Recently I was chatting with Aharon Rabinowitz about how I get value out of Twitter and Aharon suggested I record a tutorial to share with everyone. This tutorial will give you a rundown on how I’ve been using Twitter to add value for those who follow Motionworks and as a powerful business tool. Read more…

At NAB I had a chat with John Nack (Photoshop Product Manager) about the video features of Photoshop Extended. John asked my opinion and also what features I would like to see added. I told John that I don’t use the tools much; occasionally importing footage to use a Photoshop filter that isn’t available in After Effect or exporting movies as gif files Read more…

NAB has wrapped up for another year and this show was the quietest I have experienced, with companies such as Apple, Avid, Red, Grid Iron Software and Lynda.com who previously had large booths, not attending.  Between demos on the Zaxwerks booth, Maltaannon and I gave Zax feedback on the new 3D Serpentine plug-in for Adobe After Effects. Read more…

Day two at NAB was definitely busier but still nothing like previous years. Once again between demos I was able to catch up with plenty of people including Alan Lorence from Wondertouch, who demonstrated particleIllusion working right inside After Effects. It’s going to be handy to have access to the massive library of particle effects that Wondertouch offers, Read more…

First day on the show floor and man it was quiet compared to previous years; I think I only did about 5 demos. The upside was that it gave more time to catch up with industry colleagues and take a peek at other demos including Trapcode Particular version 2, which is a must have plug-in – it’s amazing how cool particles look when they recognize After Effects lights! Read more…

I just wanted to give you an update on a new product coming soon. ProAnimator Scenes Vol 1: Dynamic Text is the first in our new Creativity Booster™ series and includes a range of professionally designed Zaxwerks ProAnimator scene files and mini-tutorials on how to use them. Unlike the presets that ship with ProAnimator, Read more…

Been in Vegas for a couple of days now hanging with Jerzy (Maltaannon). Good flight, although it took 22 hours door-to-door from Sydney. Took this quick snap (I’m  holding the camera) in the casino here at the “beautiful” Greek Isle Hotel; the halo above Jerzy’s head was not a setup! We’ll meet up with Zax later and set up the Zaxwerks booth Read more…

NAB is upon us again and this will be my 6th year at the Zaxwerks booth. Working with Zax is always fun and this year will be even more fun because Jerzy Drozda Jr (aka Maltaannon) will be with us. George (as he is also known) has not travelled by plane before, Read more…

Design and Production Techniques for Cinema 4D and After Effects

The ultimate workshop for Cinema 4D and After Effects

Finally, the ultimate single workshop for Cinema 4D and After Effects. Work side–by–side with designer, Cinema 4D expert and Mograph master Tim Clapham as you create a stunning, multi-layered news opener from start to finish. This training is jam-packed with techniques, tips and shortcuts including real-world techniques for getting the most out of the Cinema 4D Mograph module. Suitable for beginner and intermediate users or anyone serious about mastering Cinema 4D with After Effects at an industry level.

Topics include:

Creating the Globe
Working with layouts; Creating and Cloning onto a Sphere Object; Generating the Globe Effect with the Shader Effector; Introducing the Plain Effector and Effector falloff.

Creating the Orbiting Text
Preparing Illustrator artwork; Importing artwork and creating Extrude NURBS; Introducing the Fracture Object; Orbiting the text with the Spline Effector; Linking parameters using Xpresso and Set Driver; Organising the scene with layers.

Working with Cameras
A basic camera rig with User Data; Linking User Data to object parameters using Xpresso; Animating the camera; Manipulating F-Curves.

Animating the Text and Globe
Animating the text using Spline Effector; Scaling and rotating the text using Effectors; Animating the globe rotation; Using Animation Layers to add secondary animation; Adjusting Shader Mapping to enhance composition.

Modeling a Basic Soccer ball
Using Primitives to create the basic football shape; Using modeling tools to edit the football model; Adding textures to Selection sets; Baking a spherical map from the football model; Wiping from globe to football with Effectors.

Creating Materials and the Content Browser
Using the Fresnel shader; Adding HDRI reflections Presets; Catalogs and the Content Browser; The Compositing Tag; Lumas Shader for Anistrophic Highlights.

Lighting the Scene
Introduction to Light types; Using Area Lights; The Target Tag; Three point lighting; Include / Exclude lists; Controlling specular highlights.

Streaks of Light
Using Viewport filters; Matrix Object vs Cloner Object; Creating splines using with the Tracer Object; Adding and optimising geometry with Sweep NURBS; Limiting Tracer results; Making Luminant Materials.

More Graphic Elements
Radial duplication with Cloner Object; Using Blend mode; Cloning Cloner objects; Modifying Clones with Effectors.

Preparing for Render
External Compositing Tag to Export 3D data; Assigning Object Buffers; Configuring output parameters; Setting up Multipass rendering; Exporting After Effects compositing file.

Importing into After Effects
Importing the AEC file, Organising the project; Separating 3D Elements with Object Buffers; Creating the background.

Enhancing the 3D Render
Colour correction; Adding glows; Creating a turbulent glow; Adding a border to the text; Emphasizing specular highlights.

Finishing Touches
Using the exported 3D data; Adding trails with Trapcode Particular; Using Expressions to add randomness; Adding extra 3D elements; Creating an image wipe transition; Final rendering.

About your Host: With over 11 years experience, Tim Clapham is an industry recognized expert in Cinema 4D and a renowned trainer with a strong attention to detail. As a Company Director of HYPA, Tim works with a wide range of global advertising and broadcast companies, producing world-class content that is both technically challenging and innovative.

Watch Introduction (2 minutes, 20MB)

There are a lot tutorial sites on the web now, including Motionworks. I take time every morning to watch at least one tutorial as a way of keeping my skills sharp and up-to-date. When watching tutorials I’m generally not looking for design ideas but rather technique and workflow. If it’s something that looks like “the next big look in motion graphics” Read more…