Motionworks » Adobe

Wacom and After Effects CS5

John Dickinson — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 10:23:06 +0000

Wacom has posted a handy tutorial showing how to maximize productivity with your Wacom tablet.

Squash CS5 bugs

John Dickinson — Wed, 19 May 2010 22:48:28 +0000

If you’ve found a bug in After Effects or other CS5 applications, do us all a favour and file it. It only takes a moment and will help us all.

Your Opinion: Is Roto Brush really that cool?

John Dickinson — Sun, 09 May 2010 23:00:47 +0000

Okay, you’ve got After Effects CS5, you’ve watched the Roto Brush tutorial, and you know I love it. But what are your impressions of Roto Brush now you’ve had a chance to play? Is it what you expected? Have you used it in production? Is Roto Brush really that cool? I’d love to hear about your experiences.

Adobe Customer Showcase

John Dickinson — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 07:25:18 +0000

In a recent interview with Adobe I discussed my opinion of After Effects CS5. Check it and other customer showcases out here.

After Effects CS5: The Roto Brush

John Dickinson — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 04:28:31 +0000

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

Workflow Update

Adobe’s Todd Kopriva on making corrective strokes: I think the reason that you were having some trouble cleaning up the top of the mage’s head is that you weren’t working outward from the base frame. Corrective strokes only influence the frames that are away (not toward) the base frame. Think of it as “working the bubbles out a frame at a time”.

Rotoscoping with masks: In the example shown I used one single mask but generally rotoscoping is more effective using multiple masks. That being said, it’s still very time consuming and labour-intensive.

Unplugged 24: Michael Coleman on AE CS5

John Dickinson — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 04:25:00 +0000

What are the key new features in After Effects CS5?

After Effects product manager Michael Coleman discusses the amazing new Roto Brush tool and other standout features in After Effects CS5.

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Splatter Type

John Dickinson — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 04:03:31 +0000

A handy new Adobe After Effects preset (and tutorial) by Quba HQ for creating paint splat effects.

Unplugged 22: Michael Coleman – Adobe (Part 1)

John Dickinson — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 22:32:59 +0000

Are you ready for 64-bit?

Michael Coleman is the product manager for Adobe After Effects. In this interview, Michael discusses his background and how he juggled a university major in economics and a career in graphic and motion design. We also discuss the evolution of Adobe After Effects, and with the soon-to-be-released CS5 version of After Effects being 64-bit, Michael explains in detail, exactly what that means, and why it’s important.

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After Effects: Creating magic from presets – part 2

John Dickinson — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 05:18:36 +0000

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.

Watch Example | Watch Tutorial

Tim Clapham in 3D World

John Dickinson — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 22:45:46 +0000

MILG 6 and 7 host Tim Clapham recently completed a beautiful animation for 3D World magazine, created using Cinema4D and Adobe After Effects. The even cooler news is Tim recorded a tutorial.

CoSA Lives

John Dickinson — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 04:16:57 +0000

Trish Meyer has granted Motionworks permission to post the Story of CoSA – the original company behind After Effects. Written by After Effects team member, Dave Simons, and originally published in Creating Motion Graphics Volume 3, it gives a wonderful insight into the early days of After Effects and the team behind it. Download PDF SFMoGraph Pics

After Effects: A workflow with ProAnimator

John Dickinson — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:48:43 +0000

In this recorded e-seminar, learn how to create a stylish and moody, Sopranos–style 3D text look. Main tools covered include Adobe After Effects and Zaxwerks ProAnimator. Check out Making It Look Great for more Zaxwerks workflow training.

Watch tutorial (34mins, 60MB) Download project (6MB)

After Effects: Simplify your workflow

John Dickinson — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:00:49 +0000

Design skills are important but good workflow is also critical when working with Adobe After Effects. In this tip learn how a seemingly simple technique can be simplified further, saving keyframes, expressions and, most importantly, time! Watch tutorial (5mins, 15MB)

Harry’s Top Five Expressions

John Dickinson — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 21:33:20 +0000

If Harry Frank recommends these 5 Adobe After Effects expressions, then you know you need them!

Pariah Studios

John Dickinson — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 22:59:34 +0000

Robert Redman has some useful Cinema 4D and After Effects tutorials including this one on global illumination and reflections in Cinema 4D.