Motion Graphics

Setting the Ambient Light in After Effects

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This Motion Control 3D tutorial shows how to create believable depth by adding ambient light to an animated photo in After Effects. Watch more at http://www.lynda.com/After-Effects-tu....

This tutorial is a single movie from the ninth chapter of the Motion Control 3D: Bringing Your Photos to Life in Three Dimensions course presented by lynda.com author Rich Harrington. The complete course is 1 hour and 40 minutes long and reveals how you can transport your photos into a three-dimensional world using the Motion Control 3D plugin for Adobe Photoshop and After Effects.

Start a 7-day free trial to lynda.com 

New Class on Greenscreen Workflow at Lynda.com

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Working with green-screen footage can be a daunting task. The Adobe suite of video tools provides a wide array of choices, but how do you know which to use? This course aims to answer that important question. By providing an overview of the import process, and then moving into Premiere Pro, After Effects, and popular third-party keying tools, author Rich Harrington guides you through the keying process. Learn how to use the Ultra Keyer, KEYLIGHT, Primatte Keyer, zMatte, and more, while discovering ways to work with transparency and create great backdrops in Photoshop.

This course was created and produced by Rich Harrington. We're honored to host this material in our library.

  • Topics include:
  • Deciding where to key your footage: Premiere Pro or After Effects
  • Importing footage to key
  • Stacking layers in Premiere Pro
  • Using the Ultra Keyer
  • Using Keylight
  • Enhancing a key with 3D lights
  • Deciding when to use a third-party tool
  • Processing backdrops in Photoshop
  • Exchanging transparency data

Check out the class here – http://www.lynda.com/After-Effects-tutorials/Adobe-Green-Screen-Workflow/141500-2.html

A Sample

Motion Graphics Tutorial: Liquid Pours and Ink Chambers

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This motion graphics tutorial shows how to create interesting abstract backgrounds for your effects by filming liquid pours and ink chambers in a live-action studio. Watch more at http://www.lynda.com/After-Effects-tu....

This tutorial is a single movie from the Practical Motion Background Workshop course presented by lynda.com author Rich Harrington. The complete course is 1 hour and 25 minutes long and shows how to capture footage of everyday objects and combine it with effects in popular postproduction tools like After Effects and Premiere Pro, resulting in rich, abstract backdrops for your project.

Start a 7-day free trial to lynda.com 

Tritone Effect for Creative Color in After Effects

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If you’re looking for a creative way to tint your images, use After Effects. The versatile Tritone effect goes well beyond the typical sepia tone effect, as it allows you to treat highlights, midtones, and shadows separately. In addition to simple tints, you can use the filter to create stylized looks.

  1. Select a clip in the After Effects timeline.
  2. In the Effects panel, type Tritone. Drag the effect onto a video clip.
  3. Press the E key to reveal the effect on that layer, and then double-click on the effect called Tritone to open its controls in the Effect Controls panel.
  4. Click on the Midtones color swatch to open the Color Picker. Choose a color to map the midtones to.
  5. Click on the Highlights color swatch to open the Color Picker and select a brighter color for the highlights.
  6. Remap the Shadows color swatch.
  7. Use the Blend With Original slider to mix the original state with the new color effect.

For more Adobe tips, check out Creative Cloud User.

Scrubbing Audio in After Effects

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To hear the audio while you’re dragging through your After Effects timeline, hold down the Cmd (Mac OS) or Ctrl (Windows) key while dragging.

While not as good as a full preview, it can help you find your place quickly. You can improve audio scrubbing by turning off the visibility for layers with video- or processor-intensive effects.

For more Adobe tips, check out Creative Cloud User.

Hearing Audio in After Effects Previews

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When working in After Effects, you might not hear your audio tracks. This is because audio must be loaded into RAM before it can be heard.

  • Make sure that there’s audio in your composition.
  • Make sure that the speaker icon is not muted in the Preview panel.
  • Click the RAM preview to load a video and audio preview.

For more on After Effects and all the Adobe pro video tools, check out the new website — Creative Cloud User.

Two Cool (Free) Plugins for Adobe Premiere Pro

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Simple Mask



This plugin allows to create a simple alpha mask on the source clip and composite it with the existing alpha channel by adding, subtracting or intersecting. Both rectangular and elliptical shapes are supported. They can be repositioned and rotated.

Downloads:

Vignette


This plugin allows to create a vignette on the source clip. Both rectangular and elliptical vignettes are supported. Vignettes can be repositioned and rotated, applied in any color and blending mode available, to the inside or to the outside. Alternatively only the mask can be rendered, replacing the source layer altogether or the vignette can be filled with transparency.

Downloads: