Happy Halloween Everybody

Happy Halloween Everybody

After Effects CS5 Presets for Halloween

 

Cartoon castle and bats

Cartoon castle and bats

I’ve created some special little Halloween Software Tricks and Treats for you to use in your work. This download contains an After Effects CS5 project and artwork needed to create some spooky Halloween graphics for your projects.

Pumpkin Particles falling

Pumpkin Particles falling

I love creating ideas and techniques for the community. In fact I’d love to dedicate more time to creating ideas, tips and tricks for you and make it a full-time venture. However these things take quite a long time to produce so I’m currently trying to fit these in-between paid freelance jobs.

I’ve been trying to figure out ways to make this pay without having to charge people a fixed price for these. I’d also like to avoid having advertising on my site to earn income. So, as an experiment, I’ve included a free download link to the project files and a Donate button. I’d dearly love to prove that a business model, where people volunteer to pay what they think something is worth can work.

If you find these presets useful and would like to support this risky venture please donate what you can afford, even $1 would make a difference and would be gratefully appreciated. This will help me dedicate more time to this project and continue to improve the website’s offerings. Thank you!

Angie_Taylor_Halloween_Presets folder

These designs use the Trapcode Suite of plug-ins and Magic Bullet Looks. If you don’t own these plugins you can download free trials here from the Red Giant website

In the future I intend to provide privileges and special offers to those who contribute to this project.
Thanks so much for your support!

Free Blood Splatter Preset for Halloween!

Free Blood Splatter Preset for Halloween!

I’ve just uploaded a new preset to Red Giant People. It’s my first foray into creating presets and projects as opposed to tutorials. If they prove popular I’ll create more for Halloween! I’m also going to be creating some presets for Genarts FX Central so keep and eye out for those before Christmas! I love coming up with ideas so if you have anything you’d like to see please feel free to contact me via the comments page.

This preset features a complete After Effects Project containing a graphic design idea for a TV Ident. It features a graphic, stylised blood splat made with Trapcode Particular. The blood particles use a light emmitter and bounce against a layer used as a Wall. The blood “bleeds” around the text to reveal it and then another text layer animated on along a lower third strip with Logo.

Font Links for Kinetic Typography

Font Links for Kinetic Typography

Kinetic Typography Techniques with After Effects

I recently published my Kinetic Typography Techniques for After Effects course. In it I used a wide selection of fonts that are freely downloadable from various websites, just to make sure everyone following the tutorial could get access to the same fonts.

Unfortunately one of the websites I recommended is no longer in operation. Below I’ve providing alternative links to all of the fonts used in these workshops. I cannot guarantee that these links will always be maintained as they are from third-party sites so I’ve also included the font names so that you can search for them using your favourite search engine, should the links expire.

When downloading these shareware fonts please take a few minutes to click on the Donate button for each of them. Even if you only donate $5 it will help make sure that these hard-working font designers get rewarded for providing us all with very low priced fonts to experiment with. This is particularly important if you are going to be using any of the fonts in paid work. It’s good karma and will make you feel good that you’re helping out a fellow designer!

If you’re interested in understanding more about the financial struggles that all designers are facing, please check out this entertaining graph by Jessica Hische which determines whether a designer should work for free! Jessica is a font designer and letterer who campaigns for fair pricing for fonts and other design work.

Here are your font links;

Usage Guidelines

The fonts presented here are their authors’ property. They are either freeware, shareware, demo versions or public domain. The licence is usually positioned near the download button but please check the readme-files in the zipped packages or check the author’s website for details. You can contact him/her if in doubt. If no author/licence is indicated it means that information is not available. It doesn’t mean it’s free, it is your own responsibility to find out more if you want to use it commercially.

 

 

Kinetic Typography Techniques for After Effects

Kinetic Typography Techniques for After Effects

Kinetic Typography Techniques with After Effects

I was asked to create a workshop on Kinetic Typography techniques for Adobe After Effects by several people including the lovely people from video2brain who produced this epic workshop for me. I’d like to thank them all for their patience and professionalism throughout this long project!

I’m pleased to say that I have finally finished this epic workshop. It was originally planned as a one-hour tutorial but has developed into a full-on, eight-hour workshop covering all sorts of weird and wonderful techniques.

I started off by covering essential kinetic typography techniques such as automatically creating text layers by importing content from a text file – using Variables and Data Sets in Photoshop and Scripts in After Effects. I demonstrated how to format text, making use of typographic controls like Kerning and Baseline Shift to get creative with negative space. In the latter stages I applied some of the free Animation Presets, created and adapted complex text animators to help you understand how to control them.

"That Day" Music by Richard Walker

 

While creating this piece I just couldn’t help but get creative and I slightly strayed away from the task in hand. As a result this workshop also includes techniques you may not immediately associate with traditional kinetic typography. In the included lessons we have fun animating and lighting layers in 3D space. We recreate an animated version of the Sgt. Pepper album cover using After Effects’ vector Shape Layers.

Welcome Video

Introduction to Kinetic Typography

We even recreate an ancient stone circle from 3D text layers! You’ll also learn techniques for creating your own backgrounds, aged-film and dust and scratches effects by combining some of the built-in After Effects filters. Of course I also cover popular, requested techniques like animating handwriting on screen.

I use typography in my every-day work as a motion graphic designer but the artform of kinetic typography is different. The purpose of text in motion graphic design is to deliver a message. Generally, the text needs to be legible and on screen for long enough for the viewer to read and there are several other “rules” that are sensible to apply to motion graphic design. Kinetic typography as an artform kicks those rules into touch.

Editing and Looping Audio

Variables and Data Sets in Photoshop

My understanding of kinetic typography is that the words should be used to convey moods or feelings, they don’t need to be the message, they are just there to support it. My feeling is that the words should echo the spoken words rather than simply repeat what’s being said.

In my interpretation of Richard Walkers “That Day” (a poem set to music) I wanted to portray what I took personally from the piece. I understood it to be about the dissatisfaction we have with the present moment and how we avoid enjoying it by always thinking about the past or the future. This avoidance leads to confusion, frustration and general unsettled feelings.

In this workshop you get all my project files along with my creative musings about how these ideas developed. I hope that you can enjoy working on some of my own files and diving into my own personal creative project. Here are some sample movies from the workshop to give you an idea about what you can learn.

Aged Film with Turbulent Noise

 

Animate Handwriting with the Stroke effect

 

Try Artbeats’ 3D footage FREE!

Try Artbeats’ 3D footage FREE!

Download your free HD S3D clips today!

Artbeats, your source for royalty-free stock footage, is offering everyone a free HD clip from their new Stereoscopic 3D (S3D) library. If you’ve been wanting to try your hand at working in 3D motion, this free download is the perfect opportunity to test it out.

For those of you who are not ready for 3D, you can download the same clip in 2D for use in your everyday high def projects.

Download the Free clips here

(Offer closes 11/11/11)

Learn more about Artbeats S3D footage here

 

Post Production Magic

Post Production Magic

Join Red Giant for an evening of inspiration

I’ll be speaking at Red Giant’s FREE Post Production magic event in September. Here’s the blurb! Event Registration is available now on the Adobe website.

When a group of amazing animators get hold of a projection system, you’re either going to get an evening of inspiration or a cheeky light bulb joke. Post Production Magic is your event for awe-inspiring work by After Effects gurus Angie Taylor, Simon Cam of SuperGlue, Ernesto Rogata of BSkyB and colourist and trainer Simon Walker.

 These artists show you how popular Red Giant tools like Magic Bullet Suite and Trapcode Particular and Trapcode Form open up big creativity on a small budget. Experience the best of design, animation, colour grading and visual effects created in After Effects and Premiere Pro, along with a networking and cocktail hour. Hosted by Red Giant and co-hosted by Adobe Systems, the event will be streamed live by Adobe and held at state-of-the-art Ravensbourne University in London (www.rave.ac.uk).

 Angie Taylor (www.localhost:8000)

In her session Angie will share tips and tricks for creating cool and quirky motion graphics in Adobe After Effects and will show how she uses Red Giant Looks, Particular, and other Red Giant effects to give her animations a more distinctive style and pull her compositions together.

Angie Taylor is an art director, motion graphic designer and author. She enjoyed a fourteen year career producing animation, visual effects and motion graphics for television, film, video and the web. During her career Angie worked with D-Fuse designing animation for cutting-edge Beck DVD ‘Guero’ and provided animation for the controversial Aphex Twin / Chris Cunningham collaboration ‘Rubber Johnny’. She also provided visual effects on the John Williams-directed “Hibernation”, winner of six awards at international film festivals, including ‘best short’ award at the 2005 Manhattan, Rhode Island, Edinburgh and Zagreb Film festivals. Examples of her work were regularly broadcast on the BBC and Channel 4 in the UK and across Europe.Angie also works in the software industry as a software specialist, regularly touring with companies including Adobe and Apple. Angie delivers software demonstrations and seminars on digital filmmaking and animation processes at international trade shows and conferences including NAB, IBC and Macworld. She also provides bespoke training and consultancy to a wide range companies including; BBC; Channel 4; Channel 5; Carlton; HTV; B Sky B; MTV.The author of three successful books. The “Creative After Effects” books (version 5 and 7), published by Focal Press, and a third book, “Design Essentials for the motion media artist” which is also published by Focal Press. Angie is also co-author of “After Effects CS5 Learn by Video”, published by Peachpitt in association with Adobe Press. Angie also produces high quality online training workshops with video2brain, Europe’s premier source for video training since 2002.

Simon Cam, Superglue (www.wearesuperglue.com)

Superglue’s projection mapping project for Toyota’s “Get Your Energy Back” campaign (http://www.vimeo.com/16466136) was a highly creative and technical challenge, utilising numerous different production techniques. The animation featured 2D, 3D, keyframed animation, dynamics, particle systems and more. Compositing, VFX and general pipeline management was performed in After Effects, whilst 3D work was created using Autodesk Maya and Maxon Cinema 4D. The team made extensive use of both Trapcode Form and Trapcode Particular in bringing to life the ‘hybrid energy’ that was the key part of the campaign’s message.

Superglue is an award winning, London-based production company specialising in innovative digital projects. The team comprises a dynamic mix of production, post and digital brains working across live action, visual effects, 3D and motion graphics. Superglue operates across the modern media spectrum, creating moving image for everything from banners to broadcast.

Ernesto Rogata, BSkyB

Ernesto will talk about the daily challenge of integrating text and other graphic elements in exciting and innovative ways in sport pieces, stings and short title sequences – usually with little time to complete the job. He will share some simple techniques to create motion graphics using After Effects and Red Giant plug-ins.

Ernesto Rogata is an award-winning senior video editor at BSkyB in London and has worked in post-production for 20 years. His professional role covers four areas: editing, grading, creating motion graphics and training.

Simon Walker,  (www.simonwalkerfreelance.com)

Simon will show the grading secrets of Plot Device, a new short film produced by Red Giant, and will demonstrate how Red Giant’s Magic Bullet Suite brought to life a varied series of genres… as well as a hoard of zombies!

Simon is creative director of WiltshireVideo.com, makes online grading and editing tutorials at www.simonwalkerfreelance.com, and is an instructor for the International Colorist Academy, iColorist.com. He is an Adobe Certified Premiere Pro Instructor and trains industry professionals in editing, motion graphics, colour grading, audio sweetening, and (excitingly!) video compression. 

Here’s a link to Event Registration on the Adobe website

Ravensbourne

6 Penrose Way
Peninsula Square
Greenwich
London
SE10 0EW
Weds 7th September 2011
6.30pm for drinks and networking
Presentations from 7.00pm to 8.15pm
Networking til 9pm