Free Video Tutorials for Adobe After Effects: Author – John D i c k i n s o n

01. After Effects + 3D Invigorator: 3D Video Wall


In this written tutorial learn how to create a 3D video wall in After Effects using Zaxwerks 3D


Invigorator

02. After Effects: Interface Navigation

This tutorial was created to introduce the unified interface new in Adobe After Effects 7.0, but it??™s

still useful if you are using After Effects CS3 or CS4.



03. After Effects + 3D Flag: Tattered Flag

In this written tutorial learn how to use After Effects and Zaxwerks 3D Flag take a clean sharp

Illustrator file and turn it into a weathered and tattered US flag. Of course you can replace the US

flag with the flag of your choice.



04. After Effects + Photoshop: Handwritten Text

The look where text seemingly writes itself onto the screen is popular and there are many different

ways of approaching it. In this written tutorial learn how to create precise handwritten text in

After Effects by preparing the text in Photoshop first.



05. Getting Started with Instant HD

This tutorial covers the basics of using Red Giant Software??™s Instant HD plug-in. Instant HD

up-converts DV video into a variety of HD video formats. You can choose from a list of preset

resolutions to make it easy to integrate DV video into your next High Definition production.



06. Getting Started with Magic Bullet Looks

This tutorial covers the basics of using Red Giant Software??™s Magic Bullet Looks plug-in for Adobe

After Effects. This is an easy to use yet powerful piece of software that is well worth the money if

you do any kind of color grading.



07. Final Cut Pro: Using Trapcode Shine and 3D Stroke

In this tutorial I demonstrates how to use Final Cut Pro to create this motion graphics animation,

using Trapcode products combined with various Final Cut Pro settings. Yes, it was a little strange

creating this in Final Cut Pro but overall I??™d say it was a good experience. Even if you don??™t use

FCP you might find it useful.



08. After Effects and ProAnimator: Reflection Maps

In this tutorial we look at how to add flare to your graphics by creating the effect of ???light???

moving across your Zaxwerks ProAnimator or 3D Invigorator objects inside After Effects. In fact it??™s

not light at all but an animated reflection map.



09. After Effects and ProAnimator: Importer

You may have been wondering what the ProAnimator Importer plug-in that ships with ProAnimator

actually does. It??™s actually a great creative tool, allowing you to harness the fast and powerful

ProAnimator animation features and apply them to your After Effects 3D layers. The eyeball image is

by Martin Walls (http://www.sxc.hu).



10. Getting Started with Knoll Light Factory

This tutorial covers everything you need to know to get started with Knoll Light Factory, one of the

must-have Adobe After Effects plug-ins in any motionographer??™s toolbox.



11. After Effects: Creative Background Design

In this free introductory video tutorial from the Creative Background Design in After Effects series,

your host John ~censored~ demonstrates how to make a simple, seamlessly looping Fractal Noise

background and variations. John uses innovative techniques and explains several shortcuts that will

help your workflow.



12. Getting Started with Magic Bullet Frames

In this tutorial you??™ll learn the basic workflow for using Magic Bullet Frames. Formerly part of the

Magic Bullet Suite, this plug-in for Adobe After Effects that allows you to create high quality

progressive frames from interlaced footage. Other effects include Opticals for beautiful film-like

cross dissolves and fades to black or white and De-artifactor.



13. Photoshop: Grungy Text

In this tutorial you??™ll learn a simple technique using grungy brushes in Adobe Photoshop to make some

grungy text. If you like this you may like the on-demand e-seminar where I discuss this and other

techniques used to create the graphics for a Saw 4 promo.



14. Getting Started with Radium Glow

In this tutorial you??™ll learn the basic work flow for Red Giant Software??™s Radium Glow plug-in. This

was the first time I??™d used the effect and have been pretty impressed with the results; you have a

lot of control over exactly how and where the glow appears on your footage.



15. Getting Started with Text Anarchy ??“ Part 1

Text Anarchy is a particle generator specifically for text that allows you to create some pretty

detailed text-based looks very quickly. In this tutorial you??™ll learn the basics of using two of the

key effects: Text Matrix and Text Grid.



16. Getting Started with Text Anarchy ??“ Part 2

Text Anarchy includes the GridSquares and GridLines effects, previously part of Digital Anarchy??™s

Geomancy. In this tutorial you??™ll learn the basics of using these surprisingly useful particle

effects.



17. After Effects CS4 New Features: Part 1

In this video tutorial series we??™ll take a look at all of the great new features in Adobe After

Effects CS4 plus many smaller updates and tweaks that you??™ll probably never find in the manual. Part

1 includes the welcome screen, general interface enhancements and the new search features.



18. After Effects CS4 New Features: Part 2

Complex projects with many nested comps have always been a challenge to navigate, but the new

Composition Navigator and Composition Mini-flowchart make it so easy you??™ll wonder how you worked

without them. In part 2 we take a look at the key techniques for using these new features.



19. After Effects CS4 New Features: Part 3

Up until CS4 the only way to work with true 3D objects in After Effects was to use a plug-in such as

Zaxwerks 3D Invigorator. Now thanks to Photoshop 3D, 3D objects can be imported directly without

the need for a plug-in. As you??™ll see in this tutorial, it??™s still early days but certainly gives an

idea of the direction in which After Effects is heading.



20. After Effects CS4 New Features: Part 4

CS4 introduces us to 3 new effects: Cartoon, Bilateral Blur and Turbulent Noise. Bilateral Blur and

Turbulent Noise are very similar to the existing Smart Blur and Fractal Noise effects. In this

tutorial, we??™ll take a quick look at these new effects and see what makes them different.



21. After Effects CS4 New Features: Part 5

After Effects CS4 includes numerous less obvious features that are great general time savers. In this

tutorial, we??™ll take a quick look at the new 4:3 inside 16:9 safe guides, Separate Dimensions, Centre

in View, Flip Horizontal and Vertical, Shape Layer??™s new Wiggle Transform and more.



22. Bond Classic Bond

In this recorded e-seminar I walk through the techniques used in Adobe After Effects and Adobe

Illustrator to create the silhouette look used in the award winning Bond Classic Bond teaser. Topics

include working with green screen, preparing footage for clean vectorization and batch vectorization

of sequences using Illustrator and Bridge.



23. Getting Started with Primatte Keyer Pro

Primatte Keyer is a popular and powerful keying plug-in that has been used in numerous high profile

motion pictures. This video tutorial walks you through the basics of using Primatte Keyer Pro in

Final Cut Pro but is also suitable for After Effects, Motion and Avid users.



24. Photoshop and Illustrator for After Effects

This 1 hour recorded e-seminar covers some basic techniques, some little-known techniques and plenty

of handy workflow tips for using Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator with Adobe After Effects. Click the

thumbnail to view full size images.



25. After Effects: Grungy Text 1

In this short tutorial learn how to use After Effects??™ Fast Blur, Turbulent Displace, Roughen Edges,

Texturize, Displacement Map and Gradient Wipe effects to give text a grungy look.



26. The Dancing Can ??“ Part 1

In 2008 I did a series of roadshows for Adobe where I presented a neat little animation of a dancing

can. In this series of tutorials I??™ll walk you step-by-step through various After Effects techniques

for creating this spot. This section deals with Puppet Pin tool basics and how to use the cool motion

sketch feature to animate to music.



27. The Dancing Can ??“ Part 2

In part 2 of this series learn how to use After Effects Shape Layers, Fractal Noise and Grid effects

to create background elements, then animate them using the Convert Audio to Keyframes feature.



28. The Dancing Can ??“ Part 3

In part 3 of this series learn how to use After Effects Shape Layers to add dynamic and organic,

self-animating elements to the background.



29. The Dancing Can ??“ Part 4

In the final part of this series learn how to use After Effects??™ Color Link effect to integrate the

can into the background, work with various Layer Styles, create a 3D text animation and add other

finishing touches.



30. After Effects: The Dark Knight

In this 30 minute tutorial you??™ll learn techniques and workflow used in Adobe After Effects and

Illustrator to create the dramatic effect of the Batman icon shattering apart revealing a bright

light source behind. Plug-ins used include Knoll Light Factory, Trapcode Particular and Shine. Thanks

to Ko Maruyama and Jonas Hummelstrand for creative input.



31. After Effects: Looking Through Lights

In this 3.5 minute video tip learn how you can look through a camera linked to a light and see

exactly what the light is pointing at, making lighting your After Effects scene easier and more

intuitive.



32. After Effects: Paste at the current time

In this 4 minute video tip learn about precomposing, versioning and the must-know shortcut for

copying and pasting. No more pasting layers the hard way.



33. After Effects: Leave Color

In this 2 minute video tip, check out how to use After Effects??™ Leave Color effect to create the look

where you footage is made black and white, leaving only a single color, made popular by the film

Pleasantville.



34. After Effects: Modifying a Preset

In this video tip (no sound) you??™ll see how I made the background in the TNA spot. Simple stuff but

a good reminder not to forget about the presets that ship with Adobe After Effects and how you can

save time by modifying them for your own purposes.



35. After Effects: Copying a Mask to a Shape Layer

The simple act of copying and pasting an existing mask onto a Shape Layer in After Effects CS3 can be

tricky and frustrating. The key is to only select the Mask Path parameter before copying and only the

Path parameter when pasting.



36. ProAnimator: Reversing an Animation

In this video tip (no sound) learn how to select all segments on a layer and reverse an object

animation in ProAnimator. This technique is also for Camera animations but at present there is a bug

that prevents it, although you can try dragging the poses manually.



37. After Effects: Looping a Precomp

Beginners often ask how to loop layers in After Effects. While looping a footage layer can be done

using the Interpret Footage option, looping an unrendered comp takes a little more work but is still

easy. In this video tip (no sound) learn how to use expressions to loop a precomp.



38. Introduction to After Effects

In this recorded e-seminar I??™ll show you how to build a simple yet dynamic type-based animation.

Topics include working with Illustrator files, setting up simple relationships using expressions,

per-character 3D type, setting up 3D layers, creative use of shape layers, Brainstorm, modifying and

saving a preset.



39. Saw 4

In this recorded e-seminar I walk through various techniques used in Adobe After Effects and

Photoshop for creating the grungy, dark look of Saw 4. Topics include sourcing and combining stock

images, using Photoshop brushes to give text a grunge look and create blood splatter, color grading

and lighting.



40. Enchanted

In this recorded e-seminar you??™ll see the techniques used in Adobe After Effects and Photoshop to

create promo graphics for the film ???Enchanted???. Topics include creating gold text in Photoshop using

Layer Styles, using custom emitters in Particular, creating a light sweep and enhancing the sweep

with Shine and color grading.



41. Fox Classics Image Spot

In this recorded e-seminar you??™ll see some of the techniques and workflow I used to create the award

winning Fox Classics image spot. Topics include creative color grading, rotoscoping, creative

lighting and camera techniques.