FYI: Free Downloads!

Hey, I saw over at Creative Cow that videoblocks.com is offering 7 days of free downloads! Video tracks, background loops, music tracks and sound effects are offered that you can use in your projects. I don't know how good the quality is or if the subject matter is anything interesting, but it's worth a shot. Just create an account and download away!

Project #2 (Kinetic Type) Details

For Project #2, we'll be doing a Kinetic Type animation. Here's a piece titled "Typolution" as an example of what you could do:



This particular animation is extravagant, but inspirational in that it shows what you can do strictly with text. If you'd rather, you can try your hand at something like this piece titled "What's He Building in There?"



Here's a few more links to check out:

• Seinfeld (Marine Biologist)
• Nick the Greek (from "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels")
• Abbott & Costello (Who's On First?)

Don't forget to check out the Settings page to get the default Comp and Render settings.

Thanks and have fun!

HEY! READ ME, PLEASE!

Now that I've got your attention, I just wanted to point out a new thing on this site. Take a look to the right of the page. There's links at the top for "Pages." The "Settings" page is where you can find Composition, Render and Filename standards for this class. Now you won't have to search the site at 3am while cursing my name as you frantically try to complete your project for class the next day. You're welcome.

Go ahead... click it. You know you want to.

Links for Stock Footage

Here's a page on AE Tuts' website to a handful of links for some good stock footage (including some green screen) if you need any for your projects.

Photo Collage samples for Micro-Project #2

NOTE: We went over a few ideas in class about ways to approach the Photo Collage animation all of which utilized cameras, lights and 3D layers. If you're not yet comfortable with these tools/techniques, it's not mandatory that you use them at this point. The collage can be a 2D presentation.

Here's an example of a photo collage animation:

And here's a few more links for ya:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUf0dQ2RhVQ&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIK9F5v0iZc&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kw6A6pKoxA8

FYI: Basic Camera Set-Up

Here's a quick video tutorial I made about how to set up a basic camera in AE. My microphone isn't the greatest, so you may have to put on headphones and turn up the volume to actually hear what I'm saying.


Basic Camera Set-Up in AE from M Swanson on Vimeo.
Demo of setting up a camera attached to a null in After Effects.

Link to Adobe's online help describing how to set-up a camera layer.

FYI: Track Mattes

Here's a video tutorial on creating a Track Matte. When you create a Track Matte, you have a choice of two different types (plus a normal and inverted version of each type), an Alpha Matte and a Luma Matte. Here's the difference:

"An 'alpha matte' uses the alpha channel of the second image to determine the transparency of the first, while a 'luma matte' uses the second image's luminance, or gray scale values." (source)


Track Matte demo from M Swanson on Vimeo.
Demo of creating a Track Matte in After Effects.

Link to Adobe's online help describing Track Mattes.