Waiting 2B Scene

Tag: After Effects

  • Top 10: Best Built in Effects in After Effects (SonDuckFilm)

    Okay, I realise that these top tens are always incredibly subjective – and I understand that not everyone will agree with this particular list… in fact, I’m not even 100% convinced that I agree with it. Nevertheless, I love the concept.

    I have been an Adobe aficionado for many, many years (since like, Adobe Premiere… yeah, you read that correctly. Not Adobe Premiere Pro. Just Adobe Premiere!). The years progressed, and I increased my capacity as a run and gun/guerrilla style videographer. That meant having to branch into the widening avenues available in the Adobe Creative Suite. This included upskilling into the world of motion graphics – the wheelhouse of After Effects.

    I guess that is why this list is cool for me. After Effects has something of a special place in my heart: I’m reminded of the countless hours watching tutorials by guys like Video Co-Pilot … being amazed that I was able to make those motion graphics… as well as having a good ol’ laugh at myself for using Trapcode Shine WAY too much in those early works, hahaha.

    Thus this is not only a top ten list of the free in-built effects we currently have access to – but it is also a nostalgic moment of self-reflection. I hope you enjoy! And please free free to like or comment below – let me know what you think!

  • Blog: Best Free Editing Software

    People, it’s time to share some free stuff! And by free stuff, I mean my opinion and a lifetime of collected information, as that is really all I have to offer.

    I was chatting with one of my Australian friends in New Zealand, and he asked me what I thought might make for decent FREE editing software. I think that any self respecting screen junkie like you and I ought to be able to have an answer to that kind of a question.

    If you think that a “good” answer to that question is either iMovie or Windows Movie Maker, you may need professional help.

    As it stands, I don’t use the free stuff. I am media-professional that is a PC-based (*gasp*) Adobe CC user (*double gasp*). I know, I know. I just happen to like having a powerful machine for a fraction of the cost of an Apple equivalent, and I like the interconnectivity afforded by the suite of Adobe products. Nevertheless, there is some pretty powerful stuff that is available for free: and today I want to offer you the same two suggestions that I gave my friend.

    1. Blackmagic Design: DaVinci Resolve Lite.

    This is my number one suggestion by far. To be honest, Resolve has a reasonably steep learning curve for the beginner: you won’t create a masterpiece by simply playing around with it for an afternoon. With that being said, a masterpiece is possible if you’re truly interested in learning how to harness all the power that Resolve can offer.

    Despite being the Lite version, there are hardly any features missing compared to the Studio version. Sure it won’t do multi-camera editing or 3D, and you don’t have access to some minor features such as noise removal, but other than that, this is the same stuff the big boys use.

    1. Lightworks.

    Lightworks has been used to create Hollywood movies such as The Wolf of Wall Street, so it has some credibility. Like Resolve, there is a free and a pro edition, with the main difference being the output formats and the resolution (you are limited to 720p with the free version).

    The editing tools in Lightworks are powerful though, and even though both versions offer a limited range of special effects like transitions, TV programmes and Hollywood movies rarely use anything other than fade from/to black – so it shouldn’t be a problem. Aimed at professional video editors, it is a fascinating tool. It doesn’t do a lot, but what it does is pretty excellent.

    And that is it. I know that I’m not giving you easiest to use options here – but that was never the intent. The point was to show you that there are two incredibly powerful editing tools at our fingertips – and they will cost us nothing more than the time it will take to learn them. So long as we are willing to pay that price, the potential outcomes are amazing.

  • How To: A Comprehensive Cheat Sheet for Adobe

    Continuing my series of resource links, today I want to share an excellent infographic. For those of us who are part of the Adobe Universe, you will know that short-cuts have a funny way of increasing productivity, right? If only there was a way to easily find and/or remember what some of the really important ones were! Oh wait – there is!

    Thanks to the team at Set Up A Blog Today, we now have access to a comprehensive cheat sheet that outlines a range of the important short-cuts to a host of our favourite Adobe products: Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, FireWorks, Flash, Premiere Pro, and After Effects!

    Need some of that action? Get it right here. And as a bonus tid-bit – scroll down the the bottom of the post to get access to the PDF versions of the individual cheat sheets.

  • Personal: A Snap Shot

    In the aftermath of the Arab Spring, and the subsequent cognitive disruption many are experiencing in the Arabic-speaking North Africa and Middle Eastern (NAME) world as further atrocities are enacted in the name of the dominant religion in the region – it was personally encouraging as a Christian to find that there are organisations that are looking to engage in a spiritual dialogue with these questioning Arabs. As such, this year I made the move from Australia to begin working with one such media organisation – ******** (the name has been intentionally obscured for security purposes).

    It has taken some time to settle in: but things are finally moving forward – as demonstrated with this – one of the first pieces I contributed to – going live recently. As such, I am comfortable enough to share my work with the blogosphere – and I hope that you enjoy it!

  • Small Piece for ‘Generation Fire’

    Earlier this year, we were asked to set up an advert for the Generation Fire National Gathering. Being friends with the Gen Fire co-ordinator, Sash did the work for free. And as such, rather than start the whole process from scratch we utilised an After Effects CS5 template from the amazing crew at Videhive to pull it together, and this was the finished product.