dr. Brown’s Services 1.9.2 which he announced at Photoshop World, Las Vegas earlier this month.
Creating lower 3rds with After Effects CS3 & Bridge CS3
Have you seen Terry White’s Adobe Creative Suite Podcast? Terry is a Detroit-based artist who also runs the local Mac user group. He puts out podcasts about once a week. Quality stuff.
Creating lower 3rds with After Effects CS3 & Bridge CS3
Breathing Old Life into New Lens Flares
Remember that old HBO opening sequence from the mid 80s? There’s been some discussion about it over at mograph. So, I was watching this ‘making of’ and I was struck by all of the cool things they did in-camera, rather than CG (ok, so I guess I am not THAT old). One of the things was how they made the “flare” effect (when the HBO logo appears) using two patterns superimposed on each other, set on top of a backlit copy stand.
I got thinking about this, and realized that using simple AE shapes and track matte settings could easily achieve this. Then I mixed in a little standard AE Lens Flare, Blur and Shine, and connected all of the positions to a Null.
This is a PERFECT opportunity to play with Brainstorm. I selected the Shape ‘points’ and Position and Shine Colors, then hit Brainstorm. Below, you’ll find a link to the project which contains several variations.
