Frederik Steinmetz gives an introduction to After Effects expressions at AE Tuts in the first of a series. This is beginner stuff so if you’ve zero experience this is a good place to start. Watch it here. Afterwards, if you just can’t wait for part two, you can visit MotionScript.com for more information or check out Harry Frank‘s expressions training title over at Toolfarm.

If you wanna be an AE Pro, dive into expressions!

Trish and Chris Meyer have been releasing a special chapter of their book Creating Motion Graphics with After Effects in what will ultimately be twelve installments of Deeper Modes of Expression. You can find these at their blog CMG Keyframes on the Pro Video Coalition. As the name implies this series really digs in deep and explores ways to help you make your comps dance in ways mere keyframes aren’t apt to allow easily. The eighth installment, Deeper Modes of Expression, Part 8: Going for a Loop, was posted yesterday.

- John Stanowski

The Ferris student chapter of MCA-I is hosting its 9th Ferris Video Festival on Friday, April 3. The event begins at 10:00 AM with a keynote presentation by Angela Prater, a graduate of the program who will speak on Diversity Online. She will present the awards for the high school award winners. Following the ceremony, there will be concurrent training sessions from 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM on a range of topics including the RED camera, Animation in Video Production, Copyright Issues, Special Effects Makeup, Greenscreen tricks, Music Video Production, After Effects, the HD Workflow, and Women in Film and Television. Members of the MCA-I Mid-Michigan chapter will be among the presenters. Everyone is invited. Admission is free. The event will be held in the IRC building which shares a parking lot with the football field on the mother campus in Big Rapids, MI.

Here’s the full schedule of the breakout sessions, from 11am-1pm.

• Copyright Issues — Denise Glassmeyer, Young Basile Attorneys
• Special Effects Makeup — Dawn Butler, fxmakeupbydawn & MCA-I
• Red Camera Demonstration— Jeff Hamlin, Lansing Community College
• Animation in Game Design – David Baker, Ferris State University
• Green Screen – Michele Yamazaki, Toolfarm & MCA-I
• Women in Film and Video – Serenity Sherie, Detroit Women in Film and TV
• Music Video Production – Chavell Crofford, Vellis Productions
• HD Workflow – going Tapeless – Glen Okonoski, Ferris State University
• After Effects – Andrew Tingley, Creo Productions
• Unions in a Production Environment – William Minihan, IATSE

On Saturday April 4, also in the IRC building room 120 on the Big Rapids campus, the Television and Digital Media Production Program will host a PA Bootcamp from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM. The P.A. Boot Camp will provide more than just an overview of what is expected of production assistants on both film and video sets. MPA instructors Jax Baker and Mitch Nyberg will engage students with demonstrations, hands-on activities, form usage exercises, and give a review of set/client etiquette. Students will gain job search tips from a panel of production professionals during an informative discussion on local production companies, unions and film organizations, and the resources they offer. The training session is open to the public for $40 and for students at a reduced rate of $35. Seating is limited.

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This is going to be very interesting if you have any programming experience. Any programming language will do: C++, PHP, Ruby, Visual Basic, Java, or even ActionScript. If you don’t, you probably already got bored.

AE Expressions are based on JavaScript, so they are not only object oriented. You can also use any JavaScritp syntax and build-in functions that are not listed anywhere in AE itself. Unfortunately some things will not work as expected, and sometimes you might even get an error message, when everything is ok. When that happens simply turn off the expression and turn it back on again, or select all, cut it out, press Enter, and then paste it again making sure that you don’t have any white spaces in the beginning or end of the expression. That helps sometimes.

My name is Jerzy Drozda Jr (aka Maltaannon) and I hate keyframes, but I do love expressions. Even though sometimes I find using them very frustrating. Theres no way to declare global variables, create your own functions, or extend the build-in functionality. But there actually is a nice way to deal with that that you might not be aware of.

Sounds interesting? Read the whole article.

Ease and Wizz lets you use several kinds of easing (rather than just
"easy-ease") in a handy way: Expo, Circ, Quint, Quart, Quad, Sine

He also has included "Special effects" eases: Back, Bounce, Elastic

You can see the different types of easing here or in this really basic video that Ian made a while back.

You can download Ease and Wizz here. Ian explains that there are some rough edges, but he has been using it in a production environment for some time and have been pleased with it.

I welcome your feedback, and hope that you find it useful!

The festival is loads of fun and if you’re from the south, chances are you’ll get to experience a real Chicago winter. Yeah, enticing. It’s a really well organized festival and so worth the trip. If you’re already in Chicago, I hope to see you there.

Special Holiday Gifts for You!

Alicia VH from Toolfarm and I have been working on a whopper of a freebie. I’ll let the secret out here to AE Freemart readers… we’re putting together a holiday greeting which will include over 20 presets, maybe even more! See, we’re really not slacking, our focus has just been shifted. 

Want to help at the AE Freemart?

Harry and I could really use some contribution help at the Freemart. Are you interested in sharing your knowledge and  skills with the AE masses? Or, do you know Motion or Final Cut Pro? A plug-ins whiz? Email me at michele@toolfarm.com with your credentials and we’ll get you set up. Blogging experience is a plus, but not mandatory. A love of After Effects is necessary. It’s fine if you’re still using AE 7 too. This gig is not paid in cash, but in the satisfaction of helping your fellow artist  

Speaking of helping your fellow artist

Harry also has some terrific After Effects Expressions training. He released After Effects Expressions Series 2 a week or two ago.  

Harry J. Frank, freelance motion graphics artist, instructor and Adobe Certified Expert, delivers another round of training for the Toolfarm Expert Training Series. The first After Effects Expressions Series Bundle 1 was so successful and had such positive feedback that Harry has continued with the next three lessons, aptly titled After Effects Expressions Series Bundle 2.

Lesson 4: Random Numbers and Strings

Harry explains how to generate and control random values, as well as working with and manipulating string (alphanumeric) values. This lesson takes your expression skill-set to the next level, teaching you to get beyond the basics and start programming expressions with depth. Using an interface screen design as the environment. It is recommended that you complete Lessons 1 through 3 before exploring Lesson 4, or have a firm grasp on all of the basics of expressions (scalar and array values). Lessons 1-3 are available here. Duration: 52 Minutes

Lesson 5: Expression Control and Probability

Harry takes expressions to the big screen, and focuses on a sample title design sequence that relies heavily on expressions. The concepts center around expression control: defining the expressions to be controlled by markers, keyframes, layer in and out point, layer length, as well as expression randomness and probability. The result is a series of very flexible and powerful expressions that create automated movement, jitter and intro/outro animation.. all without keyframes.It is recommended that you complete Lessons 1 through 4 before exploring Lesson 5. Lessons 1-3 are available here. Duration: 30 Minutes

Lesson 6: Audio to Keyframes

Harry creates an automated lip sync animation in After Effects using the Audio to Keyframes function, along with expressions. This is a very valuable and time saving technique that the author has used in several productions.It is recommended that you complete Lessons 1 through 5 before exploring Lesson 6. Lessons 1-3 are available here.Duration: 10 Minutes All project files are included for all lessons, along with a Quick Reference Guide that summarizes the concepts and terminology explained in the training. You’re not going to get this kind of quality training anywhere else and this series is ONLY available at Toolfarm. 

Buy After Expressions Series 2 Today!