Mamoworld has just released iExpressions, a new companion for After Effects that dramatically increases the accessibility and usefulness of expressions.

In part 2 of this After Effects CS5 E-Seminar, we explore cool ways of using the Shape Layer Wiggle, Text Wiggly Selector and various automated effects.

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

As with all graphics on Fox Classics, the palette for this spot was restricted to orange, black and white. Being that this is Sunday “Night” at the Movies, it made the most sense to use black as the base color. Most of these movies are from the 60′s/70′s and when I heard the music (The Supremes) I thought of one of those old 70′s-style beaded door curtains and decided to use that as the basis of the design. Read more

Make a cool-looking gyroscopic element

In this video tutorial (inspired by the work of Mark Coleran) from Making It Look Great 5 your host Jerzy Drozda Jr. (aka Maltaannon) demonstrates how to make a cool-looking gyroscopic element completely within After Effects. This tutorial includes extensive use of Shape Layers, parenting and simple expressions to create a technical look using almost no keyframes. All project files are included. Total running time: 48 minutes. ]]> http://www.motionworks.com.au/milg5-tutorial-1-gyro/feed/ 0 After Effects,Expressions,MILG,MILG5,Shape Layers Learn how to make a cool-looking gyroscopic element completely within After Effects. Includes extensive use of Shape Layers, parenting and simple expressions. (http://motionworks.com.au/wp-content/blogimages/shop/milg5_01_main.jpg) Make a cool-looking gyroscopic element In this video tutorial (inspired by the work of Mark Coleran) from Making It Look Great 5 (http://www.motionworks.com.au/2008/12/making-it-look-great-5/) your host Jerzy Drozda Jr. (aka Maltaannon) demonstrates how to make a cool-looking gyroscopic element completely within After Effects. This tutorial includes extensive use of Shape Layers, parenting and simple expressions to create a technical look using almost no keyframes. All project files are included. Total running time: 48 minutes. www.motionworks.com.au no http://www.motionworks.com.au/the-dancing-can-part-3/ http://www.motionworks.com.au/the-dancing-can-part-3/#comments Mon, 16 Feb 2009 04:28:07 +0000 John Dickinson http://www.motionworks.com.au/?p=3047 In part 3 of this series learn how to use After Effects Shape Layers to add dynamic and organic, self-animating elements to the background.

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I could have used Cinema 4D for  the text supers as well but they didn’t require any reflections or enhanced features of Cinema 4D, and using ProAnimator allowed me to set them up and render as proxies in After Effects whilst the Character supers were rendering in Cinema 4D. Prerendering the ProAnimator layers as Proxies sped up the workflow quite dramatically, making the final render of over 20 ProAnimator supers take about 15 minutes. Making It Look Great 1 covers using Proxies with After Effects and ProAnimator in detail. 

The lens flare was built from multiple Knoll Light Factory elements, linked together using the expression pickwhip. The extra circular shapes around the flare are four Shape Layers which add interest to the flare and add enhance the overall look of the graphics.

A Compositing Tag was added to a back light in Cinema 4D and placed behind the text, this was used to position the Knoll flare in After Effects. As Knoll flares are 2D only, I used this expression:  thisComp.layer(“Back_flare”).toComp([0,0,0]) applied to each flare element’s Light Source Location property to position the flare correctly on the Back Flare layer (which is 3D). Thanks to Harry Frank for that one.

All of the main elements of the Character supers were rendered out of Cinema 4D with object buffers, allowing easy color correction in After Effects. The characters were cut out in Photoshop and saved with alpha channels, then imported into Cinema 4D as textures and applied to simple plane objects. These were animated to rotate towards the camera to hide (as much as possible) the fact that they had no depth.

If you look closely at the edges of the Horton character in the “This Summer” movie you’ll see I used the handy Maltaannon Light Wrap preset too.

The delivery time on this was pretty tight so some of the graphics including the film-specific supers were set up by my co-worker Michael Tiong. 

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Work along with After Effects expert Jerzy Drozda Jr. (aka. Maltaannon) as he guides you step by step through a wide range of motion graphics and visual effects looks and techniques. Learn how to harness the power of expressions in After Effects to make beautiful, complex animations and save time.  Whether you’re an After Effects beginner or expert you’ll learn valuable techniques that will make your work look great. Included with the 10 video tutorials are 3 bonus video tutorials (Gyro Extended, Butterfly Man extended and Working with the Presets) plus free plug-ins and presets discussed throughout the lessons. Work fast, work smart, look great with Making It Look Great 5.

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Create a cool-looking gyroscopic element completely within After Effects. Inspired by the work of Mark Coleran, this tutorial includes extensive use of Shape Layers, parenting and simple expressions to create a technical look using almost no keyframes.

Create a slick push pin toy effect as seen in the Radiohead “House of Cards” video. This tutorial shows you how to combine regular footage with Trapcode’s popular Form plug-in
to create an eye-popping 3D effect. Watch this tutorial now for free here.

Create a reusable retro-style computer terminal animation. Harness the power of
expressions, including some undocumented features to change the text content and
look on the fly. Learn how to turn a simple typewriter effect into realistic DOS-style
computer readout.

Create a realistic and detailed Jumbotron-style video screen. This tutorial includes
must-know keying techniques, tips on creating volumetric lights and presets, and ingenious
workflow for creating complex looks on a single layer using the CC Composite effect.
The advanced CE Screenify effect is also included in the download exclusively for Making
It Look Great 5 viewers.

Create the stylish effect where a character suddenly bursts into hundreds of butterflies.
In this lesson learn how to create a smart butterfly rig using Trapcode 3D Stroke, control Trapcode Particular particles using dispersion maps, build volumetric backlighting using Trapcode Lux and automatically track a layer’s alpha channel.

Master fast and precise color correction techniques using standard After Effects tools
including Colorama and CC Composite. In this tutorial learn how to fine tune a look
using the Colorama effect as a range selection tool, allowing adjustments to specific
aspects of the footage.

Create an infinitely zooming spycam look. This tutorial starts with basic techniques for
creating a simple slide show then covers amazing, time-saving techniques for automating
transitions between layers using expressions.

Create automated subtitles based on layer markers. This short tutorial demonstrates
how to automate subtitle creation.

Create a realistic dripping blood effect without using keyframes or expressions.
This lesson includes a great study of precomposing and demonstrates how to use a
Photoshop-style brush with the CC Time Blend effect to paint text onto the screen.

Create a funky disco-style animation based totally on sound. This lesson includes a slick technique for creating running lights using Trapcode Form together with the Colorama
effect, basic camera movement, techniques using the CC Time Blend and Wave Warp
effects and plenty of simple expressions.

About your Host: Jerzy Drozda Jr (aka Maltaannon) is a motion graphics and visual effects artist based in Warsaw, Poland. Well known in the motion graphics industry through his popular website maltaannon.com, Jerzy’s extreme creativity, razor sharp technical skills and relaxed teaching style, make him one of the top After Effects trainers in the world today.”

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