Want to let everyone in your shop use the same media at the same time? The Cows Bob Zelin shares the secrets for affordable shared storage that you can build yourself, and that WORKS. Start with big, fast storage from your favorite pro vendor, then follow along. Bob even shows you a few hazards to avoid along the way.
In this video tutorial, Creative Cow Contributing Editor Eran Stern shows you how to duplicate elements in After Effects using the Shape Tools Repeater function.
Looking to create your own holographic effect? Let CreativeCOW.net Contributing Editor Stephen Smith show you how. This Apple Motion video tutorial will teach you what you need to know to create a hologram effect.
In this video tutorial, Creative Cow leader Aharon Rabinowitz shows you how to use shape layers to easily create that Old-School look where a red dashed line animates over a map to indicate travel destinations.
Its game time baby! In this video tutorial, Creative Cow leader Aharon Rabinowitz shows you how to create the look of a giant monitor, such as the kind you might see at a stadium or concert.
In this video tutorial, Creative Cow Contributing Editor Eran Stern continue to show you how he designed the 3D Titles for his DVD Promo using Zaxwerks Invigorator Pro and how the final composite was made.
In this video tutorial, Creative Cow Contributing Editor Eran Stern takes you behind the scenes and show you how he created the background animation for his DVD Promo using Trapcode 3D Stroke and Shine.
In this video tutorial, Creative Cow leader Aharon Rabinowitz shows you how to be an AE road warrior by changing the keyboard shortcuts to account for missing keys on a laptop - such as the Ram Preview key or the Audio Preview key.
In this video tutorial, Creative Cow contributing editor Grant Swanson will explain how to simulate many elements to enhance your DV footage. Many techniques in this tutorial will show how to create effects similar to those in a popular software package.
Sure, being replaceable can be scary -- but sometimes you NEED somebody to step in and help. Here are some of the tricks that Cow author Dustin Lau has learned for project set-up, file naming, and clear communication with other members on the team. These tricks will create smooth hand-offs from you to your temporary replacement -- and back to you when you return, without driving anyone crazy.
Looking for better media management in Final Cut Pro? TV producer and Cow contributor Dustin Lau says it all begins with better file naming. He shows how its working at ESPN/Star Sports Asia, as they manage their workflow across multiple teams, under the high pressure of episodic TV deadlines. It will work for you too.
It does not make you a better FCP editor, but no matter what kind of work you do, speed still matters. Cow author Dustin Lau shares some tips and tricks to accelerate your work in Final Cut Pro that even the old dogs can learn from.
Creative Cow Contributor Jake Russell takes you deep into the advanced navigation capabilities in Apple DVD Studio Pro to show you how to take complete control over menu navigation. In this case, hell show you how to make the chapter skip button take you to a menu. It might SOUND easy, but if youve tried it, you might actually think its impossible -- but not if you follow Jakes direction.
Particles are a great world to explore. In this video tutorial from CreativeCOW leader Alvaro Castaneda, well learn how to create particles in very simple ways. We also add collision objects gravity and render them in a liquid like mesh.
In this video tutorial, Creative Cow leader Tony Ross demonstrates how to to create a simple text animation in Flash using Motion tweens and the Distribute to Layers command.
In this video tutorial, Creative Cow Contributing Editor Eran Stern will show you how to project text on the floor using light transmission feature in After Effects.
In this video tutorial from CreativeCOW leader Alvaro Castaneda, we will create a nice looking effect in Maya that emulates the half-tone print effect. This tutorial shows that Maya can create looks not traditionally associated with 3D rendering applications.
In this video tutorial, Creative Cow leader Tony Ross demonstrates how to create text writing itself via masking in Flash. Tools used include Brush tool, Selection tool as well as masking.
In this video tutorial, Creative Cow Contributing Editor Eran Stern shows you a how to build a 3D scene using Photoshop CS3 Vanishing Point and re-light it inside After Effects.
In this Maya video tutorial from CreativeCOW leader Alvaro Castaneda, youll learn why is important to keep everything nice and organized into projects. Well also learn other ways to create folders by using the mighty command line / shell.
VFX artist Roger Bolton has worked on films including The Lord of the Rings, Charlie and The Chocolate Factory and Kingdom of Heaven. He has also created effects for his own use -- in this case, a wide variety of 2D and 3D VU meters, automatically animated by the audio in your project. He now offers these 8 plug-ins to artists using Final Cut Pro, After Effects and Motion -- with no watermarks, no time limits, no price tag. Please note: these plug-ins are MAC ONLY.
In this Maya video tutorial from CreativeCOW leader Alvaro Castaneda, we add shaders to our geometry to later light and render our final logo. This is part 2 of a 2 part series Creating a Logo in Maya.
In this video tutorial, Creative Cow contributing editor Grant Swanson will explain how to use the After Effects Motion Tracker to remove unwanted jitter and movement while still retaining the original motion of the sequence through the use of an expression or manual keyframes in After Effects.
In this video tutorial, Creative Cow Contributing Editor Eran Stern shows you a how to track objects that are moving out of frame using expressions and AE motion tracker.
In this video tutorial from CreativeCOW contributor Alvaro Castaneda, we begin by tracing the logo in a vector app, then use that to start building the logo, using Maya to bring it to life. This is part 1 of a 2 part series Creating a Logo in Maya.
In this video tutorial, Creative Cow leader Tony Ross revisits the tutorial how to build a basic site about Colors in Flash. This version is created using Actionscript 3. The basic principles learned from this tutorial will enable the user to create a variety of simple websites. Elements covered are basic Actionscript 3, navigation, labels, button and graphic symbols.
In this video tutorial, Creative Cow contributing editor Grant Swanson will cover important and useful techniques for working with alpha channels that are specifically derived from certain color luminance values. He will explain how to extract the color of a certain area of the image, turn it into an alpha channel, and use it to manipulate the image.
In this video tutorial, Creative Cow Contributing Editor Eran Stern enhances the 3D ribbon text composition by adding a ripple effect to the floor plus a flock of fireflies that dance around the scene.
In this video tutorial, Creative Cow contributing editor Eran Stern shows you a very cool way to create 3D ribbon text animation using After Effects CS3 Text tool.
In this video tutorial, CreativeCow leader Aharon Rabinowitz shows you a menu item for speeding up the process of copying expressions to other layers, without typing or altering the current values.
In this video tutorial from CreativeCOW leader Tony Ross, you will learn to create an Action/ Title Safe template in Flash. Use this as a guide when making animations or motion graphics going to DVD or TV. Using rectangle tool, transform window, saving layers as a guide, and learn to save a document as a template.
Apple Automator is a tiny application included with Mac OS X with big power, quickly and easily creating custom workflows based on the work you actually do - no programming required. Its the perfect way to handle those pesky repetitive tasks in FCP. Do something once, then let Automator take it from there. This handy little tool can make the difference between keeping and losing your sanity -- and making or missing your deadline.
In this video tutorial, CreativeCow leader Aharon Rabinowitz returns to the subject of Audio (Workflow tips #8) and shares a tip for working with audio waveforms that he got from an AE user via email.
In this video tutorial from CreativeCOW leader Tony Ross, you will add the rain to the cityscape via Photoshop. You will use a series of filters in Photoshop to create a single image to import into Flash, then create a 4-frame rain loop that can be animated at any angle. In addition you will add sound and lightning FX in Flash to complete the illusion of a thunderstorm. This is the last of a 3 part series, animating a rainy cityscape in Flash.
In this video tutorial, CreativeCow leader Aharon Rabinowitz shows you an often-missed feature in AE that can help you when trying to create transparency in an image by using the layers below as the source of that transparency.
Creative Cow Leader Shane Ross is one of a very small handful of the worlds most respected FCP experts. Over the course of years answering questions, hes compiled a real-world list of the questions that are truly the most frequently asked. He calls them Shanes Stock Answers. We call them the information you really need for working with FCP. Here in Part 3, he covers QuickTime issues, timecode management, P2 tips and much more, including one of the most frequently questions of all: how to open new projects in older versions of FCP.
In this video tutorial, Creative Cow contributing editor Grant Swanson will take you through an effective way of tracking Mystic Text onto a wall or screen. This technique can be used in horror films, commercials, or promos. He will cover the basics of the After Effects paint tools, some basic 2.5D motion tracking, and some simple yet effective compositing techniques.
In this video tutorial, Creative Cow Leader Aharon Rabinowitz shows you an often-missed tool that can help you out in a pinch, by expanding the boundaries of your footage.
In this video tutorial from CreativeCOW leader Tony Ross, you will build a multiplane by animating a second set of buildings as the foreground. Tools include the Rectangle Tool, Oval Tool, Selection & Subselection Tools, in addition to Motion Tweens. This is part 2 of a 3 part series, animating a rainy cityscape in Flash.
In this video tutorial, Creative Cow Leader Jeff Bellune demonstrates how to use the tools available in particleIllusion and After Effects to get a particle emitter source to track an element in a video clip. Part Three shows how to mask the emitter layer in an After Effects composition, so that the emitter appears to be placed properly in the scene relative to the other video elements.
In this video tutorial, Creative Cow contributing editor Eran Stern continues to animate the vector shapes using After Effects and finalizing the design for our Telenovela opener.
In this video tutorial, Creative Cow Leader Jeff Bellune demonstrates how to use the tools available in particleIllusion and After Effects to get a particle emitter source to track an element in a video clip. Part Two concerns the animation of the emitter itself so that it accurately tracks the video element.
In this tutorial, Creative Cow leader, Michael Park, demonstrates another, more advanced method for creating shimmering glitter particles using Trapcodes Particular. The main advancement is the implementation of 3d rotation of the glitter particles, as well as using expressions to convert the rotation of the particles in all 3 axis to drive a greyscale map, which in turn is used to color the particle using colorama and create the shimmer effect when the particles face the camera.
In this video tutorial from CreativeCOW leader Tony Ross, you will create a seamless, looping background of buildings against a night sky. Tools include the Rectangle Tool, Oval Tool, Selection & Subselection Tools, in addition to Motion Tweens. You will also learn to work in Flash using the Duplicate Window option. This is the first of a 3 part series, animating a rainy cityscape in Flash.
In this video tutorial, Creative Cow contributing editor Eran Stern demonstrates a cool way of designing a text title for a Telenovela soap opera opener using Illustrator open type font.
In this video tutorial, Creative Cow Leader Jeff Bellune demonstrates how to use the tools available in particleIllusion and After Effects to get a particle emitter source to track an element in a video clip. Part One details how to animate the Layer Offset in particleIllusion to eliminate motion in the clip that is caused by movement of the camera that filmed the scene.
In this tutorial, Creative Cow leader, Michael Park, demonstrates how to simulate shimmering glitter particles using fractal noise, colorama effect and Trapcodes Particular plugin.
In this video tutorial from CreativeCOW leader Tony Ross, learn to use Flash as a drawing tool, while making several pseudo-3D shapes, including a flower pot. Tools include the Rectangle Tool, Oval Tool, Paint Bucket Tool, and Free Transform Tool.
In this video tutorial, Creative Cow Leader Aharon Rabinowitz introduces you to Shape Layers, one of the most powerful features in Adobe After Effects CS3.
In part two of his shotgun tutorial, Michael Park will demonstrate how to incorporate the 3d footage together with 2d footage in After effects and use different filters to create the distortion surrounding the blast from the barrel of the shotgun and the air distortion trailing the individual shotgun pellets as they race towards the camera. He will also cover some time remapping techniques to add some more interest to your shot.
Many people are interested in creating and incorporating 3d generated footage into live action. In this 2 part tutorial, Michael Park will demonstrate how to create a shotgun blast at the camera using 3d rendered particles and distortion trails along with some 2d footage to create a convincing effect. In part 1 of this tutorial, we will create the 3d shotgun pellet geometry and material, as well as the distortion trails to be later used in the after effects composition.
In this video tutorial from CreativeCOW leader Tony Ross, learn how to create and save a custom swatches palette in Flash. Tools include the Eyedropper tool, the Paint Bucket tool, and the Swatches window.
In this Apple Motion tutorial Ben Scott shows you how to create a TV screen effect inside Apple Motion. This is part four of a series that can be found in the Creative COW Final Cut Studio Tutorials Podcast.
In this video tutorial, Creative Cow contributing editor Eran Stern with the help of his brother Yuval will show you a simple method to create the famous invisible look inspired from the movie The Predator.
This Adobe Photoshop tutorial will show how to use Photoshop to design a website that will be exported as HTML and image slices. The web page can be brought into an HTML editor program such as Adobe Dreamweaver to be modified. This is an Adobe Photoshop web design tutorial showing how to design, create and save a web page with Photoshop.
In this article, Brendan Coots addresses some of the points that users need to consider when asking ''What do I need to do to go into business for myself?''
In this video tutorial, Creative Cow contributing editor Grant Swanson will take you step-by-step through the easiest and fastest (and extremely effective) way of creating the popular Sin City effect - colorized objects in a black and white world. You will learn basic techniques when working with color, and some useful masking/rotoscoping techniques.
In this video tutorial, Creative Cow leader Aharon Rabinowitz explores a few ways to correct some common problems experienced when creating text animators.
In this video tutorial, Creative Cow leader Aharon Rabinowitz explores creating Text animators, and talks about why you might animate properties together or separately.
In this article, technology guru Mike Skibra discusses both IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) and the way that tools like Softron's OnTheAir system webcasts digital television over broadband network connections. IPTV is television content that, instead of being delivered through traditional broadcast and cable formats, is received by the viewer through the technologies used for computer networks. At the forefront of this new evolution in distribution, Softron OnTheAir enables the delivery of content using these internet enabled computers to become new broadcast channels. The OnTheAir system is Mac-based and in this article, Mike Skibra explains many of the basics you need to know for set-up and successfully broadcasting your content.
Film look software will never offer the same impact on your work that film-style shooting will. Software will also always take longer than shooting right the first time. Longtime film shooter Kim Segel shows you the tools and techniques to maximize film looks, even on pauper's budgets.
If you thought the pre-built templates that came with Motion were cool, how about building your own? This Apple Motion video tutorial by CreativeCow.net Contributing Editor Stephen Smith will show you what you need to know to create your own custom Motion templates.
In this video tutorial, Creative Cow contributing editor Eran Stern will continue to finesse the design of the Digits Man promo. Learn how to create a subtle background using the Shape Tool and spice it further with additional effects and Text animations.
In this video tutorial, Creative Cow contributing editor Tony Ross demonstrates part 3 of a 3 part series, creating optical illusions in Flash. Create a more complex spinning illusion of two sets of concentric circles using Motion Tweens, Rotation Options, and Blend Modes. Tools used include the Oval Tool, Free Transform tool, Gradients, and the History panel.
Want to save time while using Final Cut Pro? CreativeCow.net Contributing Editor Stephen Smith will show you how. His video tutorial has five must use tips: Motion Templates, Swap Edit, Audio Levels, Ripple Delete and Transitions Time Saver.
In this video tutorial, Creative Cow contributing editor Eran Stern will show you a cool technique for filling an image of a human head with animated numbers using After Effects CS3s Text tool.
In this video tutorial, Creative Cow contributing editor Tony Ross demonstrates part 2 of a 3 part series, creating optical illusions in Adobe Flash. Create a tunnel illusion using Motion Tweens and Masking. Tools used include the Oval Tool, Free Transform tool, Gradients, and the History panel.
In this Flash video tutorial, Creative Cow contributing editor Tony Ross answers a forum question:
''I want to animate the movie clip as a roll over. so as the mouse is hovering over the MC it plays the animation in a loop, but when the mouse is moved away it finishes the animation then stops.'' This will be done using a movieclip, an invisible button, and Actionscript.
In this Adobe Flash video tutorial, Creative Cow contributing editor Tony Ross demonstrates the first of a 3 part series, creating optical illusions in Flash. Create a spinning illusion of circles with cycling gradients using Motion Tweens and Rotation Options. Tools used include the Oval Tool, Free Transform tool, Gradients, and an introduction to the History panel.
Final Cut Studios Compressor has many pre-existing settings that allow you to start compressing your project immediately. If you find yourself making the same alterations this tutorial can save you time. CreativeCOW.net Contributing Editor Stephen Smith will show you how to: create custom settings, create custom settings from scratch, create groups of settings and how to delete settings.
In this video tutorial, Creative Cow contributing editor Eran Stern demonstrates how you can create the illusion of time bending with a special focus on the correct way of using the CC Time Blend FX.
Learn about MySQL and how to implement its functionality into your web site allowing you to create dynamic content built from databases. In this tutorial you will learn some basics of using MySQL, PHPMyAdmin, Database Management Systems, and how to display MySQL content in a web page.
In this video tutorial, Creative Cow contributing editor Tony Ross demonstrates how to build a basic site about Colors in Flash. The basic principles learned from this tutorial will enable the user to create a variety of simple websites. Elements covered are navigation, basic action script, labels, button and graphic symbols.
In this video tutorial, Creative Cow leader Aharon Rabinowitz returns to one of his earliest tutorials, Creating TV Look, and shows how it can be used to create the look of a Hologram as seen in science fiction movies.
In this Flash video tutorial, Pencil Drawing part 2, Creative Cow contributing editor Tony Ross demonstrates drawing a line. Learn how to use Masking, Motion Tweens, and Motion Guide Layers to create an animated pencil drawing a curved line. Tools used are the Rectangle tool, Pencil tool, and Free Transform tool.
Yes, Apple Color is connected to Final Cut Pro...but not exactly integrated. Creative Cow leader Walter Biscardi, one of the worlds most respected experts on the connection between the two, will help guide your sequences safely from FCP to Color -- and show you why its worth the effort.
Creative Cow Leader Shane Ross is one of a very small handful of the world's most respected FCP experts. Over the course of years answering questions, he's compiled a real-world list of the questions that are truly the most frequently asked. He calls them Shane's Stock Answers. We call them the information you really need for working with FCP. In part 2 he covers HDV monitoring, editing web codecs, working with Photoshop files in FCP, and much more.
Because Final Cut Pro can do so much, it can be easy to get lost inside its interface as you start to do more and more at once. Let Creative Cow leader and Final Cut Pro expert Walter Biscardi show you how to take back control of your workspace and work more quickly and efficiently with FCPs tabs.
In this video tutorial, Creative Cow contributing editor Eran Stern shows you how to use AE CS3 to transition between the different 3D images, and to create a final animation project.
Its late, youre running late, and you cant figure out why your sequence isnt playing in real time. Fortunately, Creative Cow leader and Final Cut Pro expert Walter Biscardi is here to help. You know that somethings wrong, Walter knows what, and he tells you how to fix it here.
Creative Cow Leader Shane Ross is one of a very small handful of the world's most respected FCP experts. Over the course of years answering questions, he's compiled a real-world list of the questions that are truly the most frequently asked. He calls them Shane's Stock Answers. We call them the information you really need for working with FCP. In part 1 he covers lossless QuickTimes, digitizing across timecode breaks, some of his favorite freeware add-ons, and more.
In this article, CreativeCOW.net contributing editor Fred Ginsburg gives Avid Liquid editors some tips on how to use SmartSound within their editing system. This article was written in response to questions that came up from members of the San Fernando Valley Liquid Users Group.
In this video tutorial, Creative Cow contributing editor Tony Ross introduces drawing techniques in Flash, as well as how to use Masking, Motion and Shape Tweens to create an animated pencil drawing a line. Tools used are the Rectangle tool, Pencil tool, and Free Transform tool.
Creative Cow contributing editor Stephen Smith examines the classic tale of how a page peel can be transformed into a realistic player in the video effects world. With a little extra work, your results can go from fake to fabulous in no time. As a Page Turns not only includes how to maximize a page peel but how to create custom blue prints in Live Type.
Learn the basics and advanced methods of embedding Quicktime Movies into your web site, blog or any html page. Find out what it takes to maintain cross platform compatibility when publishing all your Quicktime Videos. A more advanced technique of using Dreamweaver CS3 to embed your movie using ActiveX javascript embedding is also discussed.
In this video tutorial, Creative Cow leader Aharon Rabinowitz finishes his series on weather replacement and shows you how to add realistic lightning to the shot.
In this video tutorial, Creative Cow leader Aharon Rabinowitz continues his weather replacement tutorial, and shows you how to add rain to your shot, as well as drops of water on the camera. Also, 3D compositing and color correction are covered.
In this quick tip for after effects users, CreativeCOW contributing editor, Bob Thompson creates a complex looking animation using only a camera, 3d layer, null object, and some duplicated layers. In only minutes, you can get an animated look with only one layer to worry about to control the motion. Its a quick fix to let you spend more time on other facets of your project workflow.
Expert film compositor Pete OConnell takes you through the world of Cineon files, including exactly what they are, how they work, and how to work with them in Adobe After Effects. If you work with film files or want to, you need to read this article.
High Bandwidth/Large File Warning: Due to the fact that this article deals with film images, the image sizes are large and this article contains 32MB of images in the HTML file.
Editing multi-cam audio is a hot NLE feature. Maybe youre ready to shoot the video -- but are you ready to capture multiple audio sources for your multi-cam shoot? Brandt Sleeper offers tips for multi-cam audio shoots, from ENG to the front row.
