Browsing Tags After Effects

Instagram filters for video

Posted on February 11, 2012 by Brent Pierce

Everyone loves the Instagram app for the iPhone. It’s a cool way to create vintage/retro photos with a tap of the finger. Seriously, people go nuts over these type of filters. A while back, Daniel Box, created Photoshop actions of these filters. They’re awesome. Just a click of the mouse, and you’ve “Instagrammed” your photo in Photoshop.

I wanted a way to use these in applications like After Effects or Final Cut Pro. An easy way to achieve a simple color change is by using Look-Up-Tables (LUTs). I’m not gonna dive too deep into what exactly a LUT is, but basically, it communicates color changes from different applications. Aharon Rabinowitz posted a tutorial video about using Red Giant Software’s LUT Buddy, a free application by RGS to create and apply LUTs. It’s pretty helpful in introducing someone to what a LUT is, and how they work.

I took Daniel Box’s Instagram Photoshop actions, and made them into LUTs and presets to use with video. They work wonderfully. Keep in mind. LUTs are a bit limited in their functionality; they cannot apply things that use masks or generators, such as vignettes, diffusion, blurs, etc. But they are still awesome.

Here is how to use these LUTs.

Download and install LUT Buddy from Red Giant Software. It’s free.
Download and unzip my Instagram LUTs. Huge credit to Daniel Box.
Apply the effect “LUT Buddy” to your footage, click Options, then Import LUT, then choose which effect you would like.
If you are using After Effects, copy the provided “Instagram” presets folder into your application presets folder. (Applications/Adobe After Effects/Presets)

Green Screen – Brie White Gomez

Posted on October 12, 2011 by Brent Pierce

We recently set up a new green screen in our studio up at the church. Last week, I decided to put it to use. There’s still some kinks that need to be ironed out, but I think it turned out pretty good.

Watch in Vimeo

I shot this with a couple of Sony EX3′s. When shooting on a green screen, it’s all about the lighting. And you want to have your subject pretty far away from the green screen. I am limited to a fairly small studio, so I managed what I could. Some of the shadows were a problem with the couch being so low to the ground, so to hide the bad key at their feet, I put a dark shadow under them in After Effects.

The shadows around the feet did not key very well.

The added shadow helped to hide the bad key.

“Here for You” before & after

Posted on September 12, 2011 by Brent Pierce

This is a quick intro video that I composited together for my church here in Lubbock, Tx. The story was simple: We are here for GOD, not any false profits or other material distractions that may bring someone to church. This video was played live with the band playing the intro to the song “Here for You.” The last scene of the wide timelapse of the sanctuary was played at the very end of the song. The audio in this uploaded version is just a placeholder.

On the left, is the original footage shot with a Canon 5D mkII and a Sony EX3. On the right, is the final result, after visual effects and color correction. I tracked the scenes in Mocha and composited them in After Effects. I made 2D text with the built-in text tool, instead of 3D text with Zaxwerks Invigorator, mainly because I only had 1 day to finish this. Then I brought them all into Final Cut Pro and stuck them together and color graded mostly with Magic Bullet Looks. I could have color graded inside of After Effects, but I like to apply color grades after the final edit, where I can see all the clips together and their output, even on something as simple and short as this.

The scene outside with the sky replacement timelapse was a bit of a challenge. Had I thought ahead and known I would be doing a sky replacement, it would have been quick and easy, but I shot the 2 shots about 20 feet apart at different angles, and about 15 minutes apart (with the sun setting fast). I key framed the corner-pin effect in After Effects to line up the 2 pieces of footage and graded the sky scene to match the original scene. It turned out good enough for the 3 seconds that it is shown.

Thanks for watching!

Watch on VIMEO

Video Copilot releases ‘Demon Cam’

Posted on August 9, 2011 by Brent Pierce

Video Copilot just announced their new film entitled ‘Demon Cam.’ It’s somewhat entertaining, although it turned out to just be a very elaborate iPhone app promo. Still, the very beautiful and sexy ~~girls~~ visual fx are stunning. Andrew Kramer never seizes to amaze me. Check it out.

UPDATE: More behind the scenes footage released.

And if you’re curious….

Source: VideoCopilot

Aetuts+: Beginner After Effects quiz

Posted on July 27, 2011 by Brent Pierce

This is pretty fun. Adam Everett Miller, over at AETuts+, has posted a quick Beginner After Effects quiz. This should be an easy ace for the experienced compositor, but a few of the questions might throw you a curve ball. Check it out.

UPDATE: Video Copilot plug-in: Element

Posted on July 17, 2011 by Brent Pierce

UPDATE: Andrew Kramer’s just released a bit more info on this awesome plug-in. Looks like you’ll be able to make 3D text and logos via vector files. That’s a unique feature that will catch most people’s eye. And the price is unbelievably low, much like all VCP’s products. Check the description below, which is straight from videocopilot.net.

_____________________________________________

Element 3D is well underway including some interesting new features but I need to save some surprises for the launch! So instead I thought I would throw out a few responses to some frequent questions from the Video Demonstration while trying to save some secrets for later. Our goal is to release at the end of August but it could be early September so this is just an estimate.

1. Reflections: Does Element 3D reflect other particles?

Element uses HDR or non-HDR images for reflection & refraction maps but the system does not do real “Ray-Tracing” so objects do not “truly” reflect others. HOWEVER, as you can see above there are ways to “fake” reflections to get realistic results in a fraction of the render time compared traditional ray samplers. Speed is our goal, not replacing a 3D program!

2. Price: It’s going to be around $149.95! (Yes I said around…)

There I said it. Although, we could probably sell it for more, especially considering the feature list but we wanted to maintain our philosophy of exceptional plug-ins at reasonable prices. The truth is, we thought maybe we SHOULD sell it for more than $149 and charge at least $249 for the sake of the perceived-value compared to other products on the market. We didn’t want people to think, “Oh, it’s ONLY $149.95″ so it must not be as good as other tools out there. So please don’t let price confuse you, it’s quite powerful on so many levels so we ask that you judge it based on what it can do, not just the price. Otherwise we would have to sell it ONE MILLION DOLLARS!!

3. 3D Text: Will you be able to make 3D text with Element?

Look, Element was not designed to be used as a 3D text tool but rather an intelligent particle array system that uses 3D objects as particles. We built a massive 3D rendering engine that runs extremely fast on moderate graphics cards, objects react to AE lighting, ambient occlusion, 3d model deformation, Material Options, Depth of Field, Motion blur, 3D Fog and much more. We wanted to make a plug-in that took After Effects to the next level.

So, can you use Element 3D to render 3D text and logos?
You better FREAKING BELIEVE IT! And it’s pretty sweet too.

_____________________________________________________________

(Original post)

If you’re like me, and you love Video Copilot, then you’re going to be super excited about this. Andrew Kramer is always cooking up something awesome to share with the masses. From my experience of owning most of VCP’s products, they are quality, and well worth the investment.

That aside, Video Copilot is announcing their newest plug-in, Element. What is Element, you say? ”Element is a 3D geometry-based particle style plug-in for After Effects with many powerful features“ From the screenshots, it’s obvious that 3D is the forefront of this tool.

Some of the key features include:

3D geometry based particles
Advanced material options
3D falloff and depth of field
Powerful array options
Motion blur
After Effects lighting
Sub-atomic particles

Think of it as a 3D driven spin-off of Trapcode Particular, complete with reflections and 3D material options. I’m super excited about this. No word on pricing or availability, but I’ll let you know as soon as I hear something. Check the screenshots below.

Element

Video Copilot sale: 30% off

Posted on July 8, 2011 by Brent Pierce

If you’ve spent at least 10 seconds on this site, you know I’m a HUGE fan of Video Copilot and their products. They’re having a 30%-off-everything sale for 10 days. If I didn’t already own all of their stuff, I would totally jump on this deal. All you have to do is enter the code “REAL30″ when you check out.

I would start off with Action Essentials 2, and Optical Flares.

30% OFF 10-DAY SALE
Our Biggest Sale Ever – Save On All Video Copilot Products and Bundles

Hope For Lubbock promo

Posted on June 30, 2011 by Brent Pierce

Last year, I made a promo for my church on an event called “Hope For Lubbock.” I fumbled with a few ideas, and 4 days before the due date, I decided to trash everything and start completely over, so I grabbed the Canon 5D mkII and our Glidecam, and went to town. Which, honestly, turned out to be a great idea.

I wanted something different. I knew I wanted words to be the main element to get “HOPE” in the viewer’s mind, with shots of around town to also be prominent, so people could connect better. I had watched a few tutorials on matchmoving, so I figured I would try that technique to add some edginess to the promo. Matchmoving is a bit time consuming, but I cut some time-corners when making the 3D text with Zaxwerks Invigorator. The presets in Invigorator made making high quality text very easy and simple. I used Trapcode Particular and Magic Bullet Looks. I also used Video Copilot’s Optical Flares, which is absolutely amazing. I don’t use it that often, but it is definitely one of my favorite plug-ins for After Effects.

This video turned out great, and for 3 days of work, I was proud of myself.

(Vimeo)

iPhone app promo

Posted on June 30, 2011 by Brent Pierce

Recently, I made an iPhone app commercial for my church. Basically, I got this handy iPhone 4 Photoshop template, and animated everything in After Effects. I did the audio in After Effects, which I usually don’t recommend, to line up the animations a little easier. I tried to stick with the “Apple” style, and be somewhat minimalistic and “upbeat.” And, since there is only 1 element on the screen, I had to make it exciting enough to keep the viewers interest for the full 30 seconds, so I animated the text to flow with the phone on the rotations.

(Vimeo)

TRON – University ministry promo

Posted on June 28, 2011 by Brent Pierce

Last week, I made this video for my church University Ministry, “NineThirty”. I set out with only a small idea; to make a promo that mirrored the “TRON Legacy” trailer as much as possible. The main key ingredient being the ending bumper, with the 3D text and blue neon-light theme. I used Zaxwerks Invigorator Pro to make the 3D text. Invigorator is a very quick 3D plug-in that gives you tons of control. I basically had my logo as an Adobe Illustrator file, and simply imported it into Invigorator. Check it out.

The original “TRON: Legacy official trailer” is below.

This is my version.

Leaves Falling : now on Red Giant People!

Posted on May 26, 2010 by Brent Pierce

Leaves Falling

Another simple preset is now on Red Giant People for your Trapcode Particular needs. Use with the text, or without it. The download .zip gives you the AE project, the preset, and images files. If using the preset in another project, just place the “leaf.jpg” in a 50×50 comp, and use that as your particle texture in Particular. The colors of the leaves are customizable, as well as size, gravity, rotation speed, etc.

Leaves Falling – by Brent Pierce

PS. I figured out which font RGP uses for their logo. “Century Gothic,” I think.

COLORIFIC uploaded to Red Giant People!

Posted on May 21, 2010 by Brent Pierce

Colorific!

Check out my new preset that I uploaded to Red Giant People. It’s a quick text reveal using Trapcode Particular. The particles look like confetti. Check out the sample video below.

You can change the text to whatever you want, obviously. Or, if you get creative enough, you can replace it with your logo to make it really interesting. And the best thing…it’s absolutely FREE. So have at it all you fellow mographers. Here’s the link that takes you to the download page.

Colorific – by Brent Pierce

Precomposed

Posted on February 25, 2010 by Brent Pierce

So, the word on the street is, I am pretty miserable at making DVD menus. I can do them, they won’t be very entertaining, and it’ll take me a week to complete one menu, but I can do them. Recently, while going through some of my daily forums and sites, I ran across a post that caught my eye on DVinfo.net. It was by Jon Geddes, from Precomposed.com, and he was advertising his website that sells motion DVD menu templates that are fully customizable. I was immediately attracted. As soon as I saw the first preview, I was blown away. These menus are pretty slick. Each motion menu has its own theme, and has very clean and fluid transitions in between each menu: main menu, scene selection menu, & bonus content menu. I consider myself pretty good at After Effects, and I could probably make these menus myself with ALOT of time and creativity, MAYBE. But, with my very limited knowledge in DVD authoring and motion menus with transitions and such, there is no way this entire process would be possible. The whole package, with compositions matching various settings, (NTSC, PAL, HD, SD) and each comp singled out into a precomposed timeline, which is dynamically linked to an entirely different project, which takes the video & audio assets from a specified folder, is just crazy. Read More →

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