ANgiE tAYLoR 🧷

Tag: angie Taylor

  • Adobe CS6 Software Training Videos

    Adobe CS6 Software Training Videos

    This week, to celebrate the launch of Adobe’s Creative Suite I’ve released a whole host of new Adobe CS6 software training videos from new and forthcoming workshops produced with video2brain. So now you know why I’ve been relatively quiet for the last couple of months!

    The workshops will be out very soon but meanwhile we thought it would be nice for you to get a sneak preview of what you can expect from the full workshops. Here’s a little bit about CS6, from the perspective of the video2brain authors. You can more free example movies from each of my new titles listed below.

    Adobe After Effects CS6: Learn by Video

    Master the Fundamentals

    Adobe After Effects is an incredibly deep and rich set of tools for creating motion graphics, manipulating movies, adding visual effects, and more. In this Learn by Video course, created in partnership with our friends at Peachpit Press, experts Todd Kopriva and Angie Taylor teach you how to make the most of this powerful software, including the new features in After Affects CS6.

    After getting an overview of the workflow and the user interface, you will learn how to bring assets into After Effects and configure the software for optimum performance. You’ll also learn a range of compositing features, including the new variable-width masks and 3D camera tracker features, as well as basic masking and color keying. Tips on everything from troubleshooting and avoiding common problems to creating finished movie files round out this comprehensive training.

    To be notified when this product is released, please visit this page and click on the Notify Me link.



    Adobe Illustrator CS6 workshops

    I’ve also finished working on two new titles for Adobe Illustrator CS6 which will be out really soon. Below are some taster movies from my Adobe Illustrator CS6 – Getting Started course and my Adobe Illustrator CS6 – Learn by Video course that I created with co-author Chad Chelius.

    If you’d like to be kept up to date as soon as new courses become available you can subscribe using your favourite browser or email client.

    video2brain Feeds

    New Courses: http://www.video2brain.com/en/rss-trainings.xml

    Free Lessons: http://www.video2brain.com/en/rss-videos.xml

    Upcoming Titles: http://www.video2brain.com/en/rss-preview.xml





  • After Effects CS6 New Feature Highlights

    After Effects CS6 New Feature Highlights

    Well, it’s finally been announced and I can talk about it, my After Effects CS6 new feature highlights. My dear friends at Adobe have once again pulled it off and produced a great update to my favorite software application – After Effects CS6! Rather than bombard you with loads of text I’ve created a movie to highlight my favorite new features, you can watch that movie here.

    If you want more information about After Effects CS6 features not covered here Todd Kopriva has produced two great free training workshops in conjunction with the lovely people at video2brain.

    After Effects CS6 New Features Workshop includes one hour & forty-five minutes of free movies covering the new features in more detail.

    There’s also a fantastic new version of Premiere Pro on the horizon. If you want to find out about the new features, check out Todd’s two hours of free training movies here.

  • Chocolate Flavored After Effects Presets

    Chocolate Flavored After Effects Presets

    As a special Easter treat I’ve created a set of free, chocolate flavored After Effects presets for the readers of my blog and newsletter, I hope you enjoy them. Here’s a little taster of what’s included in the pack. The download link is available here Angie_Taylor_Easter_Presets .

     

  • Mask Interpolation Tips

    Mask Interpolation Tips

    Masking is one of the features of After Effects that I get asked about the most during my After Effects training courses. People seem to have lots of problems animating masks in After Effects and I’ve noticed a few forum questions about it recently so I thought I’d provide some quick mask interpolation tips and links here for you today.

    In one of my previous newsletter (you can subscribe here) we looked at how you can adjust the first vertex of a mask to help control the animation.

    Here’s an excerpt from my Creative After Effects book that shows how to use Auto- Trace and Smart Mask Interpolation to help animate complicated Mask shapes.

    I also have a brand new course in my video store from the amazing Jeff Foster. Advanced Compositing, Tracking, and Roto Techniques with After Effects has amazing tips, here are some free excerpts;

    Roto-Painting Mattes

    Basics of Match-Moving

    Multiple Moving Elements/Layers

    Check out our subscription offers for free access to all Jeff’s courses plus mine and all the other trainers at video2brain.

    And here are additional tips that can help you when animating masks.

    • Remember that you can apply motion blur to a masked layer, at a low setting this will also add a little more smoothness to the interpolation.
    • When animating anything in After Effects, but particularly mask shapes, it pays to always start by setting the extreme points of the animation. For example, if your animation is 10-second long, set a keyframe at the very beginning and another at 10 seconds. Then go in between to 5 seconds and make any necessary changes. Once this is done, go to 2.5 seconds, set a keyframe there, then to 7.5 seconds and set another there. Continue positioning the Timemarker half-way in between the pairs of keyframes to set new ones until no other changes are necessary. Using this method will ensure that you add the least amount of keyframes necessary for the animation, the fewer keyframes, the less work it is to edit!
    • Here’s a link to the Masking section of the After Effects Online Help.
  • Free After Effects Preset Collection

    Free After Effects Preset Collection

    “Wacky Backy” is my free After Effects preset collection for Sapphire V6. It is now freely available to download from Genarts FX Central. These animated backgrounds have a slightly wacky quality and can be used freely in your own creative projects.

    Use them as they come or as a starting point for your own presets – you could try using the Brainstorm tool on properties to come up your own variations – it’s addictive! Subscribers to my video training can watch a movie on Brainstorming in After Effects free here. If you’re not already subscribed, here’s a link to join us. For as little as $12.99 per month you can have free access to all of the training on my website plus all the other training by other authors at video2brain.

    If you’re not already a member of FX Central it’s free and easy to join. Then you can download as many presets as you like. If you want to try out my presets on Sapphire for After Effects you can download a trial version of the software here. Find out more about the amazing software that Genarts has to offer and customer stories here on their website

    These dynamic presets can be used for backgrounds, displacement maps or organic elements in your project.

  • Creative Graphic Design: Essential Typography

    Creative Graphic Design: Essential Typography

    Making good decisions is essential in typography — choosing the right typefaces, fonts, sizes, spacing and so on — can have a major impact on the quality of your designs. In this one-of-a-kind workshop, art director, illustrator, and motion graphic designer Angie Taylor introduces you to the essential principles of typography.

    After exploring the terminology, history, and anatomy of traditional and computer-based fonts, she brings you all the way up to the present day by looking at how text is formatted in today’s creative applications.

    You’ll also learn specific software techniques for creating your own lettering from hand-drawn text, animating text on a path, using operators and effects to customize existing fonts, working with 3D text, and more.

    This workshop covers many aspects of typography, from its history and terminology to how it is handled by modern software. The contents of this course include:

    Introduction
    The Introduction chapter sets the stage for the whole course. Your trainer, Angie Taylor, will introduce some of the typographic concepts that will be covered in the following lessons. She’ll also share the story of what inspired her to become a graphic designer.

    The Essence of Typography
    This chapter examines the fundamentals of typography, looking at the history of type and how it influences the terminology we use to describe the anatomy of type.

    Typefaces
    This chapter focuses on typefaces. It begins by examining the categories of typefaces and then compares some examples from each of the categories so that you are better able to recognize the differences between them. You’ll also discover how certain characteristics and cultural associations can influence the meaning of a particular typeface.

    Fonts
    Typefaces usually include several fonts with different weights and characteristics. In this chapter you’ll learn about these and the differences and similarities in size, weight, line, and detail that you should be aware of when choosing fonts. We’ll also look at special characters that are included in fonts, such as ligatures.

    Spacing
    The space between letters, words, and lines of text is just as important as the characters themselves. In this chapter we’ll start thinking of negative space as a shape and look at ways of adjusting this space to balance text correctly.

    Formatting Text in Adobe Applications
    Most Adobe design and video applications have similar typographic controls. In this chapter we’ll look at the different tools that are available for editing your text and apply some of the concepts we’ve discussed in earlier chapters.

    Working with Type in Photoshop
    This chapter focuses on the (somewhat limited) text features available Adobe Photoshop. You’ll also learn about some complementary features like layer styles that you can use to personalize your design and add pizzazz to your text.

    Working with Type in Illustrator
    Illustrator is Angie’s favorite application for designing text, and here’s why. In this chapter you’ll get a ton of creative tips on ways to take a standard, classic font like Helvetica and customize it to get a variety of different looks.

    Motion Graphics in Adobe After Effects
    In this chapter we’ll focus on creating text for your motion graphic designs. You’ll see how After Effects handles text imported from Photoshop, how to make text move along a specified path, and how to apply effects. We’ll also look at the multitude of text animation presets that you can apply to your text.

    The lessons are wrapped in a feature-rich interface that lets you jump to any topic and bookmark individual sections for later review. Full-Screen mode provides a hi-def, immersive experience, and Watch-and-Work mode shrinks the video into a small window so you can play the videos alongside your application. Also included are exercise files that give you an easy way to try out the techniques you learn.

    Download a PDf description of this course

     

  • Upgraded Video Streaming

    Upgraded Video Streaming

    New video service is faster and more responsive

    As you may know I have a video store on my page where you can watch some of my training videos completely free of charge with new upgraded video streaming.

    If you like them you can buy entire workshops or sign up for a subscription via this introductory pricing offer. With a subscription you can get access to the entire video2brain library of courses from me and other trainers.

    You can check out some of the other trainers profiles here. there’s some phenomenal talent at video2brain, that’s why I love working with them. It’s so inspiring to work amongst a team of people with such a vast selection of skills.

    We rolled out some major upgrades to our streaming video servers today. More details will be coming soon, but for now, give our new and improved online experience a spin with this free lesson from my Essential Typography course, on the subject of inspiration. For the most immersive result, be sure to click Full-Screen Mode in the lower-right corner of the player.

     

  • Happy 2012 – More free downloads

    Happy 2012 – More free downloads

    Well another year almost over. I’m looking forward to 2012, hoping that it’s a better year for our industry and for all my friends. I have a couple of exciting bits of news to share and more free downloads so here’s my final blog for the year.

    Mark Coleran, a good friend of mine and an extremely talented designer is giving away the entire LayerLab collection of After Effects template projects free. Layerlab was a resource for After Effects designers that Mark worked on a few years back. The project was put on hold while Mark pursued other career options. He’s now made a very kind gesture of giving these projects away for free. You can also check out Mark’s blog and portfolio here.

    I have a new workshop out in time for the new year. Creative Graphic Design: Essential Typography – Principles and Techniques for Working with Text is a workshop with a difference. Making good decisions in typography — choosing the right typefaces, fonts, sizes, spacing and so on — can have a major impact on the quality of your designs. In this one-of-a-kind workshop I introduce you to the essential principles of typography.

    After exploring the terminology, history, and anatomy of traditional and computer-based fonts, I take you all the way up to the present day by looking at how text is formatted in today’s creative applications. You’ll also learn specific software techniques for creating your own lettering from hand-drawn text, animating text on a path, using operators and effects to customize existing fonts, working with 3D text, and more.

    There are several free movies you can check out here. If you like what you see, here’s a special discount code for you if you’re interested in buying this course;  Coupon Code: ETYP20 Discount: 20% Expires After: 29-Feb. Just enter the code during checkout to get 20% off the advertised price.

    Inspiration

    Word Spacing

    Using Clipping Masks in Photoshop

    Layering Effects

    Animation Speeds and Durations Onscreen

  • Winter Sale!

    Winter Sale!

    In my winter sale there’s 30% off all Wacom workshops in my store.

    This offer includes volumes 1, 2, 3 & the Master Collection. To find out more you can read about them here and then check out the courses here and even watch some free preview movies to get a taster of what’s on offer. (Any links highlighted in black are free to watch.) If you decide to buy then just use the Coupon Code WACOM30 when checking out from my video store for 30% off any of the four Wacom courses or the entire Master Collection.

    This offer is good through to the end of 2011. With all video2brain courses you now have the option to have them delivered to you on DVD. At the checkout you now have a checkbox option to add a disc for just $6.99 (this price includes manufacturing and shipping costs.)

  • Bargains & “Free Stuff” for Designers

    There are bargains & “free stuff” for designers and VFX artists right now in the Holiday sales.

    I know that may of my readers are students and professionals who are just starting out in their career. Many of you may not be able to afford the full cost of commercial software so these sales give you a chance to make big savings.

    For those who are really finding the financial crisis too much there are also some freebies here! I found this article about some of the free plug-ins for After Effects here at Filmmakeriq.com. It lists many of the free AE plug-ins you can download to make yourself feel like you’re getting a holiday treat! AE Tuts also have a list of free plug-ins here.

    My friends at Artbeats have a massive 50% off all of their HD footage through to December 30th. Some collections are selling for as little as $100 so it’s worth a browse to see if there’s any footage you need to keep your library up to date. Their footage is Royalty Free so once you’ve bought it you are free to use it as many times as you wish.

    If you’ve ever wanted to get up to date on third party plug-ins for After Effects and other software applications, now is the time to “get legal” as there are deals out there that will be hard to beat. Red Giant has a secret “one day sale” which they announced yesterday. Sadly the secret nature of the sale meant I wasn’t aware it was happening in time to include it in a blog till today but there are still 5 hours to go, it runs till 4pm GMT on December 14th. It includes must-have plug-in packs for every motion graphic designer and visual effects artist as well as individual plug-ins from the Magic Bullet Suite, Trapcode Suite and Red Giant’s own great suite of tools.

    Toolfarm are also running a sale right now in tandem with the Red Gaint sale so if you have an account there, or would like to set up an account with the number one reseller of all things After Effects, now is a good time to set up that profile! They also have some freebies for the holidays so it’s definitely worth signing up.

    Digieffects also have a sale on with plug-ins selling for as little as $49 in their winter sale.

    Of course if you want something completely free there’s my “Style Eyes” Collection for Genarts Sapphire which is still available.

    Happy Holidays people! 🙂

  • “Style Eyes” – Genarts Sapphire Preset Collection

    “Style Eyes” – Genarts Sapphire Preset Collection

    I’m pleased to announce “Style Eyes” my latest Sapphire preset collection of 25 free presets from the Stylize category of the plug-ins for After Effects and other hosts.

    Give your footage that something extra! Pre-defined looks designed for music videos, outdoor locations, sport and weddings. Includes “Rubber Nightvision” inspired by a job that I worked on a long time ago, Aphex Twin and Chris Cunningham’s infamous “Rubber Johnny” music video. You can read more about that on my “About” page.

    There’s a full list of links to the “Before and After” preset previews, including descriptions, below.
    For more information, visit Sapphire.

    Original Footage Courtesy of www.artbeats.com
    Original Footage Courtesy of www.artbeats.com
  • Creative Graphic Design: Essential Typography

    Creative Graphic Design: Essential Typography

    My new workshop, Creative Graphic Design: Essential Typography is due to be released next week, just in time for the festive season! The folks at video2brain have kindly allowed me to give my readers a sneak preview and access to one of the movies from this workshop so here it is.

    Master the Art of Arranging Text

    Typography, the art of arranging text, has a long and storied history. In this one-of-a-kind workshop, art director, illustrator, and motion graphic designer Angie Taylor introduces you to the essential principles of typography. After exploring the terminology, history, and anatomy of traditional and computer-based fonts, she brings you all the way up to the present day by looking at how text is formatted in today’s creative applications. You’ll also learn specific software techniques for creating your own lettering from hand-drawn text, animating text on a path, using operators and effects to customize existing fonts, working with 3D text, and more.