http://library.creativecow.net/tutorials/adobeaftereffectsbasics Creative COW Library of Adobe After Effects basics, tips, and strategies. en-us Sat, 25 May 2013 12:00:00 GMT PHP Script webmaster@creativecow.net webmaster@creativecow.net http://library.creativecow.net/mize_rob/AE-Fireworks/1 http://library.creativecow.net/articles/mize_rob/AE-Fireworks.php Rob Mize shares his techniques for using After Effects to create a variety of fireworks displays. All you need is CC Particle World, a few expressions and a reason to celebrate and you can light up your world with dazzling pyrotechnic effects. Fri, 17 May 2013 19:00:00 GMT http://magazine.creativecow.net/article/iron-man-3 http://library.creativecow.net/articles/kaufman_debra/VFX_Alessandro-Cioffi_Iron-Man_3.php Seventy artists from Trixter worked an entire year to create a formidable 208 VFX shots for Marvel's Iron Man 3. Each new episode in the Iron Man saga details a slick new technology created by the ingenious Tony Stark, and the new installment does not disappoint! Combining the hard surface geometry Mon, 06 May 2013 19:00:00 GMT http://library.creativecow.net/devis_andrew/AE_RE-Match/1 http://library.creativecow.net/articles/devis_andrew/AE_RE-Match.php In this tutorial, Andrew Devis demonstrates a relatively new plug-in by RE:Vision Effects called RE:Match and how it can very quickly and accurately deal with the very common problem of non-matching cameras in After Effects. A typical approach to dealing with say a white balance issue would be to ap Sun, 14 Apr 2013 06:34:13 GMT http://magazine.creativecow.net/article/nab-2013-adobe-introduces-adobe-anywhere http://library.creativecow.net/articles/kaufman_debra/NAB_2013-Adobe.php At NAB 2013, Adobe is introducing Adobe Anywhere, a collaborative workflow platform that centralizes projects and allows users to share and change project files. Also new are some powerful new features for Adobe Premiere Pro, including color grading and the ability to "link & locate" c Thu, 04 Apr 2013 04:01:00 GMT http://library.creativecow.net/devis_andrew/AE-Basics_Extra-Text-2/1 http://library.creativecow.net/articles/devis_andrew/AE-Basics_Extra-Text-2.php In the second part of this two part AE Basics Extra tutorial, Andrew Devis continues to build the butterfly in After Effects and then shows how to keep it 3D as it is formed. Items covered in this tutorial include custom views, 3D and collapse transforms to keep items working in 3D once pre-composed Thu, 28 Mar 2013 18:40:00 GMT http://library.creativecow.net/devis_andrew/AE-Basics_Extra-Text-1/1 http://library.creativecow.net/articles/devis_andrew/AE-Basics_Extra-Text-1.php In the first part of this two part AE Basics Extra tutorial, Andrew Devis starts to show how to create a butterfly wing with text. The purpose of these tutorials is to give additional hints and tips for text animation in After Effects. Items covered in this tutorial include, using the pen tool, path Thu, 28 Mar 2013 18:00:00 GMT http://library.creativecow.net/devis_andrew/AE_Text-Animation/1 http://library.creativecow.net/articles/devis_andrew/AE_Text-Animation.php In this AE Basics Extra tutorial, Andrew Devis shows some more text animation techniques by animating 'Caterpillar' text in After Effects. Andrew shows how to shape your text so that it curves from large to small to create a 'tail' for the text and then he shows how to set up and animate the path th Wed, 20 Mar 2013 17:42:36 GMT http://library.creativecow.net/devis_andrew/AE_IK-Character-Animation_2/1 http://library.creativecow.net/articles/devis_andrew/AE_IK-Character-Animation_2.php In this second tutorial on animating an IK character Andrew Devis shows us how to create and refine a walk cycle with our IK controlled character such that it walks in time with the music we had set up in the previous tutorial. Fri, 15 Mar 2013 19:00:00 GMT http://library.creativecow.net/devis_andrew/AE_IK-Character-Animation_1/1 http://library.creativecow.net/articles/devis_andrew/AE_IK-Character-Animation_1.php This tutorial is both a follow-on tutorial to Andrew's previous tutorials on IK controllers in After Effects and a helpful stand-alone tutorial showing how to define a beat range to use as a guide to animation in After Effects. To start with Andrew shows how to use a simple expression to deal with a Fri, 15 Mar 2013 18:00:00 GMT http://magazine.creativecow.net/article/tiffen-dfx-30-color-grading-lab-processes-more http://library.creativecow.net/articles/kutchera_dennis/Tiffen-DFX-3point0-Review.php Whatever your level of expertise with color grading, you are going to want to try Tiffen DFX after reading this review. In a sentence, it is one of the most useful, if not the most useful plugin you will find to extend the color correction capabilities of your editing software, solve picture problem Sat, 23 Feb 2013 21:00:00 GMT http://magazine.creativecow.net/article/pushing-ae-and-myself http://library.creativecow.net/articles/oneil_bill/AE_20_Pushing-AE.php Bill O'Neil helps celebrate 20 years of Adobe After Effects with his story. Bill reveals his secret, "I learned how to use AE by making promises to my clients I didn't know I could keep." Sat, 23 Feb 2013 03:00:00 GMT http://library.creativecow.net/devis_andrew/AE_Inverse-Kinematic_2_300th/1 http://library.creativecow.net/articles/devis_andrew/AE_Inverse-Kinematic_2_300th.php Standard character animation in After Effects uses a process called 'Forward Kinematics' in that we animate down a linked chain - for example, upper arm linked to forearm linked to hand. To get animation we need to move the items down the chain one at a time. Inverse Kinematics creates a link back u Wed, 20 Feb 2013 11:10:00 GMT http://library.creativecow.net/devis_andrew/AE_Inverse-Kinematic_1/1 http://library.creativecow.net/articles/devis_andrew/AE_Inverse-Kinematic_1.php Standard character animation in After Effects uses a process called 'Forward Kinematics' in that we animate down a linked chain - for example, upper arm linked to forearm linked to hand. To get animation we need to move the items down the chain one at a time. Inverse Kinematics creates a link back u Wed, 20 Feb 2013 11:00:00 GMT http://library.creativecow.net/lidrbauch_steve/AE_Reflective-Text/1 http://library.creativecow.net/articles/lidrbauch_steve/AE_Reflective-Text.php In this tutorial, Steve will show you how to give your text or logos the appearance of having reflections that interact movement! And you can do all of this in After Effects without using any plug-ins! Fri, 15 Feb 2013 21:00:00 GMT http://magazine.creativecow.net/article/my-name-is-rob-mize-and-i-am-after-effects-dependent http://library.creativecow.net/articles/mize_rob/AE_20_Addicted-to-After-Effects.php "I don't know if it's addiction or adoration, but one way or the other, I'm hooked on her," says Creative COW's Rob Mize. "The signs are all there: the obsession with After Effects, the inability to function without After Effects there next to me on my laptop, waiting to be clicked. A Sat, 09 Feb 2013 01:45:00 GMT http://magazine.creativecow.net/article/advice-to-editors-learn-ae http://library.creativecow.net/articles/mcauliffe_kevin/all_day_every_day.php Kevin McAuliffe's experience has been that all editors need to know Adobe After Effects at least as well as their NLE. His own experience has been that anything less than intermediate to advanced knowledge makes it impossible to actually get anything done. Even working with the compositing power of Fri, 08 Feb 2013 18:59:47 GMT http://magazine.creativecow.net/article/tim-squyres-edits-life-of-pi http://library.creativecow.net/articles/kaufman_debra/Tim-Squyres_Life-of-Pi.php Tim Squyres, who was nominated for an Academy Award for his work on Life of Pi, got hooked on film when he took an introductory film course at Cornell University in upstate New York. Squyres talks to Creative COW about the challenges of editing Ang Lee's first digitally shot feature film, which was Wed, 06 Feb 2013 21:05:00 GMT http://magazine.creativecow.net/article/how-do-they-do-all-this http://library.creativecow.net/articles/cuevas_john/how_did_they.php When he saw a particular commercial for another local company years ago, John Cuevas was blown away, "so I asked our senior editor 'how did they do all of this?' He replied, 'After Effects.' I looked him dead in the eye and said 'Yeah, I get that they did the effects after, but how do they DO i Wed, 06 Feb 2013 01:07:12 GMT http://magazine.creativecow.net/article/ronald-kathlyn-and-after-effects-the-cow http://library.creativecow.net/articles/lindeboom_ronald/me_kathlyn_aftereffects.php Soon after they purchased CoSA After Effects in 1994, Ronald & Kathlyn Lindeboom found themselves in a little over their heads. There were virtually no web resources for learning AE -- frankly, virtually no resources whatsoever, as this was long before training tapes and books. So, they founded a we Tue, 05 Feb 2013 18:44:37 GMT http://magazine.creativecow.net/article/expressions-scripting-automation-and-fun http://library.creativecow.net/articles/ebberts_dan/AE_20th_Expressions.php "I first encountered After Effects in a somewhat roundabout way. I have (as many people do apparently) an aversion to public speaking, so I came up with the bright idea of creating a video to do the talking for me." So begins the journey of longtime Creative COW leader Dan Ebberts, which t Tue, 05 Feb 2013 15:34:48 GMT http://magazine.creativecow.net/article/an-old-dog-learning-new-tricks http://library.creativecow.net/articles/devis_andrew/AE_20th-Old-Dogs-New-Tricks.php You'll be surprised at how late Andrew Devis started with After Effects, but he's thrilled to be constantly learning new tricks. The excitement he finds in turning that knowledge into tutorials has clearly been reciprocated, as he has become one of the web's most popular trainers. Mon, 04 Feb 2013 04:10:00 GMT http://magazine.creativecow.net/article/keeping-them-guessing http://library.creativecow.net/articles/laronde_dave/AE_20th_Twenty-Candles.php For 22 years, Dave LaRonde created on-air promotion for KCRG-TV, the ABC affiliate in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Through the years, one thing has remained constant: Adobe After Effects has been in his video toolbox. Dave describes his introduction to After Effects and how it helped him turn an also-ran int Mon, 04 Feb 2013 04:00:00 GMT http://magazine.creativecow.net/article/inspiring-me-to-enable-myself http://library.creativecow.net/articles/wall_kylee/AE_20th.php "My journey with After Effects is a reflection of my journey as a creative. Fear, skepticism, blood, tears, mocking, understanding, confidence. The cycle repeats sometimes, but it expands and contracts too. Some days it's a thing of wonder and beauty, other days it's collapsing in on itself lik Mon, 04 Feb 2013 04:20:00 GMT http://magazine.creativecow.net/article/out-of-thin-air-creating-magic-with-adobe-after-effects http://library.creativecow.net/articles/castaneda_rick/AE_20th.php "I was learning that After Effects was unlike any other piece of software I’d ever used. I dove in thinking it was a pool, but found it just went deeper and deeper - the Marianas Trench of programs," says Psychic Bunny's Rick Castañeda. The endless grind of one frame at a time roto blos Mon, 04 Feb 2013 04:30:00 GMT http://library.creativecow.net/devis_andrew/AE-Basics-65-Expression-2/1 http://library.creativecow.net/articles/devis_andrew/AE-Basics-65-Expression-2.php AE Basics - A Creative COW series for new users of Adobe After Effects. Lesson 65: In this second follow-on tutorial, Andrew Devis continues to demonstrate how to apply a color Expression Controller to one part of the production and then how to quickly apply it to other parts of the same composition Wed, 30 Jan 2013 11:00:00 GMT http://library.creativecow.net/devis_andrew/AE-Basics-64-Expression-1/1 http://library.creativecow.net/articles/devis_andrew/AE-Basics-64-Expression-1.php AE Basics - A Creative COW series for new users of Adobe After Effects. Lesson 64: Expression Controllers are a way to simplify the animation controls for a given composition. Although some people are initially worried by the idea of using Expressions, using and controlling Expression Controllers is Wed, 23 Jan 2013 11:00:00 GMT http://library.creativecow.net/devis_andrew/AE-Basics_Extra-Repeater-2/1 http://library.creativecow.net/articles/devis_andrew/AE-Basics_Extra-Repeater-2.php AE Basics - A Creative COW series for new users of Adobe After Effects. In this second 'Extra' tutorial in the AE Basics series, Andrew Devis shows how to create shapes from text, how to rotate that shape into a circle, how to move the circle into a line and finally how to create other very interest Wed, 23 Jan 2013 11:11:00 GMT http://library.creativecow.net/devis_andrew/AE-Basics_Extra-Repeater-1/1 http://library.creativecow.net/articles/devis_andrew/AE-Basics_Extra-Repeater-1.php AE Basics - A Creative COW series for new users of Adobe After Effects. Having recently completed a training course, Andrew Devis was asked about some more advanced uses for the repeater tool when working with shape layers in After Effects. Andrew has produced 2 'Extra' tutorials to go with his earl Wed, 23 Jan 2013 11:10:00 GMT http://library.creativecow.net/mize_rob/AE-3D-Cube/1 http://library.creativecow.net/articles/mize_rob/AE-3D-Cube.php Rob Mize demonstrates the building of a 3D cube that can be animated in 3D space. Rob also shows how to pre-compose layers to quickly customize the cube with graphics, video, text or all of the above. All you need is the desire to build and manipulate 3D objects in 3D space. Thu, 17 Jan 2013 20:00:00 GMT http://library.creativecow.net/devis_andrew/AE-Basics-63-Persistent-Disc-Cache/1 http://library.creativecow.net/articles/devis_andrew/AE-Basics-63-Persistent-Disc-Cache.php AE Basics - A Creative COW series for new users of Adobe After Effects. Lesson 63: In this tutorial, Andrew Devis explains a significant 'under the hood' improvement in CS6 which reduces the need for 'Pre-rendering' and makes the operation of After Effects much faster. These improvements are called Wed, 02 Jan 2013 11:00:00 GMT http://library.creativecow.net/devis_andrew/AE-Basics-62-Export-8/1 http://library.creativecow.net/articles/devis_andrew/AE-Basics-62-Export-8.php AE Basics - A Creative COW series for new users of Adobe After Effects. Lesson 62: In this tutorial, Andrew Devis explains what Pre-rendering is and why it would be useful in your projects as well as what to look for when pre-rendering to ensure you don't have problems later in your production. Wed, 26 Dec 2012 11:00:00 GMT http://library.creativecow.net/devis_andrew/AE-Basics-61-Export-7/1 http://library.creativecow.net/articles/devis_andrew/AE-Basics-61-Export-7.php AE Basics - A Creative COW series for new users of Adobe After Effects. Lesson 61: In this tutorial looking at getting your production out of After Effects, Andrew Devis shows how to create and use watch folders. Wed, 19 Dec 2012 11:00:00 GMT http://library.creativecow.net/devis_andrew/AE-Basics-60-Export-6/1 http://library.creativecow.net/articles/devis_andrew/AE-Basics-60-Export-6.php AE Basics - A Creative COW series for new users of Adobe After Effects. Lesson 60: In this tutorial looking at getting your production out of After Effects, Andrew Devis shows how to create preset groups and how to modify and save a custom preset. Wed, 12 Dec 2012 11:00:00 GMT http://library.creativecow.net/devis_andrew/AE_Dictionary-Presets3/1 http://library.creativecow.net/articles/devis_andrew/AE_Dictionary-Presets3.php In the last part of this three part advanced text animation tutorial, Andrew Devis concludes by showing how to select the already selected text and animate each word separately such that they can be moved into any order and position to create a coherent sentence from the original body of paragraph t Wed, 12 Dec 2012 02:24:26 GMT http://library.creativecow.net/devis_andrew/AE_Dictionary-Presets2/1 http://library.creativecow.net/articles/devis_andrew/AE_Dictionary-Presets2.php In the second part of this three part advanced text animation tutorial, Andrew Devis shows how once the 'Dictionary' preset has been applied we can then create a separate 'exclusion' group to fade the remaining unselected paragraph text such that the focus remains on the selected text only - all on Wed, 12 Dec 2012 02:05:07 GMT http://library.creativecow.net/devis_andrew/Audio-Basics_Bit-Depth/1 http://library.creativecow.net/articles/devis_andrew/Audio-Basics_Bit-Depth.php In this second tutorial in his occasional series on audio basics, Andrew Devis explains what bit depth is and how the right choice of bit depth can effect the accuracy of your recording. Although Andrew uses Adobe Audition CS6 the information given in this tutorial is valid for any digital audio rec Wed, 12 Dec 2012 01:00:08 GMT http://library.creativecow.net/devis_andrew/Audio-Basics_Sample-Rate/1 http://library.creativecow.net/articles/devis_andrew/Audio-Basics_Sample-Rate.php In this occasional series on audio basics by Andrew Devis, Andrew explains what audio samples are and how they can effect the accuracy of you recording. Although Andrew uses Adobe Audition CS6, the information given in this tutorial is valid for any digital audio recording software packed. Andrew al Wed, 12 Dec 2012 01:00:00 GMT http://magazine.creativecow.net/article/jacob-rosenberg-directs-waiting-for-lightning http://library.creativecow.net/articles/rosenberg_jacob/Waiting-for-Lightning.php Waiting for Lightning is the tragic and triumphant story of legendary skateboarder Danny Way, following him from his chaotic childhood to his early talent with a skateboard through to his many professional successes. With a combination of archival footage, interviews and skateboard action, Waiting f Sat, 08 Dec 2012 03:00:00 GMT http://library.creativecow.net/devis_andrew/AE-Basics-59-Export-5/1 http://library.creativecow.net/articles/devis_andrew/AE-Basics-59-Export-5.php AE Basics - A Creative COW series for new users of Adobe After Effects. Lesson 59: In this tutorial looking at getting your production out of After Effects, Andrew Devis starts to show how to use the newly redesigned for CS6 Media Encoder for final output options. Wed, 05 Dec 2012 11:00:00 GMT http://library.creativecow.net/devis_andrew/AE-Card-Wipe-Effect-4/1 http://library.creativecow.net/articles/devis_andrew/AE-Card-Wipe-Effect-4.php In this last of four tutorials on the 'Card Wipe' effect, Andrew Devis explains the 'jitter' options in the effect and goes through some simple scenarios for animating this powerful effect as well as showing how he created the intro to the tutorial. Wed, 28 Nov 2012 23:45:00 GMT http://library.creativecow.net/devis_andrew/AE-Card-Wipe-Effect-3/1 http://library.creativecow.net/articles/devis_andrew/AE-Card-Wipe-Effect-3.php In this third of four tutorials on the 'Card Wipe' effect, Andrew Devis goes through the various camera, lighting and materials parameters for this effect looking at using the in-built camera, a comp camera and the corner pin option. Wed, 28 Nov 2012 23:30:00 GMT http://library.creativecow.net/devis_andrew/AE-Card-Wipe-Effect-2/1 http://library.creativecow.net/articles/devis_andrew/AE-Card-Wipe-Effect-2.php In this second of four tutorials on the 'Card Wipe' effect, Andrew Devis goes through many of the parameters for the effect showing how to customise the effect for your own use. Andrew also touches on using gradients in your comp to drive the effect. Wed, 28 Nov 2012 23:15:00 GMT http://library.creativecow.net/devis_andrew/AE-Card-Wipe-Effect-1/1 http://library.creativecow.net/articles/devis_andrew/AE-Card-Wipe-Effect-1.php In this first of four tutorials on the 'Card Wipe' effect, Andrew Devis shows how to set up a composition with multiple images to use in the effect. Andrew touches on how to replace one item with another item while inheriting the changes of the original item. Wed, 28 Nov 2012 23:00:00 GMT http://library.creativecow.net/devis_andrew/AE-Basics-58-Export-4/1 http://library.creativecow.net/articles/devis_andrew/AE-Basics-58-Export-4.php AE Basics - A Creative COW series for new users of Adobe After Effects. Lesson 58: In this tutorial looking at getting your production out of After Effects, Andrew Devis goes through the output module settings dialogue box and explains what options to use and how to export multiple formats. Wed, 28 Nov 2012 11:00:00 GMT http://library.creativecow.net/devis_andrew/AE-Basics-57-Export-3/1 http://library.creativecow.net/articles/devis_andrew/AE-Basics-57-Export-3.php AE Basics - A Creative COW series for new users of Adobe After Effects. Lesson 57: In this tutorial looking at getting your production out of After Effects, Andrew Devis goes through the render settings dialogue box and explains why you would choose to export through After Effects and how to save a Wed, 21 Nov 2012 11:00:00 GMT http://library.creativecow.net/devis_andrew/AE-Basics-56-Export-2/1 http://library.creativecow.net/articles/devis_andrew/AE-Basics-56-Export-2.php AE Basics - A Creative COW series for new users of Adobe After Effects. Lesson 56: In this tutorial looking at getting your production out of After Effects, Andrew Devis shows how to set up your composition for export and how to determine where it will output and how to use default file names. Wed, 14 Nov 2012 11:00:00 GMT http://library.creativecow.net/mize_rob/AE-Virtual-Scrapbook/1 http://library.creativecow.net/articles/mize_rob/AE-Virtual-Scrapbook.php Rob Mize presents the After Effects Virtual Scrapbook... a novel technique for introducing pictures, graphics and video into your productions. This tutorial uses various shapes, integrated with other elements, to create animated objects. You will learn to use parenting to control multiple objects in Tue, 13 Nov 2012 21:40:51 GMT http://library.creativecow.net/devis_andrew/AE-Basics-55-Export-1/1 http://library.creativecow.net/articles/devis_andrew/AE-Basics-55-Export-1.php AE Basics - A Creative COW series for new users of Adobe After Effects. Lesson 55: In this first tutorial looking at getting your production out of After Effects, Andrew Devis shows how to use Dynamic Link to get your After Effects composition into Premiere Pro. Andrew shows the various methods to d Wed, 07 Nov 2012 11:00:00 GMT http://library.creativecow.net/mcauliffe_kevin/AE-CS6-Difference-Mattes/1 http://library.creativecow.net/articles/mcauliffe_kevin/AE-CS6-Difference-Mattes.php In this lesson, Kevin P McAuliffe shows you a great, and highly underused tool inside of Adobe's After Effects, and that is the Difference Matte. If you need to remove an element from one shot, and use it on another, this technique is one that you're going to go back to over and over again. Wed, 17 Oct 2012 16:00:00 GMT http://library.creativecow.net/mize_rob/AE_Flame-Effects/1 http://library.creativecow.net/articles/mize_rob/AE_Flame-Effects.php Rob Mize demonstrates how to turn your actors (and other images) into a raging blaze of living flame. Combining CC Particle World with a number of other effects and some animated masks, you'll be able to fire up your productions without any 3rd party plug-ins... "Flame on!" Tue, 09 Oct 2012 03:42:39 GMT