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VIDEO COPILOT BLOG News, Updates, Projects Files & Tips |
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Posted at 12:45 am on April 2nd, 2009 by Andrew Kramer
One of the things I did in New York was walked around the city shooting pictures of various textures and surfaces. Every block is different and I was able to capture some very cool stuff. I haven’t gone through them all but here are a few choice selections for everyone. You can use them commercially but our standard license applies.
New tutorials will be coming next week; right now, there is a lot to catch up on after being gone for a week. Please be patient as cool things are in the works.
Posted at 9:14 am on February 26th, 2009 by Andrew Kramer
For anyone using CC Particle World instead of Particular, you may know that Particular’s Turbulent Field is not available. This feature allows random 3D displacement of a particles position. A similar effect can be achieved with Particle World by adding a TURBULENT DISPLACE effect. It works best with smaller particle and it has some limitations because it is only 2D but it is a nice way to get away from “perfect” particle movement.
Related Topics:
Fire Title Project — Uses Turbulent displacement
Dark Energy & Electric Energy — Uses Turbulent displacement
Fire Burning Project — Complex Fire Project
Related Tutorials:
Posted at 12:14 pm on February 25th, 2009 by Andrew Kramer
A long time ago, I made a tutorial on simulating reflections over a watery surface which I had to revisit recently. I cleaned the project up a bit and now you can use it as a template with your own video. Play around with the displacement map and you can get some interesting results.
Posted at 3:58 pm on February 16th, 2009 by Andrew Kramer
We don’t get much rain in Southern California but today it poured. Luckily I had my audio gear handy and I recorded a few high quality clips for your stormy productions.
Our standard License applies.
Posted at 1:49 am on February 14th, 2009 by Andrew Kramer
Here’s a another free project that utilizes various masking techniques to create a friendly heart design.
Today is of course Valentine’s Day and I want to remind everyone to do something nice for someone special in your life. Could be your wife or girlfriend, mom or grandma, even your sister.
Now, if you don’t celebrate Valentine’s day… DO something nice anyways. Just don’t do something nice for your friend’s wife… that gets a little tricky.
See you Monday!
Posted at 12:35 am on February 11th, 2009 by Andrew Kramer
Here’s a fun project file that adds an anamorphic stripe and star around the standard AE lens flare. The layers are linked to the position of the Flare, so everything moves together. You can change the color from the “FLARE” solid effects control to create a golden sun or even a red sun. Have fun, just don’t look directly at it.
Download Project File (AE CS3)
In other news, I feel much better and I won’t need the computer speech program after all.
Posted at 4:18 am on January 27th, 2009 by Andrew Kramer
Now that I have your attention, there is no pizza. I’m sorry. What I do have is an artistic text treatment created in After Effects. Just download the project and change the text in the “Edit TITLE” pre-comp to your favorite slogan and the “OUTPUT” comp will update with a stylized fire look.
It’s not photo realistic but it’s a fun, procedural treatment for making even boring stuff seem fun!
PS, sorry no earlier AE versions, the time machine is in the shop.
Posted at 11:02 am on December 22nd, 2008 by Andrew Kramer
Just wishing everyone a safe and happy holiday season. As a special gift for all the editors who need to make holiday promos…
Here are 2 free Christmas tracks arranged by us for perfect 30 second spots or promos. Enjoy!
UPDATE: Yes! They are royalty free like our products. Use for most anything, just can’t sell with stock sites or templates etc. View License
As always our DVDs also make a great addition to any video collection so be sure to check them out. Especially Evolution for this holiday season.
Visit Products Page
Posted at 12:06 pm on December 2nd, 2008 by Andrew Kramer
Here is a little test I made using CC Particle World and some vector blur to make Fire. It’s not perfect but an interesting study. One of the key things I did was used a wiggle expression on the particle birthrate to give a variable emission pattern like something was burning inconsistently. It’s a little slow to render but it is very high resolution.
Essentially it is 3D, although I haven’t tested it much for things like looking down on it… Currently it is only for AE CS3 but an After Effects tutorial may be possible in the future.
Posted at 4:27 am on September 18th, 2008 by Andrew Kramer
Here’s another free project file that uses the electric energy along with some other cool fx. The layers aren’t terrible organized but you can probably find your way around.
PS, I’m sorry but I can only provide project in CS3.
Posted at 1:44 am on September 16th, 2008 by Andrew Kramer
I wanted to try and created some cool energy in After Effects without special plug-ins that looked 3D… Here is a pretty cool AE project file that I came up with for electric energy using fractal noise and turbulent displacement. It’s simple enough but has some complex layering. Have fun with it!
Posted at 4:32 pm on July 9th, 2008 by Andrew Kramer
Here are some free news templates I created for After Effects CS3. Now you can have realistic news crawlers that don’t make your movie look fake. Just be careful what you write, people will believe anything.
Instructions: Full HD resolution, just place on top your footage, resize and edit headlines. AE CS3 only. Although I included the PNG file with now headlines, so if you need you can add your own…
Posted at 1:52 am on July 3rd, 2008 by Andrew Kramer
Here is a fun method for creating translucent glass frames in After Effects that I”m working on.
When I record this tutorial I’ll probably add a little more detail to make it look even better. Although the simplicity makes it very interesting and who knows maybe for the tutorial I’ll go out of my way to make it look worse just for fun. You never know : ) Enjoy.
Posted at 11:39 pm on May 26th, 2008 by Andrew Kramer
NEW SERIES ONE DVD:
Our Series One Tutorial DVD features 20 minutes of never before seen footage and free bonus features is now available and I have put together a free project file with similar particle effects as seen in the promo video.
Download AE Project File
Please note: The project file has been created with AE 7 Professional and uses the CC effects that come with After Effects, if you can’t find yours, please contact Adobe.
ADVANCED CAR HIT TUTORIAL:
The new free tutorial featuring Sam and Tahna experiencing a pretty bad day, will highlight many powerful compositing techniques as well as expand on some interesting new features in AE CS3. The final video will be out this week after it passes the MPAA. The free tutorial will be online Tuesday, June 3rd.
EXCITING NEW DVD:
Our exciting New Training DVD is available in our Online Store for only $49.95. This DVD features 21 tutorials and over 5 hours of Advanced Training that will show you how to integrate After Effects with 3D. This training covers all steps necessary for creating the Slow Motion Bullet in Cinema 4D, Blender and 3Ds Max.
Read Product Information
Watch Promo in Higher Resolution
SHATTER TEXT SHOT BREAKDOWN:
Once we completed “The Bullet” training DVD, we went to work on the promo video featuring a 3D shattering text effect. This promo has generated a lot of excitement and I wanted to explain the basics of what was needed. Let me just say, it wasn’t easy.
The text was created in 3Ds Max and fractured into pieces. These pieces were then linked to a particle system, where each piece was represented by one particle. The system was setup with gravity and a floor plane deflector. A collision event triggered the particles ‘explosion’ and the pieces went flying. I used Action Movie Essentials for the fiery explosion along with Trapcode’s Horizon for the Sky Background in AE.
The setup for this effect took many, many hours to complete as well as several unsuccessful tests. A tutorial specifically on this title is not currently planned but I will experiment with the possibility of a tutorial if it can fit our normal tutorial platform. In the mean time a more detailed breakdown will be released along with images and my experiences with this shot.
NEW MOTION GRAPHICS TUTORIAL:
I’ve been experimenting with this Fold-Out Animation where After Effects Layers are linked together to form a fluid animation as layers animate sequentially. As you can imagine some interesting expressions will be used to make it easy and robust.
THANKS:
I’m excited to be able to contribute more to the Blog and the tutorial section as we build up this amazing community. We encourage everyone to join in and take part in these blog discussions, we would love to hear from everyone. Finally, I want to thank everyone again for there support on this latest DVD release. You guys and gals make this place happen!