The Magic Bullet Cosmo plugin from Red Giant does a fantastic job of quickly covering up those unsightly laugh lines and crow’s feet on your talent. This plugin seeks out areas in your footage containing values found in skin and then gently blurs the area careful not to affect sharp details like eyes. Like Mojo, it’s a great way to get the job done quickly. Simon Walker takes you on a tour of this new tool.
Archive for the ‘Tutorial’ Category
Stop Motion Kit for After Effects
Quba Michalski‘s new tutorial shows you how to mimic the old look of stop motion with After Effects layers. He’s also created a free collection of presets which you can download at his site.
“This collection of presets will allow you to easily add subtle imperfections to the movement of objects in your scene, emulating animator errors that are a staple of stop motion animation. Using 6 different expression sets, you will be able to apply and control glitches in movement, rotation and timing of your objects as well as simulate changes in camera position and exposure.”
Make some messy title reveals in After Effects
The folks at Rampant Design Tools show you how to make a messy text reveal using built-in effect Simple Choker and some stock elements.
Environment Replacement in After Effects
In case you missed it: Harry Frank uses The Foundry‘s Camera Tracker, Primatte Keyer, Trapcode Horizon and Trapcode Particular to change the environment of a clip.
After Effects A-Z: Card Wipe

“Guest host James Zwadlo continues the After Effects: Effects A-Z series, demonstrating After Effects’ Card Wipe effect.”
I was pretty surprised to find out how robust this effect is… for a card wipe transition that is. Watch it a Motionworks.
After Effects Apprentice Free Video: Non-Uniform Scale Issues with Parenting
Chris Meyer reveals some strange behavior which can crop up when using non-uniform scale and parenting on the same layers. In this free Lynda.com video available at the ProVideo Coalition, Mr. Meyer saves the day and offers a solution. Check it out here.






