Video Copilot's New Saber Plugin

A few days ago, Video Copilot released a new After Effects plugin called Saber. Video Copilot founder Andrew Kramer recently finished working on the visual effects team for Star Wars VII, and although he didn’t do any work on the actual lightsabers, he was inspired to create an After Effects plugin to make the process easy. Saber is an effect that can be applied to a color solid in order to create a beam of light. The beam has a core and an outer glow, each with a whole host of controls that allow you to tweak each part however you like. It can also be set to match mask shapes, which makes it incredibly easy to work with. There are over 50 different presets that come with Saber, each with a unique look/feel. I’m currently messing around with Saber in my name project, hoping to learn more about it for future use. Some animations I’ve found on Reddit that use Saber include this portal that resembles the Portal video game series, this Diet Coke bottle, and this neon text. Saber is available for a free on Video Copilot’s website.

Amateur at After Effects.

This past week I have been experiencing Adobe After Effects and I have to say it isn’t as scary as I had originally though it would be. Although I have had friends and classmates who have utilized After Effects within their projects, I never though I would one day attempt to tackle this program myself.

After my first official week of After Effects, I can say for myself that it is one hell of a program that where you can do almost anything you set your mind to. Granted, watching Video CoPilot tutorials has been a huge service to me and has personally made After Effects more manageable to comprehend. Although I still need the aid of tutorials I do honestly feel as if I am learning something that will hopefully help me in the future of me career.

But enough about me! I want to talk about one of my favorite animated shorts. Remember that short about the older gentlemen that is in a very heated game of chess with what seem to be his arch nemesis? Yeah Pixar’s “Geri’s Game” (yes, I had to Google the title.) has been and is still one of my most favorite animated shorts of all time. It’s just so comical and the twist at the end was just astounding. So yeah, refresh your memory and take another look.

My First Day of After Effects

Before this week, I’ve had almost no experience with After Effects and this is something that I would really like to change. I’ve been messing around with a few fun projects as well as watching lots of Video Copilot tutorials this week, and I’m only just starting to get a taste of the really cool things After Effects can do. While watching one of these tutorials, an idea came to me - I should spend a little bit of time each week working on a small, fun side project as a way to track my experience with After Effects. By the end of the semester, I’ll be able to look back and see how my skills have progressed (and probably laugh at how poor my work was at the start). For that reason I’ve uploaded my first animation of this series to Youtube.

My project this week was made on the night of our first class session. It’s simply a solid blue cube changing position, size, and rotation using keyframes. I used the “Easy Ease” option in the Keyframe Assistant to give the the cube more realistic physics, i.e. nonlinear speed (picks up speed gradually and slows down as it approaches the next point). Easy Ease is something that I picked up from Video Copilot, and it was very easy to understand and to use. I think that if I stick with those tutorials, I will be able to learn a lot of useful tips and tricks fairly quickly.

Comets, fireflies and The Good Dinosaur

I've been doing research into how to make a good comet effect for my title sequence, and I wanted to share some of the videos and Links I've come across in my research.




Video Copilot Blog about Comets There isn't too much there, but it does reference some video examples and make a few suggestions I'd like to try.


I've thought about the option to instead of using particles, maybe it would make more sense to use some kind of shatter, especially if I want the comet trail to morph into the fireflies that are scene in the trailer.

The Shatterize Effect
The Disintegration Effect

In my experience, none of the Native Particle Simulators in After Effects allow me to use custom particles, but I believe I can shatter something in a custom way.

Ultimately, If I can't find a way to create the fire fly shape from the comet, I will end up just doing shaded spheres. I wonder if I can find a way to have them follow some Path.
Maybe, I can find a way to make the particle emitter make only one particle and move that layer around.

Either way my idea needs some more work.

Camera Shake with Wiggle

In an attempt to better familiarize myself with the ins-and-outs of After Effects, I've been doing my best to sit down a few times a week to play around with the program and practice different tutorials, outside of our class assignments. Last week, I was looking through some of the beginner-type tutorials offered on Video Copilot when I cam across this:

Obviously, the effect is not something terribly complex. However, at home I work as content creator for the Buffalo Bisons (Triple A Affiliate of the Blue Jays), so this caught my attention as something to apply to my own work. And because I always have endless amounts of baseball footage to play with on my drive, I thought I'd give it a go. Here is what I ended up with:

The idea of the effect is to create the perception of power. Most of my shooting I use simply a monopod in order to be most mobile when following play action. If, though, I used a tripod and got steadier footage the effect would probably do an even greater job of highlighting that impact.  I definitely think this is a cool trick to potentially enhance my work.

Audi - Shapeshifter

Over the course of the semester, we have learned varying techniques in After Effects such as motion tracking, compositing, and particles. The tutorials offered by Video Copilot have really served as useful resources from the start to finish of a composition. But, after seeing some of the animation he did for Star Trek's opening title sequence, my eyes were stretched wide open to the endless possibilities in motion graphics and animation. I started doing some research into advertising and how companies actively utilize motion graphics to promote their products. After searching throughout various video sites such as YouTube and Vimeo, I wasn't surprised to find that companies that produced more expensive products (and therefore acquired greater revenues) had the ability to reach out to motion graphics companies to better promote their merchandise. One of the greatest commercials, from what I could find, that incorporated as many aspects of techniques that we've learned in class was the Audi Shapeshifter commercial from 2011.

While the video is 4 years old, it's stylistic approach to graphical design, cohesive transitions, and intense particle construction make the technical aspect of this commercial relevant to similar productions today. Even though the commercial stresses the car's versatility and freedom to adhere to any circumstance, it presents the argument that it be able to out-preform and outlast the competition. Motion graphics and animation don't just focus on technical design; there is always a story to be told. Audi's Shapeshifter commercial was able to successfully entice viewers in a little over two minutes.

Element 3D

Element 3D is an After Effects plugin that lets users more easily create 3d items in After Effects. This is a quick rendering tool and Compatible with After Effects so it is ideal for quick graphics and animation.

This was used in the creation of the Star Trek title sequence in order to create the planets and other objects. This plugin is powerful and a great tool if you know how to  use it. 

Here is a link to the title Sequence:

Star Trek Titles 

I just downloaded this plugin earlier today however I have already started using it and my personal opinion is that it is great. If you like animation and have some money to spare I would suggest downloading it. 

A Tutorial For Everything

So many of us know of the popular Andrew Kramer, who gives us tutorials on Video Copilot. He gives you a lot of tutorials, but I find myself looking for more and different tutorials. So I wanted to share some another website that I have found that contain more tutorials. So that you can have them for any project.

The first website is called Motion Works. Based in Sydney Australia, John Dickinson is a cutting-edge motion graphics artist who is in demand. As Senior Broadcast Designer at Foxtel (foxtel.tv), ambassador and presenter for Adobe Australia, John delivers highly creative yet commercially relevant motion graphics solutions. With Motionworks, John combines 15 years of industry experience with a proven teaching ability to provide high quality learning resources that encourage and challenge participants to break through to new levels of excellence and impact in their work.

This picture is from his Sparkling Rays tutorial. 

This is a picture from his Drifting Smoke tutorial.

There are also so many different tutorials that can be found on Youtube.

With a Little Help From My CoPilot

Of the effects that we were learning this week in Adobe After Effects, the one that stood out the most for me was Monday's exercise with the Sure Target plug in. When I saw the film Star Trek Into Darkness over the summer I was captivated by JJ Abrams' retelling of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, I was even more drawn by the closing credits they created for this movie.

As we worked with sure target this past Monday, my mind instantly went to this particular credit sequence. While sure target was a small element that made up this credit sequence, it was encouraging to see one of the techniques we learned in class being used in big productions as one of the basic parts to function.

The other reason this credit sequence stood out for me was the fact that it was made by by some of the members of the video copilot website. Some of the other plug ins I saw used to make this sequence was Elements 3D, the particle replicator along with different particle effects to make the illusion of the solar flames on the planet. One of things that I was hoping Video Copilot would mention, was how they created some of the 3D objects like the various planets and asteroids. I understand that they only had a limited amount of time to present the information they did, but this would have been another element of this intriguing sequence I would have loved to know how they created. 

Come one, come all. Visual effects tutorials for everyone!

Last semester, the director for my Fiction Field 1 short film wanted a production logo that resembled the one Lionsgate uses. Well, I didn't know how to make one. Nor did our graphic designer. But guess what. Yeah, you. I can make it now. Really. I can. Seriously. I can. I just don't want to show off and make you all feel terrible about your lack of animation skill.

"How'd you learn how to do that?" one might ask. It's actually fairly simple.

Step 1: Watch this video.

Step 2: Do exactly what the man in the computer says.

Did you do it? I doubt it. Well, if you had enough free time on your hands and you actually followed the tutorial, then you now have your very own, homemade Lionsgate logo animation! Congratulations! And for those of you who didn't...well, maybe you learned something anyway.

The video you (hopefully) watched comes from Video Copilot, a website that provides animators with tutorials and tips on how to make some of the most professional projects out there. This tutorial can be found just one click from their homepage under "Tutorials" along with about 150 others showing step-by-step how to create such animations that you've always wondered about.

The greatest thing about this website is the fact that, as long as you have Adobe After Effects at hand, anyone can do it. They literally go step-by-step when teaching you a new skill. They even explain what it is exactly that they're doing so you're not just following a bunch of jibber jabber. Yes, I said jibber jabber. Andrew Kramer, the gentleman speaking to us in the tutorial, even has a few jokes for us! He's no comedian, but he certainly adds a bit of personality to what could have possibly been a very dull explanation. Kramer is actually a very experienced visual effects artist, not just some guy on a computer who knows a thing or two.

Anyway, I've gotten seriously off topic. To sum up what I meant to discuss, the linked tutorial, along with all the others from the Video Copilot website, is an extremely efficient and simple way to learn much of what you need to know in order to become a great computer animator.

My last blog post

I decided to end my blog posts with 5 things a Motion Graphics Designer should never do. The first thing on this list includes to never use anything from Video Copilot, as I guess the industry hates this guy. Poor Andrew and his silly jokes. There goes a majority of the classes demo reels, sorry guys.
Here's the link to the website with the guy keeping it real. Sorry for ruining everyone's hopes and dreams of copying Andrew and his tutorials.

Extensive FX Test

This video was made by a guy named David Paplia, under the YouTube username, Nephuxs. This features the use of many special effects from VideoCopilot.

On the description, it says "Background removal, motion tracking, 3D models, I did it all based on the tutorials provided by VideoCopilot. Also used Optical Flares, Action Essentials 2, and some other goodies".

It also shows the "Before" clip used at the 0:13 mark. It seems that adding sound effects, 3D ships, and other stuff from Star Wars, especially the Wilhelm scream, makes a difference in a video.

cool effects in a cool video for a great song

This post coincides perfectly with my last post. Well, kind of. My previous post was the blowing up of the CDC in The Walking Dead and I mentioned how the clip was altered and a song by the group Evanescence was put in at the end. Well, I was perusing the video copilot tutorials and noticed one that is used in one Evanescence's videos. The tutorial is number 43, the Demon Face Warp. If you watch the video closely, you can see audience members faces change and distort as the video progresses. The most noticeable warp is the one at the very end with the guitar player. Again, I apologize if this type of music is not in everyone's taste. At the very least, turn the speakers down and just watch the faces contort. It's pretty cool and very creepy.

The VFX Bro Tutorials

I found this YouTube Channel that is a really cool addition to video co-pilot.  This guy shows you how to do some pretty cool stuff with clear direction.  He creates videos using different visual effects and then breaks it down for you so you can do it yourself.  His channel is broken down into After Effects Tutorials, Action Tutorials, VFX Downloads, and Cool Videos.  Below is a video that helped me catch up from the last class I missed!  Enjoy and I would highly suggest exploring the VFX Bro Channel!

just getting started

I must say I am enjoying my first week of working in After Effects. I came into this class with no prior experience in any graphics software, including photoshop. I have had only a minor introduction to Motion but that was it. My desire to learn this program came from watching my roommate last year spend countless hours working on videos and doing AE tutorials from video copilot. I watched with a sense of awe as a 2-D image suddenly became 3-D and animated. When I saw this class was available, I had to seize the opportunity. My first experiences have been good ones. I have learned how to do extremely basic 2-D animation and how to get text to appear as though it is being written by hand using the "stroke" or "write on" commands. I am also becoming familiar with the nuances of the program such as keyframes, editing the timeline to a certain length and how to render only a certain part of the timeline. What seemed to be a daunting task is now becoming a little clearer with every lesson. I look forward to the remainder of the semester and see what I can really do with such a powerful program.

Help me! And FREE STUFF

Hey guys,

So, since I'm a second semester senior the time for reel making and selling my soul to the industry is quickly approaching. Over the past couple of weeks I have been working on designing a motion graphic with my name and contact information to go at the end of my reel. While I have already spent a lot of time working on it and have put this current version up with my reel on Vimeo, I still feel like it can be much better. I'm specifically worried that the colors and the font may be a little too bubbly for a reel, even if it does accurately reflect my personality haha. So, since I'm strapped for inspiration on how to make it better at the moment I thought I'd ask you all for advice. I'd honestly appreciate any opinions or suggestions any of you might have to offer. I will post the graphic here, just keep in mind that the music may sound weird since it is cut off from the rest of the reel.

You may notice in the graphic that there is a reflection underneath my name. I actually created this using a free plug in that I downloaded from Video Copilot. It is a pretty cool and also extremely useful plug in so I figured I would paste the link here so that you all could download it too if you are interested.

Click here to watch the video or download the files!

Project One

I was looking through some tutorials that I might be using in my first project (explosions and turning photos from 2D into 3D). I found some that I think would be very useful. The first one doesn't tell you how to create an explosion but it includes a zip file that you can just import into your project and it tells you how to size it up and place it where it will fit best.

This video copilot tutorial (that someone may have posted before) shows how to layer photos to make them seem like they are in 3D. I was hoping to create the credits for the actors in the movie by taking images of them and creating a 3D image from the 2D stills. Here is another tutorial on how to do this, I didn't watch through the whole thing but it seems like an alternate way to create this using displacement maps.

Another thing I wanted to try (hopefully not adding too much work for myself) would be to create shapes in Photoshop and then animate them in after effects. Since it is a war movie, I wanted to use these shapes when I bring out the title (show the title of the film and then have them either drop down). I've made more then one storyboard so I just have to decide which one to use. Either having solid colored parachutes drop down or maybe creating a gun from a template and having the title come from that.

Face Morphing in Moving Objects

This week I know Auturo spoke about looking at all the various video tutorials on video copilot. However I found my inspiration for this week's blog through a very unexpected source. I am willing to admit that during this weeks episode I was impressed by one of the special effects that occurred during one of the music performances, more specifically Black or White originally done by Michael Jackson. The editors of this episode were inspired by the originally Michael Jackson video to actually morph the faces of the actors into one another as they were singing. I thought this was absolutely crazy and wanted to immediately figure out how they did this or if there was anyway I could simply replicate this effect in After Effects. Here is the link to the video unfortunately I couldn't get a shorten version but if you want to skip right to the special effect it starts at 1:42:

After looking up all different information on how to actually how to do this animation I found out that the editors most likely used an additional effect in after effects known as RE: Flex Morph which always you to take two different moving objects and morph between the two. I found this really interesting and found a simple tutorial that gives step-by-step introductions on how to create this effect. In my upcoming projects I am extremely interested in incorporating this effect and seeing if I can complete it as effectively as the editors of Glee. Here is the tutorial for the effect and a link to morph  still images into various objects such as other people, animals, etc:

This is the link as well:
http://library.creativecow.net/articles/zwar_chris/morph.php

Fun with Particles

So last class I was really intrigued by the particle playground effect we used for the smoke. I started looking around and there are a number of different particle generators in after effects. I guess we'll just have to play with them all to see what is best. Anyway, there are a ton of different functions a particle generator could have. Immediately I thought about snow or precipitation or things like that. I began to look for some tutorials and I found a very cool and pretty easy to do one on video copilot. It is using a particle generating effect called trapcode particular to make cold breath. He alters a lot of the effect setting in order to make the breath realistic and it looks really cool. He also did a quick color correction to make the scene look like it was really cold, turning up the blues and what not. I thought it was pretty cool and definitely practical if you needed to shoot a cold weather scene and we happened to be having unseasonably warm weather.

2D Image to 3D Animation

Hey guys,

So, I'm sure this is just the first of many different tutorials we'll all be posting throughout the semester. I'm also almost certain someone in past semesters has posted this exact same one, since it's such a simple concept with a great final product. A couple of months ago my friend was working on creating a reel for a documentary company he was hired by. While he had footage for many of the pieces they had produced, for some he only had images. I'm pretty sure he used this exact same tutorial to create the effect he eventually used in the reel. Even if you do have footage for a certain project, I think this is a really awesome way to incorporate your After Effects skills and introduce individual projects in your reel. The video starts off by showing you how to separate the different elements in a photo or other 2D image into layers, which we just happened to learn about on Monday. Then he pulls the whole image into After Effects to create the 3D simulation. Even though we haven't talked about using cameras in class yet he makes it seem like using them wont be that hard. Any of you who have taken topics in 3D know that controlling cameras in Maya isn't exactly easy. Don't worry, I have a feeling camera's are one of the many elements that will be much easier to use in this class than 3D. On a side note, if I could offer any advice to the rest of the class it's to follow this guys lead on naming each of your layers. If you haven't done much work with animation or Photoshop before this, trust me when I say that labeling each layer will make your life a lot easier. Especially when you're a weeks worth of work in and 100+ layers deep. Anyway hope you guys find this tutorial interesting, I know I did!

I couldn't figure out how to embed the video directly so just click on the text below. Sorry Arturo :-(.

Virtual 3D photos