Blog

  • TV Show Intro / Promo Using After Effects CS6 and Cinema 4D – Part 2

    In this tutorial we take a look at creating a show intro/promo using both After Effects CS6 and C4D. Using the 3D Camera Track in After Effects, we track our footage and send the camera data over to C4D for text design and rendering. Then in part 2 we take a look at compositing the final scene in After Effects.

     

    Watch Part 1 here.

    Thanks to John Gumaer for the sound design for the Retooled and Promo intros.

  • TV Show Intro / Promo Using After Effects CS6 and Cinema 4D – Part 1

    In this tutorial we take a look at creating a show intro/promo using both After Effects CS6 and C4D. Using the 3D Camera Track in After Effects, we track our footage and send the camera data over to C4D for text design and rendering. Then in part 2 we take a look at compositing the final scene in After Effects.

    Watch Part 2 here.

    Thanks to John Gumaer for the sound design for the Retooled and Promo intros.

  • iMac and Storage Drama

    Like many other editors currently in limbo over the state of Apple’s pro desktop line, the Mac Pro, I asked myself what my next computer would be. Now, I want to clarify, my situation is not a dire one. I’m not a facility manager trying to decide how to manage a large number of machine upgrades over the next few years. In fact, the computer I’m looking to replace is not my work machine at all. It is my home setup, currently a 2006, Mac Pro 1,1. My work machine is a 2010 Mac Pro, with 12 cores, fully specked out, with 64 GB or RAM and an SSD boot. While I do have concerns about what my office will do if the Mac Pro ceases to exist, or exist in a usable form factor for our needs, this post isn’t about that. I think myself and my company have taken a wait and see approach to that issue for the time being. If 2013 passes and we’ve still seen or heard nothing from Apple on that front, that is when the tough decisions will probably need to get made.

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  • Premiere Pro CS6 & After Effects CS6 – Complex Masking using After Effects directly with Premiere Pro

    The masking tools in Premiere Pro leave a lot to be desired, in this tutorial, I explain how you can easily use After Effects to create masks for Premiere Pro. I discuss simple masking scenarios as well as more complex scenarios involving tracking.

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  • SpeedGrade CS6 – Virtual Trackballs

    In this brief video I showcase the “virtual trackballs” in SpeedGrade CS6.  What this feature does, is gives a colorist part of the power of a full on control surface, without the expense of one.  Now, of course SpeedGrade supports actual control surfaces, but for the occasional color corrector, or anyone on a budget, this feature takes some of the pain out of adjusting the color wheels.

  • Adobe Anywhere and What it Shows Us

    Well the news from IBC has started to roll out, and the first thing that I’ve seen that has really shown promise of being a game changer: Adobe Anywhere.  The premise is fairly simple, you have a server computer that hosts your media.  You log into your Adobe Anywhere account and instantly you have access to your material on your server computer or any storage that it is attached to.  The media can be in the next room or thousands of miles away, and in theory, it doesn’t matter.  You can work with full resolution HD material, wherever and whenever you please.  The amazing thing is that you can access all of this media from Adobe’s big three video apps, Premiere Pro, After Effects, and Prelude.

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  • Incorporating Titles/Logos into your footage with After Effects and MochaAE

    In this post I take a look at how you can add creative titles or logos to your scenes.  The technique is fairly straight forward and uses After Effects, Photoshop, and MochaAE a tool included with After Effects.   (more…)

  • Premiere Pro CS6 – Dealing with Problematic Stereo Audio

    In this video, we go over what it takes to use only one channel of a piece of Stereo Audio, while still keeping it panned to the center.

    With dual system sound so popular, you may have one microphone recording to one channel and another microphone to the other. This will leave you with a piece of stereo audio, that you only want to use half of. In this tutorial, I go over the best way to get rid of the channel that you don’t need, while maintaining audio in both the left and right channels.

  • Premiere Pro CS6 – Sky Replacement using Warp Stabilizer, Three Way Color Corrector, Adjustment Layers & More

    In this tutorial I talk about some basic compositing techniques that let you do a sky replacement right within Premiere Pro CS6.  Using tools including the Warp Stabilizer, Three Way Color Correction Effect, and CS6’s new adjustment layers we create a basic sky replacement right in the edit.

    You’ll be surprised how easy this technique is and how much flexibility you have to perform effects right in the timeline.

     

     

    Thanks to the NLE Ninja for giving some great tutorial suggestions that inspired this tutorial and more to come.

    Credits: Thanks to John Gumaer for doing the intro sound design.