After 8 years with Foxtel Design, I recently accepted the position of Senior Designer at Foxtel Box Office – On Demand Movies, here at Foxtel in Sydney. Together with Gareth Chang and Brett Morris, both talented young designers, we get to flex our After Effects and Cinema 4D skills working on a wide range of movie graphic styles across various genres.

Over the coming months I’ll be showcasing graphics created using After Effects, Cinema 4D and a variety of plug-ins, by the team, some original and others influenced by existing spots. Read more…

In this excerpt from a recent Adobe E-seminar, we look at the new Align and Distribute to Composition and Orient Characters Independently features in Adobe After Effects CS5.

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In this tutorial for Digital Juice, learn how I used the Motion Designer’s Toolkit 2 with Cinema 4D and After Effects to create a detailed background and multi-layer text effect with a dynamic sci-fi look.

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Photoshop CS5 has introduced some terrific new time-saving features. In this tip for Adobe, we explore the new enhanced Refine Edge feature and learn how it can take much of the hard work out of refining intricate selections.  Watch tip

Just completed, Foxtel Box Office’s (FBO) winter campaign in Cinema 4D.

With a Stars theme, the campaign includes a competition to win a trip for 2 to Cannes Film Festival. Given the theme, I suggested we use the tagline “follow the stars”. This has the dual meaning of following the logo stars throughout the promo (which represent FBO), and mingling with movie stars on the red carpet in Cannes. Read more…

Up until now I’ve had little success with Adobe Media Encoder, but things have changed in CS5. In this short tutorial for video2brain, I demonstrate how you can use Adobe Media Encoder in your After Effects and Premiere Pro workflow. Read more…

Dynamic Link has always been a powerful feature in the Production Premium and Master Collection suites, but with CS5 it is truly kick-ass fast.  In this short tutorial for video2brain, I demonstrate a workflow for using Dynamic Link between After Effects, Premiere Pro and Encore CS5. Read more…

In this Adobe After Effects: Effects A-Z tip, learn how a little Bezier Warp
can save you a bunch of time. Watch tip

In this tutorial for video2brain, Get up to speed fast with a range of important tips and techniques for getting the most out of the powerful new Roto Brush tool introduced in Adobe After Effects CS5. Watch Tutorial

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In this handy tip, guest host Tim Clapham demonstrates a must-know and surprisingly simple technique for creating custom scripts in Cinema 4D. The example Tim shows where he zeros all coordinates will save you a bunch of time! Watch Tip

In this tutorial for Digital Juice, learn how I used the Motion Designer’s Toolkit and some free grunge textures to recreate the blood splatter style used in the Inglourious Basterds trailer.  Watch Tutorial

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In this two-part tutorial for Adobe, learn how to take basic Adobe After Effects presets and customise them to create your own unique looks. This section focusses on further enhancing the text animation, customising a background preset and adding finishing touches including a bloom and displacement.

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In this two-part tutorial for Adobe, learn how to take basic Adobe After Effects presets and customise them to create your own unique looks. This section focusses on giving a simple text preset a touch-of-class, with a clear explanation of Text Animator Groups, Animator Properties and Range Selectors. Turning a simple typewriter look into something special. Watch Example | Watch Tutorial Read more…

In this E-seminar for Adobe, learn how I used Adobe Photoshop and After Effects to create a grungy, bullet-riddled wall with spray-painted text. Note: this is the unedited seminar with a few short pauses due to technical glitches. The audio is loud so you may need to turn down the volume.
Watch E-seminar | Watch Movie

In this tutorial, guest host Grischa Theissen demonstrates a must-know technique for adding motion blur to your 3D renders in After Effects using ReelSmart Motion Blur.    Watch tutorial (10min, 20MB)

Unplugged Challenge winner, Robert Leger, is back with part 2 of a breakdown of his terrific animation. This section focusses on tips and techniques for integrating Cinema 4D with Adobe After Effects.

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In this tutorial, guest host Grischa Theissen demonstrates a cool technique for creating the popular photo mosaic look in Cinema 4D, where one image is made up of multiple images. Recently Grischa was working side-by-side with Tim Clapham, who helped refine the technique. I wonder what’s bringing these talented Cinema 4D artists to Australia… Read more…

Unplugged Challenge winner, Robert Leger, has posted part 1 of a breakdown of his terrific animation. This section focusses on tips and techniques used to build the 3D elements in Cinema 4D.

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A simple red silk-style banner created in Adobe After Effects using Trapcode Form. Also includes a logo displaced by the Form layer using the Displacement Map effect. Read more…