Hot Software How-Tos
How To: Take B&W snapshots with the Hold & Resume Spy Photo preset in After Effects
Create an effect in your video where the video footage is converted to black & white, pauses, and resumes playback in regular color. This effect is demonstrated by Aharon Rabinowitz with Spy Photo, a brand new set of free presets for Adobe After Effects.
How To: Simulate snapshots in After Effects with free Spy Photo presets
Simulate the look of snapshots in your After Effects video footage with Spy Photo, a free set of presets that dynamically automate and generate the effect. This 17-minute tutorial from Aharon Rabinowitz of All Bets Are Off demonstrates the features of this cool new addition, which includes camera sound effects and viewfinder overlays.
How To: Create slick floor reflections for crowds of people in After Effects
Create simple reflections in Adobe After Effects with keyed footage. In this video tutorial, Aharon Rabinowitz of All Bets Are Off demonstrates its use with video footage of both crowd and individuals. In addition, some potential issues with Collapse Transformations are also addressed.
How To: Create realistic 3D cloud motion using a single cloud photo in After Effects
Use a 2D image of clouds to generate realistic video footage of 3D cloud motion. In this tutorial from All Bets Are Off, Aharon Rabinowitz demonstrates how to create this effect using a single 2D image of clouds and a few simple clicks.
How To: Create Poltergeist-style audio with Adobe Audition & After Effects
Recreate the scary effect in Poltergeist when the girl gets trapped inside the television using Adobe Audition, Adobe After Effects or any similar editing software. Harry Frank and Aharon Rabinowitz take you through the detailed tutorials step by step using a couple of different software methods.
How To: Create a wobble bass effect with Ableton Live and Operator
Learn to create the popular dubstep "talking wobble bass" sound using Operator and Ableton Live. Dubspot Instructor and Ableton Certified Trainer Michael Hatsis aka !banginclude explains how to create this popular sound. By combining settings on Operators with the Ableton Live device Redux effect, this video takes you through the process and shows you how it's done.
How To: Rotate video clip 180 degrees with Adobe Premiere
Learn to rotate a video clip 180 degrees (or any arbitrary angle measurement) using Adobe Premiere Pro in this tutorial. The audio portion is in Italian, however callouts have been added in English to make the tutorial easy to understand.
How To: Fake 3D and slow time in After Effects
Use After Effects to simulate a 3D stereoscopic effect, and remap time to speed up and slow down footage (a popular video effect used throughout the 2007 movie '300'). This tutorial from motion graphics designer James Zanoni shows you how.
How To: Create a beautifully layered 3D composition with After Effects
Using a layered photograph, chroma key footage and depth of field, prolific Italian designer Juri Ciana demonstrates precisely how to create a stunningly beautiful 3D composition with After Effects. In this informative video-only tutorial, depth of field and focus is utlized as critical elements that provide the various components of this video composition with a living vibrancy and dynamism.
How To: Animate a logo in After Effects
Learn to animate a logo in this rather casual (and occasionally cryptic) video demonstration that combines After Effects with audio portions in Sony Vegas. Much of the final product has already been rendered so this tutorial is essentially a walkthrough of the various parts of the project.
How To: Add realistic camera movement and color correction with After Effects
Increase the realism of your video footage with camera movement and color correction. In this video tutorial, Adobe After Effects is used to add realistic camera wiggle and shake to video footage from Call of Duty: Black Ops, simulating a handheld camera. In addition, the video tutorial also goes over some basic curve adjustment for color correction to give the video footage a unique look.
How To: Create 8-bit style icons in Photoshop
Create 8-bit style icons and portraits in Photoshop with this hilarious and informative video from the guys at eightbit. This video shows exactly how to make the whimsical low-tech icon-style images using Adobe Photoshop and a little bit of creativity.
How To: Make a beautiful 3D composite using only an iPhone, Panorama 360 and Cinema 4D
Having the latest and greatest professional equipment isn't always possible on a limited budget. Using only ingenuity and available equipment of his iPhone, Panorama 360 and Cinema 4D, Nick from Greyscale Gorilla shows exactly how it is possible to create a stunning, professional quality 3D composite.
How To: Export videos to Vimeo from Final Cut Pro
Vimeo is a fantastic way of distributing your video on the internet and making it accessible for people to watch. Watch this tutorial and learn how to use Final Cut Pro to prepare your completed video for compression and export to Vimeo.
How To: Convert 720p60 video into 24p and 24p slow motion
Evoke a dramatic effect in your 720p60 video by upsampling and converting to 24p and 24p slow motion, and adding a little bit of color grading with Adobe After Effects. This informative video shows the footage before, during and after treatment, showing the difference that this editing process can make in ordinary footage.
How To: Create "Predator"-style video camouflage in After Effects
Replicate the Predator-style video camouflage in After Effects by using displacement maps. This uniquely stunning and groundbreaking visual effect has been seen countless times in film and television to show video camouflage, invisibility, heat distortion, holograms, and static interference, among others. This video shows how to replicate this effect by using green screen footage, Fractal Noise and Displacement Maps, all within Adobe After Effects.
How To: Create visually stunning compositions from 3D renders in After Effects
Compositing and color correction are important and integral steps in processing a 3D render after it is generated in Cinema 4D, 3D Studio Max or any other 3D package. Compositing transforms simple renders and provides them with life, vibrancy and atmosphere. In this demonstration, Greyscale Gorilla breaks down a 5 second project from Rich Hinchcliffe and demonstrates how Rich uses Adobe After Effects, color correction, blurs, ReelSmart Motion BLur, Frischluft Lens Care and Lens Flares to tran...
How To: Make a ring gallery of photos in Adobe After Effects
You can construct a 3-D photo gallery of rotating photographs quite easily in Adobe After Effects. The trick is to use parenting and anchor points to pull it off, and this tutorial shows you how to avoid using the cylinder effect.
How To: Lip sync your animations correctly using time remapping
Time Remapping is a feature of Adobe After Effects used for rigging your animated characters, which can be most useful when trying to make your lip syncing look realistic. This is a quick tutorial on how to use this feature for your next project.
How To: Generate mattes and masks in 3ds Max and V-Ray
This tutorial shows you how you can generate mattes and masks to use in 3-D compositing. The video shows you which render elements to use for greatest effects for your project, such as changing the color of paint on a car.
How To: Transform your 60p footage into slow motion using Adobe After Effects
Decided after you filmed it that your footage shot in 60p would actually look better as a slow motion shot? Fortunately, you don't have to shoot anything over again - you can just use Adobe After Effects to slow it all down.
How To: Create a sword and matching sheath in a 3-D animation program
This tutorial uses Cinema 4D, but the steps and concepts will work for any 3-D modeling program. By completing this tutorial, you will also learn many basics, as well as good practices, of 3-D modeling. Create a longsword with a matching sheath.
How To: Give your architectural renderings a film look in After Effects
This tutorial shows you how to take your architectural renderings in Adobe After Effects and give them a 35mm film look. Even better, this tutorial uses only the basic program - no plugins or extra add ons to worry about.
How To: Use 3-D imaging for anaglyph animation
Here's a useful technique for any animator to be able to pick up - give your anaglyph animations a 3-D look. To replicate this, you will need Flash, After Effects and Photoshop, or programs that can accomplish similar animation tasks.
How To: Create a time lapse video in After Effects
Want to create your own time lapse video, but you don't have the right equipment? You can use Adobe After Effects to fill in the gaps. This is a quick and easy tutorial showing you how to use this program to create your own time lapse video.
How To: Turn a 25 frames per second clip into a 50 frames per second clip
Having a clip filmed at 25p can sometimes make the footage look jerky, which can distract the viewer from the content of your film. This tutorial shows you how to convert a 25p clip to 50p or 25i using Adobe After Effects.
How To: Use a lens flare in your animations with Adobe After Effects
Want to add a lens flare to your current animation or film? You can manipulate the picture using Adobe After Effects, and this tutorial shows you precisely how. Play around with the light, brightness settings and other tools to get a lens flare effect.
How To: Add rolling, 3-D text to your project in Adobe After Effects
Create an image using Adobe After Effects in which 3-D words and numbers roll across the screen, as if they were on a giant wheel. This is not a difficult tutorial, and makes for a great intro clip for any video project.
How To: Create an eyecatching intro for your film or video using Adobe After Effects
Start with Adobe After Effects. Decide what you want your intro to look like. Then follow along with this tutorial, which shows you how to use the various tools in After Effects to create a short yet effective intro clip.
HowTo: Make Your Own 3D Images
There's the simple, headache-inducing method, and then there's the slightly more complicated, pain-free method. All you'll need is a digital camera, Photoshop (or any image-editing software), 3D glasses, and the tutorial below. For step-by-step text instructions, click through to Open Tutorial.
How To: Do color correction on your videos in Adobe Lightroom
Color correction is important, because it gives your finished film a professinal touch. This tutorial is a quick explanation on how you can do color correction on your digital movie projects by using the editing tools available in Adobe Lightroom.
How To: Use Camera Mapper to create a realistic zoom in Adobe After Effects
The Camera Mapper plugin for Adobe After Effects shows you how to create a realistic zoom, where objects in the foreground move faster than objects in the background. Set up a realistic parallax and sell your shot by using Camera Mapper.
How To: Model a strand of DNA in Cinema 4D
This is a pretty easy tutorial that anyone familiar with the program can do - all you'll really need to use are some of the basic shapes to assemble a model of the double-helix shape of DNA, using the computer program Cinema 4D.
How To: Use Quartz Composer together with Resolume Avenue on your Mac
Quartz Composer is a program you can use within Resolume Avenue 3 to help manipulate the audio for your projects. This tutorial shows you how these two programs can interact together, thanks to a newly released series of patches for Resolume.
How To: Make 3D animated spirographs in Flash
Make spinning 3D animations of spirographs, DNA, wormholes, spirals and tubes using Adobe Flash and Actionscript 3 in this video from the flashbuilding tutorial series designed for the regular guy and ordinary folks.
How To: Edit videos on your iPhone 4 with the iMovie app
Ever wish you could take your iMovie application on your desktop with you wherever you go? Now, with the iMovie app, you can use your iPhone 4 to edit videos on the go. The possibilities are endless - from making a video postcard to filming a kid's birthday party, you can make instant memories!
How To: Create free and unique ringtones in GarageBand from any song in iTunes
Tired of paying absurd prices for silly ringtones? The solution is simple - just stop paying for them. In this video, you'll learn how to create your own free ringtones from any song in your iTunes music library with GarageBand.
How To: Overlay photos on video and overlay video on video using iMovie
Watch this video tutorial to learn some very useful tricks in iMovie. In this video, you'll learn how to overlay both photos on video and also overlay video on video using iMovie. In addition, you'll learn how to turn on the greenscreen tool.
How To: Make swirling rays of light around an object in Adobe CS5
This tutorial uses the example of a guitar on fire, but this will work for anything. Use the options open in Adobe Creative Suite 5 to make it look like there are swirling rays of light surrounding an object or person.
How To: Use the Excel Vlookup function in Microsoft Excel 2007
Use the Excel Vlookup function in Microsoft Excel 2007 to look up data in a table. This tutorial looks up the level and value of a product from a stock list using the Vlookup function in Excel.