We want to show our appreciation to all our dedicated fans with a Big Sale. We are offering 30% off our entire online store.

All products purchased during this sale qualify for FREE 64-bit updates (Adobe CS5 compatible) as soon as they are available.

The sale runs through Sunday, April 18, 2009 at 11:59 PM PST (California). To find out when the sale ends in your time zone, visit the World Clock site.

Enter Coupon Code NAB2010 during checkout to redeem your discount on the page titled Review and Submit Your Order. (Note: The coupon code field appears after you have entered your credit card information and hit Continue.)

All you need to do is enter the coupon code: VISUALFXTUTS after your credit card information to have 30% taken off of your order.  You can choose from Trapcode Particular, Form, or the Trapcode Reality bundle, or any combination of those to have the 30% discount applied to it.

This is NOT an April Fool’s Joke… I wouldn’t do that to you guys… hahaha

• Build a complex particle system using CC Particle World
• Synchronize the particle blast to shatter a title

LINK HERE

• Fill 3d text with fluid in Realflow and 3ds max9

• Add RealFlows Square Emitter inside 3d Text to achieve this effect

LINK HERE

• Simulate water effect as if its sliding down the glass surface
• We will use After Effects CC mercury effect and fractal noise etc. LINK HERE

• Simulate water effect as if its sliding down the glass surface
• We will use After Effects CC mercury effect and fractal noise etc. LINK HERE

High impact promo using Zaxwerks 3d serpentine plug-in.

Watch the tutorial

• Animate a camera through one surface to another below
• Combine camera mapping techniques with real textures
LINK HERE

In this video, Chris Martin shows you how to track a 3D object onto a live action video shot using Syntheyes and Cinema 4D.
LINK HERE

In this tutorial, Broadcast Designer Jason Brown will show you how to use the fracture object feature in Maxon’s Cinema 4d to make a quick Breaking News open when you are pressed for time. LINK HERE

Creating a Fluid Logo

In this first video with Creative Cow, Chris Martin goes over how to create a fluid logo using Realflow and Cinema 4D. LINK HERE

Bessie Potter

In this video tutorial, Creative Cow contributing editor Michael Park demonstrates how to make a dark, cloudy Title reveal similar to the one seen in the Movie Which Must Not Be Named. All textures and fonts are available in the project download as well as the final CS4 project file. LINK HERE

Boris Continuum Complete’s Witness Protection Filter

In this video tutorial, we use the BCC Witness Protection filter in Apple Final Cut Pro to obscure the face of a surfer who is surfing a wave at great speed, moving across the frame from the center to exit on the right. We will use BCC Witness Protection’s built-in motion tracker to automate this process. LINK HERE

Creating a 3D Text Fly In

In this video tutorial series, Creative Cow leader Zak Peric demonstrates creating a 3D text fly in using Apple Motion. LINK HERE

Creating a Waterfall

In this video tutorial, Creative Cow leader Michael Park demonstrates how to create a waterfall using After Effects and Trapcode Particular. This tutorial is in response to a couple of posts on the Trapcode Forum of CreativeCOW.net looking for this type of effect. This tutorial uses Particular 2.0, but the work flow and settings should work equally will with previous versions of Particular. LINK HERE

Aharon Rabinowitz has a few project files available on his site… this one is Microscope… LINK HERE

Another from All Bets Are Off…. Page Rip… LINK HERE

Last one in this roundup… Old World Map… LINK HERE

Typically when animating a title sequence or commercial, you have layered Photoshop files that were created for the storyboard. Using this script, you can quickly turn this layered artwork into 3D scenes as a starting point for the animation. LINK HERE

In this episode, I show you how to remove the banding from your videos rendered in After Effects. Banding happens when video is compressed and similar colors get posterized. This undesirable, visible bands of color that can be distracting, and in some cases downright ugly. Check out the video for some techniques to prevent this banding from happening. LINK HERE

In this episode, I to go though the new Daylight 2 from CSTools. Daylight 2 features more realistic area shadows, but you need to work to get rid of the grain. LINK HERE

In this quick tutorial, I show you how to make a glossy candy stripe texture. I have used this texture a ton lately when playing with the new physics engine. The stripes help show when spheres start to rotate. I use the scene that I built in yesterday’s tutorial, so you may want to head…. LINK HERE

In today’s tutorial, I show you how to set up the tags properly for Dynamics in Mograph 2 for a simple scene. I also go though how to cache the cloners in the scene for render. LINK HERE

In this tutorial we go over how to use Syntheyes tracking data in Cinema 4D. Watch Tip: Getting Syntheyes Tracking Data… LINK HERE

In this tutorial we use Mograph Effectors to create springy text. Watch Tip: Create Springy Text Using Mograph
LINK HERE

In this tutorial we create an array of blocks in Realflow and destroy them using rigid body dynamics. Watch Tip: Destroy… LINK HERE

In this tutorial we use Cinema 4D and Mograph to create spinning text with specular highlights. Watch Tip: Create Spinning Text…

Part 1 Part 2

In this tutorial start with a basic photo of several homes and then with the help of Compositor’s Toolkit and After Effects, create the illusion that one house has exploded. LINK HERE

If you have never used scripts before, you are missing out. These extensions to your AFter Effects arsenal can be invaluable. There are tons to choose from, they do a wide range of tasks, and new ones are being developed all the time. Lloyd Alvarez, our former editor actually runs AEscripts.com, an online marketplace and central hub for everything scripts in the AE Universe.

LINK HERE

Stop-motion animation using paper cut-outs can take quite a bit of time to produce… unless you use The Paper People effect! This technique gives you similar results in a fraction of the time. With the use of a current version of AE, you’ll use the wiggle expression, hold keyframes, and the puppet tool to emulate the classic look of a beloved form of traditional animation.

LINK HERE

Next time you get a frustrating assignment that you didn’t ask for, don’t crumple it up and throw it at your boss’s face. Now you can easily call it quits within After Effects! Rob uses the example of creating a paper crumple transition to show off the Digieffects plugin Freeform AE. Who knows… this tutorial might just save your job.

LINK HERE

Satya is back with a new tutorial that will help you look as good as you sound. This technique has many options so sit back and learn how to create an attractive visual generated from your audio spectrum.

LINK HERE

If you’re wanting to help to save Sarah Connor then maybe this tutorial will give you an insider’s perspective on what to do. Ben McEwan has created a 3 Day Series crammed full of useful expressions to create the UI found in the Terminator. He’ll skim over some of the basics of shape layers, as well as touch on some more advanced stuff like displacement mapping.

Day 1 Day 2 Day 3

In this tutorial we are going to reveal how to create a cool particle transition between 2 videos using Trapcode Form. We will cover the importance of layer maps while using this plugin as well as how to create a stylish displacement of the particles.

LINK HERE

Until recently this effect has been created in-camera using specialized lenses. In this tutorial, Richard Bird gives an overview of how the “Dollhouse Effect” can be quickly recreated in post-production without the use of 3rd party plug-ins by remapping the depth of field, use of simple colour correction and altering the frame rate.

LINK HERE

Adobe Kuler is a great resource for color themes that is perfectly integrated in all Adobe CS4 software – except for After Effects. But this has changed now. In this tutorial, Mathias Möhl shows how you can use his brand-new script “Chameleon – The Adobe Kuler Color Theme Browser” to work with Kuler color themes in After Effects. Apply a new color theme with just one click and all colors of your composition update automatically.

LINK HERE

Create a Rocky Video Game Terrain in Blender By Roberto Roch – In this series of tutorials you will learn how to create a finished environment for Blender’s Game Engine. The main focus of the series will be texturing and lighting, with the use of some custom 2d filters to enhance the result.Day 1 LINK HERE Day 2 LINK HERE Day 3 LINK HERE Day 4 LINK HERE

In this three part video tutorial series, lead video game artist, Ron Davey, will walk you through the process of creating a game-ready environment prop in Autodesk Maya, and also share his personal techniques and thoughts along the way.

Day 2 LINK HERE

In this multi-part tutorial, you will learn how to create simple, yet effective, 3d eyes that can be used in either CG illustrations, or animations. This series of tutorials will cover all of the steps that are necessary, from modeling and unwrapping, to texturing, to rigging, and eventually animating the eye.

Day 2 LINK HERE

Using the graphically based, plug and play programming of ICE, you will create and learn to control the motion of electron clouds around a nucleus. This tutorial covers constraints to motion, how to do vector math, particle trails, creating and reusing ICE compounds, and even some basic ICE particle rendering. If you don’t already, you will come to love the flexibility and power that ICE provides to your simulations.

LINK HERE

In this comprehensive video tutorial Blender guru, Karan Shah, will walk you through a detailed demonstration of the Blender user interface. From navigation, to modeling, and even animation, this tutorial is a must for anyone who is interested in learning this free, yet very powerful, open source 3d application.

LINK HERE

In this two part beginner/ intermediate tutorial, professional Modo artist, Matt Braeley, will demonstrate how to model a photorealistic Swiss Army knife using Luxology’s Modo 302. Despite its appearance and apparent complexity, it is actually a surprisingly easy and fun object to model, once broken down into it’s respective parts.

LINK HERE

In this tutorial you will go through the process of modeling and rendering a Living Room in Autodesk Maya. You will also learn to use Mental Ray (along with the new architectural materials), create realistic fur, and implement studio lighting to create nice and soft shadows and highlights.

Day 1 LINK HERE Day 2 LINK HERE

In this tutorial you will learn how to create a beautiful sunset over a calm sea using DreamScape and 3dsmax. DreamScape is sophisticated set of plug-ins for 3dsmax, that allows you to create and render realistic landscapes, seascapes, skies, clouds, outdoor lighting and more.

LINK HERE

This tutorial will focus on creating a cool molecule type object with Maya and finish the project off in After Effects. We will begin by modeling the molecule in maya, then create a shader via the hypershade panel and assign it to the object, and render out a still image. Lastly we will take it into After Effects, and create a camera that drifts and zooms towards the molecule. We will also add a few particles to the scene and comp it all together.

LINK HERE

In this advanced level tutorial, you will learn all of the steps necessary to build a fully functioning car rig in 3D Studio Max. This rig features working suspension, steering and body roll, as well as some functionality for drifting and powerslides. You will learn how to set up internal functionality through links, constraints, expressions, and parameter wiring. The final result will be a robust rig with easy, and accessible controls.

Day 1 LINK HERE Day 2 LINK HERE

In this beginner/ intermediate level tutorial, we are going to take a look at creating a simple toon shaded render for our characters in blender. Among the topics that will be covered are: basic lighting, creating and adjusting the toon materials, rendering, and composite nodes.

LINK HERE

In this beginner/ intermediate level tutorial, you will learn how to create and render a realistic interior scene in Cinema 4D and Vray. The first day will focus on modeling the room and all of the furniture, and the second on materials, lights, rendering, and post production.

Day 1 LINK HERE

In this multi-part,hard surface modeling tutorial, you will learn how to quickly create a realistic looking Nokia 5800. The techniques shown in this tutorial can easily be applied to other 3d applications, and the methods of making the phone itself are fast, and very efficient. Though the resulting mesh will not be perfect, the final render will still look great, thus the goal of this tutorial is not to teach you how to make a perfect mesh, but to teach you a trick or two about fast and efficient modeling.

LINK HERE

In this tutorial, you will learn how to create a bullet shooting through a liquid apple using Realflow, Cinema 4D, and After Effects . On the first day, you will learn scene setup in Realflow and proxy objects, Day 2 will cover importing Realflow data back into Cinema 4D and setting up for multipass rendering, and on the third and final Day, we will focus on importing .aec data from Cinema 4D into After Effects and isolating individual elements, as well as post effects.

Day 1 Day 2 Day 3

In this tutorial you will learn how to create a fantastic tunnel scene in Maya, and then add some final lighting touches in Photoshop. You follow Abed Ibrahim through his process as he of modeling, texturing, shading, and rendering techniques, and finally arrive at the spectacular result that is shown here.

Watch Day 1 LINK HERE

In this intermediate/ advanced video tutorial, you will learn how to model a highly detailed high-poly car rim from scratch. First, you will study a tried and true method of setting up a blueprint, and learn to make an animated x-ray material. Then, you will jump into modeling, where you learn a wide variety of tools and techniques, both low and high, to complete the final sub-d model.

Watch Day 1 LINK HERE

In this screen capture of a recent Adobe After Effects E-seminar, learn how Trapcode Soundkeys was used to control the look and feel of a boxing promo. Other topics include a technique for using Trapcode Shine along with CC Glass to create a stylistic impact effect, and various real-world workflow techniques. LINK HERE

Motion Sketch is one of those Adobe After Effects tools that is often forgotten (at least by me) but is still a handy addition to the After Effects toolset. In this quick tip we look at how you can use Motion Sketch to add natural, organic motion to your layers. LINK HERE

After Effects: Rotoscoping Fields – In this short tip, learn how to set up your Adobe After Effects composition to rotoscope footage imported with fields. (Note: please excuse the room ambience included with the audio, my regular microphone failed during this recording). Watch tip (5mins) LINK HERE

Photoshop Extended A Workflow with AE – In this screen cast of a recent Adobe E-seminar, learn how to incorporate Adobe Photoshop Extended into your Adobe After Effects workflow, by preparing video in After Effects, exporting to Photoshop and adding Filters, then reimporting back to After Effects for final compositing. LINK HERE

In this Adobe After Effects: Effects A-Z tip, special guest presenter Maltaannon demonstrates the Audio Spectrum effect.

LINK HERE

Ko Maruyama over at NinjaCrayon has a roundup of some C4D pumpkin and bat modeling tutorials just in time for Halloween!

LINK HERE

Modeling a Human Hand in Blender… LINK HERE

Rig a Piston in Blender… LINK HERE

35. After Effects: Creepy Nuclear Scene (Color Manipulation)

• Use CC Glass and other plugins to make a picture look 3d
• Play with Shine and Color Correction to create a creepy tone
• LINK HERE

Modeling a Bullet in C4D LINK HERE

Texturing/Animating a Bullet in C4D LINK HERE

Hey guys, you can check out both parts right now.

Meanwhile, the Cinema 4D and AE part are here. In Part one we will cover how to fully create the scene in Cinema 4D and then we will add final effects and camera chaos in After Effects. Both tutorials, if added up, add up to 20 minutes, so its a great deal to learn a powerful scene in a short period of time. Check them out and tell me your opinion.

Also check out the other side of the storm, Nahuel and his 3DS Max part: http://www.nalvfx.com.ar/

Noise Junkies Part

Lighting with Materials.

Neville Page, creature designer for Avatar, Star Trek and Cloverfield, demostrates his ZBrush PhotoShop Workflow. Remember you have to LOG IN FIRST – LINK HERE

In this tutorial you will learn how to use Illustrator and After Effects to create a spider web that animates on and catches some text that flies into it. LINK HERE

A quick introduction to using blurs in After Effects and Fusion 5. We cover the Box Blur, Gaussian Blur, and the Lens blur. Custom blur shapes and how to match the bokeh pattern from a specific lens are covered in Fusion 5. LINK HERE

In this tutorial, Carl Larsen shows you how to create an array of 3D particles using Trapcode Form and Red Giant Plane Space to achieve a look that, under most circumstances, has been reserved for more complex, 3d applications.

LINK HERE

In this episode of Red Giant TV, Chad Perkins shows you how to create various elements for use in a Twilight Zone-esque TV show opening, using After Effects, Photoshop, Illustrator and Cinema 4D. Get ready to kick it old-school…

LINK HERE

Learn how to give your motion graphics compositions some flair by learning to harness the power of randomizing the 3d position and motion of characters within a bunch of text layers.

LINK HERE

Find out about the exciting new features offered in Mudbox 2010 in this series of short videos! LINK HERE

This is a tutorial primarily for beginners who are interested in editable poly. A set of stairs will be completed from this tutorial. I am using 3DS Max 2009, but any version of 3DS Max should be fine. LINK HERE

On MacBreak Studio, Alex and I continue our discussion of new features in Motion 4, this time with a “focus” on Depth of Field. See it on iTunes here or on the web here. LINK HERE
I return to MacBreak Studio, where I talk with host Steve Martin about the new camera framing behavior and a few other useful commands in Motion 4. Watch it on iTunes here or on the web here. If you want to learn about my Motion 4 Up and Running tutorial, that’s here. LINK HERE

Back in 2006 Chris Zwar created an awe-inspiring opening sequence that got a lot of attention, because despite what you might think, it wasnt created in 3d, only After Effects. Check out the post on his site, to see the spot we’re talking about, and to find the links to the tutorials at PVC.

LINK HERE

Richard has a nice little introduction to Keylight over at PVC. There are tons of Keylight tutorials riddled across the internet, but coming from an industry veteran like Mr. Harrington, you’re bound to learn something new.

LINK HERE

Eran finishes the Energy Drink tutorial by putting the finishing touches on it using Photoshop Extended as well as After Effects.

Visit Tutorial

Learn to carefully tint all of your footage within the same project to look like it was all shot together under the same lighting conditions. LINK HERE

You have your product or title object beautifully modeled and textured…but what about lighting? Well, one short answer is to look into Global Illumination. Another option fake GI with a complex lighting scheme. There are many options out there, here is one. We’re going to use MoGraph to make the setup a little easier and more flexible. LINK HERE

Chrome text, chrome logos, chrome, chrome, chrome… everybody wants some bling bling. What makes metallic textures look so good? Reflections. Reflections are easy if you have some text floating in a complete modelled environment. What if you want some chrome text as an element to bring back into AE for a composite? Here’s a beginner/intermediate tutorial to show you how you to make it quickly… LINK HERE

Let’s take a look a the layer shader. It is one of the more powerful shaders in the C4D shader arsenal. It basically works very similarly to the layers palette in Photoshop and the layered timeline in After Effects, so most of this will be familiar to a lot of you. Let’s dive in. LINK HERE

Well then the Transfer Tool is exactly what you’re looking for…

Let’s begin by selecting the object we want to place. (sphere) LINK HERE

CINEMA 4D Version 11 AR3 GI is a major upgrade from AR2 with a completely revamped new state of the art Global Illumination native render engine for Cinema 4D. VRay users may notice some similarities, while AR2 users will need to become acclimated to new terminology, settings and controls. Cinema users that until now wanted better GI in Cinema’s native Advanced Render should appreciate the improved render performance and control. LINK HERE

The Portal Cube or Weighted Companion from the Valve game Portal has become somewhat of an icon. This morning I modelled this in 3D Studio Max and recorded to show how it was done. LINK HERE

Brand new tutorial in a series of Maxscript for beginners – here we introduce basic terminology and generating objects and managing them through basic mat and scripting lingo.

This series is designed to move artists into more technical subjects easily and apply them to appropriate subjects for real production. LINK HERE

Check out this Transformers Logo tutorial from Tendest.com. LINK HERE

Info Hello viewer My name is Gourav Sharma. 3D Asian girl is my 1st attempt to make a realistic looking 3d girl! Software i used -3ds max 2008 and photoshop cs. Inspiration I got this information from my friend she told me that her one friend got pregnent coz of not using condom! we can’t stop anyone for having sex but we can be aware for safe sex ! LINK HERE

“What’s new in Mudbox 2010 – Extraction” by Ashraf Aiad

In this series of podcasts we will explore some of the new features in Mudbox 2010. The extraction user interface has been improved to allow extraction from diffrent levels. LINK HERE

“What’s new in Mudbox 2010 – FBX” by Ashraf Aiad

In this series of podcasts we will explore some of the new features in Mudbox 2010 Transferring your work between 3D applications is much simpler now that Mudbox supports the Autodesk FBX file format. LINK HERE

“Rifleman” by Robin Benes

I will show you how I proceeded with the modelling, texturing,postproduction. The most inspiring thing for me is art by Blizzard entertainment and becouse I´m a big fan of Warcraft i have started work on “my” Rifleman. LINK HERE

Nahuel’s 5 part tutorial series called The Truck on compositing a realistic explosion and fire into a peice of moving footage. Click the image to go to the page with the models and project files available for download, and click the individual links for direct links to the video tutorials

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

On MacBreak Studio, I talk with Steve Martin about the new text styling and animation tools in Motion 4. Watch it in iTunes here or on the web here.

In the monthly video tutorials that Chris and Trish Meyer have been releasing, this month’s video is on understanding how shape layers work.

Visit Tutorial

This tutorial goes over the procedure of rendering a movie from After Effects, including how to use the Render Queue. LINK HERE

Dennis Radeke shows you how to create some realistic fog inside of AE using Fractal Noise and some masks.

Visit Tutorial

Nick takes us through the steps of creating a simple 3D background for a green screen interview type scenario.

A quick an easy technique to get a professional look for your next corporate production. LINK HERE

In preparaation for a web series that Pro Juice have in pre-production, i’ve been playing around with some effects that are to appear in a number of the episodes.

The first effect is replicating the look of a large screen plasma TV. One of the characters appears on a screen mounted on a wall and then interacts with the characters in the room. It looks like we will achieve the effect in post, so in this tutorial i take you through some of the steps involved in creating this dot-matrix type pattern which is in effect a working style guide for some effects that will appear in the web series – The Science of Night. LINK HERE

Nick takes us through the steps of how to manipulate the settings in the default Bad TV Effect in Final Cut Pro and create an original rolling analogue TV effect. LINK HERE

In the first stage of building a scene Rob shows you how to use a variety of tools to build a chair. Starting with a spline and a sweep nurbs, you will learn how to create a frame. Then on to poly objects, using soft selections, magnet, bevel, extrude and more to create realistic cushions. Finish off with some texturing and get ready for part two. LINK HERE

In the second stage of building a scene Rob shows you how to use a variety of tools to build a bath tub, with taps and even a towel created using the clothilde engine. Move on to apply textures and render a test, ready for part 3. LINK HERE

In the third part of the series, you will learn how to create a cabinet, complete with a sink, taps, and a mirror. Add some details and group everything together for easy import into the final scene. The next tutorial will cover setting up the room, adding materials and final modelling, before moving on to lighting and rendering. LINK HERE

In the fourth part of the series, you will learn how to set up the scene. Starting with building the room itself, adding a few props and then adding materials. See how mograph was used to build a lighting rig and a quick look at using photoshop to paint some textures. Also learn a quick tip for speedy navigating a scene without having to re-adjust your view for render time. LINK HERE

Mograph’s tracer object lets you easily generate and animate tendrils that follow any object. This tutorial shows you how easy it is. LINK HERE

Use the fracture object in cinema 4d to create an exploding logo, which is easily animateable. LINK HERE

Learn how to use Maxon’s exchange plugin to send 3d data from cinema 4D to After Effects, for easy compositing. LINK HERE

Why build your model and animate the long way when mograph can do almost of it for you? Watch and find out how. LINK HERE

Use the mograph module in cinema 4d to create a sci-fi scene, saving a lot of time and effort. LINK HERE

Learn to how to easily set up a hair material and the scene it’s in to create realistic grass. It catches a lot of people out but once you see what is involved (which isn’t much) you can get some really nice results with a minimum of effort. LINK HERE

• The first of many “Quick Tips” we hope to provide which will allow you to save time, effort and headaches…
• If you have ever had Z-Depth channel information which just wont let you get good Depth of Field, here is the solution…
• This fix allows you to correct the problem in After Effects without having to go back into 3D and re-render…

LINK HERE

• Learn how to create realistic running water in After Effects…
• Use particles to drive an image map displacement effect based on a background still image…
• You will learn how to use CCGlass to achieve a Specular highlight for added realism…

LINK HERE

• Introduction to basic 3D rigging using only pivot points and linking…
• Learn about IK versus FK rigging for animation and how to set up IK controllers…
• You will learn use the Layer Manager to separate Mesh objects from Rig objects…

LINK HERE

Using some particle systems, 3d cameras, and texture compositing, Levi shows you how to create a cool looking title sequence.

Visit Tutorial

Using a day for night technique, some roto, color correction and fractal noise, learn to make a nice sunny day look like a horrible, knock-out-your-power storm.

Visit Tutorial

Quick and easy way of a not very detailed water faucet. Perfect for those quick distant shots and angles. Obviously for close ups more details and variation would be needed but this should get you started. Enjoy LINK HERE

In this tutorial I go through the easy use of the bend deformer in C4D LINK HERE

See how easy and quick it is to spin an object. In C4D LINK HERE

How to use the explosion deformer easily and effective in C4D. LINK HERE

Showing you how to model a chess queen piece using only a bezier spline in C4D. LINK HERE

Following on from the Chess Queen piece tutorial heres one on how to model the board. I did however use the old tutorial from Maxon on modeling the board. It was the first ever written tutorial I followed and therefore I am now showing you with a video on how to do it. LINK HERE

An effective way to improve the quality of your blueprints or reference images to get rid of the nasty ‘blur’ and distortion. Its my common method to work with references and images within Cinema 4D although many use references and images as a background instead of on a plane now. But as you can see this way also has an advantage if your blueprint isnt top notch quality. Enjoy LINK HERE

How to create fire using the mograph module. More specifically the Mograph Displace Deformer. LINK HERE

I show you a quick way to export from Cinema4D to Photoshop including lights, layers, reflection and more. LINK HERE

Video tutorial showing how easy it is to make a basic LCD model using one cube and a few spheres. Good tutorial for those wanting to see how the Extrude tool works. LINK HERE

Tutorial showing how to easy create a basic wire or cable using only a spline and circle. LINK HERE

Here I show you the main ways to create a bridge or fill a gap. Also shows how to create a ‘hole.’ LINK HERE

The reason for this quick tutorial was to show you how to use the Atom Array quickly and its main purpose. LINK HERE

Basic tutorial showing how easy it is to model a ring for example a wedding ring. LINK HERE

Modeling a Table Lamp using Loft Nurbs tutorial. Good for the quick easy table lamp models needed. LINK HERE

A quick video tutorial showing the basics of how to create grass using the Hair module in cinema4D. Obviously the hair module is needed for this. LINK HERE

Keying Footage With Keylight Software Used: After Effects Overview: In this tutorial we look at the basics of keying footage in After Effects using the plugin Keylight. This tutorial doesn’t go over all the buttons and switches of the plugin but gives you enough to get started and understanding how it works. View: View Tutorial

2 Simple Expressions In After Effects Software Used: After Effects Overview: In this After Effects tutorial focus on two simple expressions. The two expressions used are; loopOut(); and Wiggle(2,2); For more information on expressions in After Effects check out AE Enhancers and the tutorials by Harry Frank over at graymachine.com. View: View Tutorial

Basics Of Rotoscoping In After Effects Software Used: After Effects Overview: In this tutorial we look at the basics of rotoscoping in After Effects. This tutorial is for beginners and should give you an idea of what rotoscoping is and how essential it can me to any project. View: View Tutorial

Creating A Wipe With A Basic Mask Animation Software Used: After Effects Overview: In this tutorial we look at creating a wipe by animating masks in After Effects. This tutorial is for beginners and should give you an idea of how to animate a mask and what alpha channels are. View: View Tutorial

Simple Counter Expression In After Effects Software Used: After Effects Overview: This is my first After Effects video tutorial so please take that into consideration. In this tutorial I go through the basics of how you add an expression in After Effects. I focus on setting up a simple counter expression using an expression and the slider control effect. Here is the expression used; val = effect(“Slider Control”)(“Slider”); numDec = 0; // digits to right of decimal numDigit = 2; // digits to left of decimal if (val < 0) sign = “-” else sign = “”; s = Math.abs(val).toFixed(numDec); while (s.length < numDigit + numDec + 1) s = “0″ + s; sign + s For more information on expressions in After Effects check out AE Enhancers and the tutorials by Harry Frank over at graymachine.com. View: View Tutorial

Intro To RealFlow – Basic User Interface Software Used: RealFlow Overview: In this first of hopefully many RealFlow tutorials I go over the basic user interface and layout. I show you how to navigate around and manipulate objects in a scene. This tutorial is just to get your feet a little wet and introduce you to RealFlow and understand where all the basic buttons are. View: View Tutorial

Tyson Ibele has created an amazing free script for 3DS Max that generates complex buildings with mere clicks. If you haven’t picked this one up you need to asap! This script is the reason I love Max. No other community would share such a powerful script for free. LINK HERE

New tutorial uploaded showing the process of exporting content into the correct format for use in Frenzoo, a 3D chat service that allows users to create their own 2D and 3D custom content. As with is common with most services like this, the content can be exported out directly from 3DS Max but not other applications so there are a couple of extra steps required to get files and content set up properly for use. Read how to export models to Frenzoo.

New tutorial uploaded on exporting models to the Open 3D *.o3d format, or more correctly the *.o3dtgz format. LINK HERE

Most modern games use normal maps and luckily for Blender users the program has a native abilty to render bake them from high resolution meshes… LINK HERE

I am very proud of what I have achieved by working on this animation. In this tutorial I will show you how to make gold typography with a see through mesh. LINK HERE

In this tutorial, I will show you how to create an awesome 3D magic top-hat! We will use 3ds Max and Adobe Photoshop to render and then post-process the image.

LINK HERE

In this tutorial, I will show you how to create an outstanding 3D tunnel animation! We will use 3ds Max to create a tunnel, add some materials and set up lightings and then we will use Adobe After Effects to post-process entire animation! So, let’s get started!

LINK HERE

This tutorial will show you how to create an interesting 3D text image. It will explain you how to set up your rendering engine to render glossy surfaces and create some glossy materials as borders of your letters. Then, we will create a simple background for your rendered text. Let’s get started!

LINK HERE

In this tutorial, we’ll take a look at a built-in script called the Solidify Selection script. This script, created by Campbell Barton, will allow you to solidify a mesh by adding a second “skin” to it based on the selected geometry. LINK HERE

In this tutorial, we’ll be taking a look at the basic blocking for modeling a 3d cartoon hand. Part 1 Part 2

In this Blender tutorial, we’ll be taking a look at how to model a smooth t-joint connection. This technique is something you might want to consider when simply intersecting two cylinders doesn’t quite give you the appearance you need. LINK HERE

In this Blender tutorial, we’ll take a look at how to add simple transitions to camera changes in an animation. This will be accomplished using Blender’s Video Sequence Editor. LINK HERE

Brick is one of the Popular material that we usually often used in 3ds Max. The brick’s application as wall constructor or wall exspose. Behind as Architectural element, the bricks are usually used in the Game and Industry. This tutorial will guide u how to make your own bricks material step by step, and I assume that it really works for the beginner, and that you have a great understanding of basic geometry. LINK HERE

Video Tutorial for Cinema 4D – Tearing cloth with an object – swf format – 4.6mb Password : www.jag4d.com Create a cloth and activate the tearing option, place the cloth in a ClothNURBS object. Create a collider object and move it through the cloth, fixing the border of the cloth and moving the collider through the middle will work in any case. LINK HERE

Video Tutorial for Cinema 4D – Clothilde with belt – swf format – 4.6mb

Password : www.jag4d.com LINK HERE

Video Tutorial for Cinema 4D – Normal Map – swf format – 6mb One technology that is widely used for the modern game is a normal mapping. Normal mapping is a way to handle a light to the surface with a height / depth specific. Normal mapping can be similar / the same as the bump mapping. At the game level is higher are typically used where the effect of parallax mapping from a depth of a surface can be drawn with only one additional texture only. Normal mapping is used to produce a highly detailed image by using only some polygon. LINK HERE

Finger Setup – swf Format 31 mb Password: www.free-tutorials.freesitespace.net

LINK HERE

Video Tutorial for Cinema 4D – Skin with Claude Bonet – swf format – 4.1mb Password : www.free-tutorials.freesitespace.net LINK HERE

Video Tutorial for Cinema 4D – Basic UV Export – swf format – 1.5mb Password : www.free-tutorials.freesitespace.net LINK HERE

In this tutorial you’ll learn how to use the particle system included with Cinema 4D. You’ll also learn how to use gravity, wind, deflectors, destroyers and rotation with your particles. LINK HERE

In this first part of a multi-part tutorial you’ll learn about the settings in the general tab of lights. You’ll learn about the different types of lights, shadows and visible light. LINK HERE

In this second part of a multi-part tutorial you’ll learn about the settings in the details tab of lights. This includes: Inner angle, outer angle, aspect ratio, contrast, what a shadowcaster is for, falloff and the inverse square law for lighting as well as near clip and far clip. You will also see how to exclude objects from your lights and how to add noise to your volumetric lighting for a fog effect. LINK HERE

In this tutorial you’ll learn how to use multiple cameras in your scene and switch between them with the Stage Object. LINK HERE

In this tutorial you’ll learn how to use a simple version of xpresso to help control your animations and reduce the amount of keyframing necessary. You’ll also learn how to use the cycle command in the Animation timeline. LINK HERE

In this tutorial you’ll learn how to combine the MoGraph spline mask with the sound and delay effectors to create interesting shapes filled with clones. LINK HERE

In this tutorial you’ll learn how to combine your Cinema 4D projects with After Effects. You will learn how to combine object buffers with external compositing tags and lights to use as emitters with Trapcode Particular in After Effects. LINK HERE

In this tutorial you’ll learn how to add bounce using Mograph. Using a simple cloner object and a delay effector, you too can add spring to your step, or in this case to your lighting fixtures. Thanks to Ame for the inspiration for this tutorial! LINK HERE

Tutorial showing you how to use Global Illumination to light your scenes. LINK HERE

Short tutorial showing you how to wrap text along a spline using the Mograph plugin. LINK HERE

NURBS, NURBS, NURBS. Guess what this tutorial introduces you to. You’ll get a basic understanding of how to use the diffferent types of NURBS in C4D. LINK HERE

This Time With Prizes From VideoHive!

Yep, It’s True! Videohive.net has graciously sponsored the latest five second project with $100 worth of credit to spend on their After Effects projects and Video Loops. $50 will go to the winner and $50 will be given to a random winner picked from all the entries. Check out their new site re-design and especially their After Effect Projects. You can even sell your own AE projects through VideoHive and get paid! Support our sponsor and go check them out
What Are Five Second Projects?
We all want to make cool shit for our reel right? Sometimes you just need a theme to get you started… Some rules to fight against. Use the theme “Fast Food” to make a five second motion piece and link it in the comments of this blog post. Please be sure to post a link in this post’s comments to ensure me seeing it.

Photographers, use the theme, “Fast Food” to go shoot a photo. Link it in the Flickr group.

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Aharon Rhabinowitz from All Bets Are Off Production and Red Giant Software and myself had a similar idea: doing some tutorials on sound design with the tools available to most motion designers. In this tutorial, we both demonstrate techniques on creating backwards reverb. Aharon shows you some techniques common to most editing tools, and I do the same thing in After Effects.  LINK HERE

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Create a colorful disco tunnel using shape layers and matching the look to a video footage using the color link effect.  LINK HERE

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FilmMakerIQ always has huge roundups, this time they have compiled 222 Apple Motion Tutorials for you to check out!  LINK HERE

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Dennis Radeke of the Genesis Project has Adobe Beginner Classes Episode #26 which teachs you how to make semi-realistic fog inside of AE.  LINK HERE
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Taken from AEportal.blogspot.com – Chris and Trish Meyer have released After Effects Apprentice Video Tutorial #9 onto PVC.  This short video ‘provides a jump-start for using the vector-based Shape Layers that were introduced in After Effects CS3. It demonstrates how to create “parametric” and “path-based” shapes (using the Mask and Pen tools, respectively), setting the color for fill and stroke (including creating gradients), editing shapes, adding shape effects, and how multiple shape paths and groups interact within the same Shape Layer.  LINK HERE

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CC Time Blend FX was originally published as part of the Final Effects plug-in set, but is now included in After Effects as one of the Cycore (CC) plug-ins. In his recent Unplugged interview, Total Training founder and After Effects legend Brian Maffitt discusses the Total FE (Final Effects) training series and how he used Time Blend FX to make realistic smoke and plasma. LINK HERE

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In this Adobe After Effects: Effects A-Z tip, special guest presenter Topher Welsh gives a brief tour through the Auto Color, Auto Contrast and Auto Levels effects.  LINK HERE

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Aniquito.com is finally launched, which is a tutorial site dedicated to VFX and Dynamics!  This tutorial is to create lava, (Maya Blobby Classical Particles)  LINK HERE

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Learn how to make an animated extrude along a curvel in Maya.  LINK HERE

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Learn how to create table cloth using soft bodies in Maya.  LINK HERE

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CGSutra has 5 new tutorials on the new features of Fusion 6:  Introduction to Domain of Definition, Learn About DOD Tools, Introduction to Region of Interest, Learn About Stereo 3D Features, and Learn about the Anaglyph Tools and how its used in Stereo 3D.

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Oldie but a goodie:  Barbecue Design created an amazing commercial for Lexus Toyota Hybrid Drive using After Effects and Trapcode plugins. Ruediger was nice enough to put together a three part tutorial on how he did a lot of the effects in the commercial.  LINK HERE

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Intro to Physics and Dynamics in Mograph 2 – In today’s tutorial, Nick shows you how to set up the tags properly for Dynamics in Mograph 2 for a simple scene. He also goes though how to cache the cloners in the scene for render.  LINK HERE

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The Correct Way To Use Audio In After Effects – In this tutorial, Nick shows you the proper way to import and interact with audio in After Effects. He shows you how to convert your MP3s into AIFF files using Quicktime. He also, shows you the proper way to do fades and cross dissolves using Plugins.  LINK HERE

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Understanding 3D and 2D Layer Order in AE – In this GSG Cast, Nick tries to make sense of how layer order effects visibility in After Effects when using 2D and 3D layers. There is also a tip on how to force a 3D element into place by using 2D layers. Enjoy!  LINK HERE

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Nick also was one of the people creating a tutorial for the new Cinema 4D R11.5 launch, check out this hub for a ton of tutorials on exploring the new features of R11.5.  LINK HERE

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Compositing With Color: Matching Footage with Color Channels – By Chad Perkins.  In this tutorial, explore how to get a better composite by adjusting the individual color levels of elements so that they match the underlying footage.  LINK HERE

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Pull The Perfect Key – In this tutorial learn to use Primatte Keyer Pro 4.0 and Key Correct Pro to tackle the toughest keying challenges with confidence and in record time. Begin by using Key Correct Pro’s pre-key tools to prep your footage for keying in the powerful Primatte Keyer, then touch up your mattes in Key Correct Pro for pixel-perfect results within After Effects.  LINK HERE

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Learn to Make a Custon 3D Wall Text Reveal – By Roman Komurka -  Using basic AE tools and some expressions you will learn how to create this 3D wall made of custom shapes and a nice laser beam to reveal your text.

LINK HERE

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Integrating Cinema 4D into After Effects – by Eddie Bodganov -  The more you get into After Effects, the more you realize how cool it is to bring in stuff from outside the program. This tutorial shows how take a scene from Cinema 4D and bring it over into AE. After Effects is a compositing program and this is a perfect example of how to take a basic animation and add some “after effects“!

LINK HERE

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Animate Your Logo Into Characters – By Chaithanya Y -  In this tutorial, we will learn some of the cool new features introduced in Trapcode Particular v2.0. Inspiration for this tutorial is from the logo reveal of the Digital Domain Animation Company. It may not be as good as that (since it had been done completely using a 3d software), but I thought to give it a try in After Effects.

LINK HERE

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Put Together a Realistic District 9 Composite – By Youssef Sarhan – Adding outside elements into a scene can be a tedious endeavor. Today we’ll be shown a few different compositing tips as we superimpose the space ship from District 9 into our shot.

LINK HERE

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Model a Photorealistic Boss Tu-2 FX Pedal in Modo – Day 2 – By Matt Brealey – In this two-part tutorial (visit Day 1), you will learn how to model the Boss Tu-2 FX pedal using Luxology’s Modo 302. Taking advantage of Modo’s workflow enhancing toolset, the model will be highly detailed, and suitable for close up renders from any angle.

LINK HERE

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Sculpt a Lifelike High-Poly Rhinoceros in ZBrush – By Daniel Holden – In this tutorial you will learn the key theory behind how to set up your low poly mesh appropriately, and the best way to go around sculpting to get the desired level of detail. This tutorial covers the creation of a Rhino, but when you are finished, you should be ready to start sculpting any organic model you like.

LINK HERE
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How to Bake a Flawless Normal Map in 3ds Max – By Racer445 – In video games, resources are always on a tight budget. Normal mapping allows the artist to achieve the look of a highly detailed model, while still using a very low triangle count and relatively small texture sizes.

LINK HERE

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How To Create an Awesome Fire Effect Using Maya Fluids – By Alan Monroig – In this tutorial you will learn how to create a fire animation inside Maya, and adjust the settings for your own projects. We will create the fire from scratch using Maya Dynamics and Fluids. The fire animation we will create can be rendered using both Maya software and Mental Ray.

LINK HERE

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Create a Rocky Video Game Terrain in Blender – Day 1 – By Roberto Roch – In this series of tutorials you will learn how to create a finished environment for Blender’s Game Engine. The main focus of the series will be texturing and lighting, with the use of some custom 2d filters to enhance the result.

Day 1 LINK HERE Day 2 LINK HERE

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How to Export 3D Camera Data from C4D to AE – Day 2 – By Harrison Ambs – The key to good project management is workflow, and also to ensure that all your pieces and parts will all come together in the final assembly. Design is no different.  This tutorial deals with some more advanced compositing techniques, and hopefully after watching the first tutorial, you’ll have a good grasp of the basics and be ready to dive into this 3 video tutorial featuring advanced compositing using tags, multi-pass renders, and expressions in After Effects.  LINK HERE

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Using Splines to Add  Detail to Your High-Poly Model in 3ds Max – By Ben Bolton -  Splines are an often-overlooked aspect of 3ds max when it comes to game art. Most people know that you can use a spline for a wire – but you can also use it for things like grooves, whole objects like handles, and even text! In this tutorial, we’ll take a look at some of these advanced ways that splines can be used to save a lot of time on tasks that would otherwise have to be done by hand.  LINK HERE

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An Introduction to Fluid Simulation in RealFlow 4 – By Eric Schilling – This relaxed tutorial will teach users how to work seamlessly between RealFlow4 and a 3D package (3ds Max 2008). It will cover how to create fluid and rigid body simulations, import and export SD files, initial states, mesh filters, 3d modeling and much much more.  LINK HERE

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Create a praying mantis in Blender.  LINK HERE

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Using nCloth with character animation in Maya.  LINK HERE

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Create a rock shader in 3ds Max 2010.  LINK HERE

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Enhanced Reflections with HDR Images in Blender.  LINK HERE

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After Effects Glassy Strings BG From Noise Junkies:  Use CC Glass and other plugins to create a stunning looping bg, and learn some looping techniques with Form.  LINK HERE

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Maya Composite 101 (Based upon the Autodesk Toxik Software)This will familiarize you with the Toxik UI and workflow.

Part 1 LINK HERE Part 2 LINK HERE

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Scorpion Production Workflow

Kenichi Nishida describes how he meticulously created the basemesh before taking it into Mudbox for hires detailing, then preparing for the UVs and exposing how he generated all those tiny little hairs throughout the…  LINK HERE

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Mudbox Tecniques for Props #1 – Wood

A first video concerning sculpting techniques for your props. LINK HERE

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Mudbox Techniques for Props #2 – Stone

a second video concerning mudbox sculpting techniques..this one is about stones..and perhaps a bit too long   LINK HERE

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This tutorial from Everything FX demonstrates how to make objects melt in blender and use reactor particles to create rain and missile strike effects.  LINK HERE

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Double Rainbow Photoshop Screencast – Watch how this dude creates some awesome HDR Panoramas.  LINK HERE

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While I wasn’t buzzing around shooting things at 300fps on Beach day, I managed to take a few pictures a few minutes before we all packed up. One of my friends brought this AWESOME inflatable rainbow star. This is the best shot of the bunch, but the original photo needed some more punch to make it more interesting. So, I decided to screen-cast the entire 2-hour photoshop session, and speed it up into this 4:25 video.  LINK HERE

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Tip: Create Spinning Text with Specular Highlights–Pt.1

In this tutorial we use Cinema 4D and Mograph to create spinning text with specular highlights.  LINK HERE

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Tip: Creating a Wet Map in Realflow

In this tutorial we go over how to use the wet map feature in Realflow. Part 1 LINK HERE Part 2 LINK HERE

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Tip: Using a Proxy Object in RealFlow

In this tutorial we use go over how to use a proxy object in RealFlow to speed up workflow.  LINK HERE

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Tip: Using the Hinge Constraint to Open a Door In RealFlow

In this tutorial we go over how to use the hinge constraint to open a door in RealFlow.  LINK HERE

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Tip: Creating a Jelly-Like Substance in RealFlow

In this tutorial we go over how to use Realflow to make a jelly-like logo.  LINK HERE

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“Wounded Ork” by Dorian Bushi – As this is a making of article, I’m not gona cover every step of the creation process of this image. I assume you have some basic knowledge in 3D in general, and basic to intermediate level for all the 3ds max users.  LINK HERE

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Making of “Medkova” by Fabio M. Silva – Tutorial about making of Klara Medkova image, also published in Ballistic’s Publishing Exotique 4.  LINK HERE

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Making of “The Package They Carry” by John Strieder – Learn how John created this awesome peice of art in ZBrush.  LINK HERE
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Making of “Willpower” by John Streider – In his image a brave young girl who is in a situation she would never believe she’d come into, and then something unexpected happens that nobody would ever expect!  LINK HERE

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Episode 29: Form Text by Tim Clapham

In this Episode of Red Giant TV, Tim Clapham shows you how to use Trapcode Form to create some particle-based 3D text along with a cool transition on and off.  LINK HERE

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An Introduction to using Keylight with After Effects with Richard Harrington.  LINK HERE

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Create a Comic Book Effect – Learn to create an animated comic book effect – Requires Red Giant Toonit!  LINK HERE

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Energy Drink Part 2 – Eran Stern – Eran puts the final touches on this effect filled 3D spot using Photoshop Extended and Adobe After Effects.  LINK HERE

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Embryo Energy has finally arrived, I am very excited to show you techniques involved to make this effect. I think you are going to love the simplicity of this tutorial.  LINK HERE

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Learn how to animate joints with a Maya hair curve. Very nice rig with tons of control!! Use it creatively and you’ll find a lot of ways to use it… Plus its a LOT of fun!  LINK HERE

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Create a Retro Rainbow Waterfall Using 3ds Max and Particle Flow – This tutorial will show you how to use Particle Flow to create an outstanding 3D retro rainbow waterfall inside of 3DS Max! We will play with some basic objects and PFlow features to create some imaginative geometric shapes. So, let’s get started!

LINK HERE

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I’m going to show you how to make a 3D text shatter effect. This effect is made in two programs, Cinema 4D and Photoshop.If you haven’t heard of Cinema 4D before it is a relatively easy to use 3d application, it is quite similar to 3dsMax or Maya. I will go pretty in depth with the Cinema 4D part, for all the inexperienced users, so bare with me if I go too slow. Now enough chit chat, let’s jump in.  LINK HERE

• The VideoHive Blog
  AE.tutsplus.com
• My Youtube Channel
• CG.tutsplus.com

Yeah, I gotta ton of stuff going on, so if you want to check out what I have been up to hit up all four of those, and hey, you might even win a prize!

The new tutorial from Video Copilot… DVD Menus with Encore.  Learn how to make loopable DVD Menus with some cool effects.
LINK HERE

Text Effects with Set Matte

In this tutorial you’ll learn how to use the Set Matte effect with other effects like Fractal Noise, Glow, and TriTone to can create some incredible text effects!

LINK HERE

MaxAfter.com – Bullet Control Part 1

Part 1 of the 3ds Max Particle Flow tutorial of controlling the bullets, First we will use some easy techniques to model this gun.

LINK HERE

Crime Avenue by Eran Stern of Stern FX (www.sternfx.com)
Eran Stern’s newest video tutorial, Crime Avenue, mixes ordinary city aerials with unique, computer generated clips to create a dynamic TV Promo. Eran employs the 3D tracking capabilities of Pixel Farm’s PFHoe to give this After Effects project a truly advanced look that’s easy to achieve. LINK HERE

Paint Strokes Morph June, 2009 new!
Using paint strokes brushes to automatically morph between path shapes.  LINK HERE

In this episode of Red Giant TV, Aharon Rabinowitz shows you how to use Trapcode Form to create the effect of text (or a logo) dissolving to sand and blowing away. You’ll also learn how to reverse the transition, so that sand forms into text. You can see an example video of the end result here.

LINK HERE

Create a Split-Flap Type Display Jun 1st in Motion Graphics by Mattias Peresini – Split-Flap-What? It’s the term used for displays that are found in train stations and airports, where they typically display departure and/or arrival information and do that cool flipping of letters to display the new information.  This tutorial does not show how to create the effect from scratch but instead it is a tutorial to explain how to use the project file created by Mattias Peresini who runs the totally awesome mattrunks website which has incredible tutorials for After Effects in French. We are very happy to have Mattias doing his first English tutorial for us here at Aetuts+.  LINK HERE

Create a Surprising Billowing Cloth Reveal Jun 3rd in Motion Graphics by Lloyd It’s amazing how much pseudo-3D you can do in After Effects today. This tutorial will focus on using a new plugin that brings 3D bicubic deformations to layers that allows you to truly bend and twist layers in 3D space. If you are familiar with 3D packages, this is true displacement as opposed to just bump mapping.  LINK HERE

Create a Sci-Fi Movie Title Sequence Jun 8th in Motion Graphics by Michael Park This tutorial covers the creation of a space-like si-fi title sequence from scratch. Michael shows us how you can easily create a visually interesting and impressive title animation with some simple title cards and text animation. The tutorial uses the Twitch plugin from Video Copilot, though a similar effect could be obtained by manual keyframing.  LINK HERE

In the final part of this series we’ll look at how to add some more detail to the shatter in Cinema 4D using the Knife tool, add dust in Adobe After Effects using Trapcode Particular, create a quick background and fake refraction using the Displacement Map effect.   After adding the Particle Null, right click the layer and choose Cinema 4D Tags > External Compositing. This will ensure the null is available in After Effects. LINK HERE

In this lesson we will learn how to use the ViewCube in Maya 2008+

LINK HERE

In this lesson we will learn how to parent in the Hypergraph and parenting options in the Move tool in Maya 2008+

LINK HERE

In this lesson we will learn how to disconnect joints within a skeleton without having to detach the bound mesh in Maya 2008+

LINK HERE

In this lesson we will learn how the Trimming tool can be used to punch holes into NURBS meshes in XSI 4.2+.  Trimming is an effective way to create complex NURBS geometry quickly. Once you learn this technique, you have much more control over your NURBS meshes. LINK HERE

In this lesson we will learn how to extrude multiple non-merged faces in XSI 4.2+.  When modeling with polygons, you sometimes need to extrude a continuous row of faces, without having them all merged together. This technique is useful for making bumps on a dinosaur’s back, a serrated knife blade, or a spiked mace head. You can create interesting geometry using this technique.  LINK HERE

In this lesson we will learn how to merge separate polygon surfaces into one unified mesh within XSI 4.2+.  This is a useful technique for reusing your geometry and then merging it back together for texturing. LINK HERE

In this lesson we will learn how to use the Flare effects in XSI 4+ to reproduce Lens Flares. Lens Flares are traditionally the bane of photography, as they can ruin good photos and footage. In XSI that isn’t a problem but it is a reproducible effect. Try adding a Lens Flare to your next render for creating a neat lighting effect.  LINK HERE

In this lesson we will learn how to change the point around which we rotate an object in Modo 301+

LINK HERE

In this lesson we will learn how to use gradients and input parameters to quickly texture an alien pod based on its displacement height in Modo 301+

LINK HERE

Here is a great new tutorial on using particleIllusion 3.0 to create the transport effect from the new Star Trek movie.

LINK HERE

Episode 20: Creating a 3D picture Montage with Trapcode Particular By Rob Birnholz – In this Episode, Rob Birnholz shows you a great technique for quickly creating a 3D picture montage with Trapcode Particular. It takes just minutes to set up, but can save you hours of work.  Read More |  Watch Video |  Comment

Product(s) Used: Trapcode Particular

‘Get Into Blender! Introduction, Menus & Views, Navigation & Components’ is the latest set of video tutorials for Blender by Jason Welsh

LINK HERE

Mike Bauer brings us another 3dsmax video tutorial where he shows us how to create a basic mesh which will help you to quickly model characters.
LINK HERE

Green Grass Apple Motion Video Tutorial
LINK HERE

Idea Concept Purpose Apple Motion Video Tutorial
LINK HERE

LINK HERE

MaxAfter.com -  A basic technique of postioning text characters with the Animate option of text layer, enable per character 3d of the text layer to achieve this effect.  LINK HERE

GSG – Pixel Perfect Camera Move Transitions
Rashad sent in a question asking how to fly a camera around in After Effects and land on full frame video. To make these moves land on pixel-perfect, full-frame video can be tricky. This technique should help keep your camera moves and transitions accurate and ready for a perfect edit.  LINK HERE

GSG Cinema 4D CSTools – Cubes

Today Nick goes though the settings for the Cubes Tool From CSTools. This plugin is a great way to animate abstract shapes quickly. It’s more of a “Play around with it till it looks good” kind of thing.
LINK HERE

Make Form Cinematic by Simon Bronson
The secret to making motion graphics look sexy and less digital is to borrow some tips from the cinematic production world. Simon breaks down a bunch of tips including how to build your own light leaks and film scratches! The tricks learned in this tutorial can be applied to any motion graphics piece.
Continue Reading

In this lesson we will learn how to convert geometry into a height field brush in order to add footprints to a snow plane in Modo 301+
LINK HERE

In this lesson we will learn how to use the Paint Weights tool to control the weight of Transfer Attributes in Maya 8.5+
LINK HERE

In this lesson we will learn about follow through and overlapping animation in XSI 6+
LINK HERE

This is a tutorial featured on the genarts tutorials section for the popular “sapphires” plugins also available for avid, adobe, apple, autodesk and more.
LINK HERE

This is a tutorial featured on the genarts tutorials section for the popular “sapphires” plugins also available for avid, adobe, apple, autodesk and more.
LINK HERE

This is a tutorial featured on the genarts tutorials section for the popular “sapphires” plugins also available for avid, adobe, apple, autodesk and more.
LINK HERE

Model a Teddy Bear in Blender

LINK HERE

Model a Steampunk Telescope in Blender

LINK HERE

Maya Paint Effects – Modifyers

LINK HERE

Maya Paint Effects – Select by Name

LINK HERE

Camera Mapping in Cinema 4D

Understand the concept of Camera Mapping, Use an image to create a 3d object that is automatically orientated to the camera.  LINK HERE

Noise Junkies – It is finally up! A FREE album with 12 cool sound tracks. You can use them in your movies, intros or just put them in your iPod.  They are royalty free and they have all the author rights. It is ilegall to sell or redistribute them in any way. Enjoy, it is available on the Library section. LINK HERE

Learn how to use 1 Camera, 1 Sphere, 1 Picture and one light to create the scene above, Go over some basic material making and some light Lens Options. You will need an Earth Map picture for this one!  LINK HERE

Learn how to use some simple color plugins to manipulate a texture  Play around with Glow and Curves and achieve a cool lava look  This is a simple tut that can be followed with almost any rocky texture you have.  LINK HERE

Episode 18: Compositing Tips from ‘Greenscreen Made Easy’ By Michele Yamazaki
In this Episode, the Toolfarm’s Michele Yamazaki shares a ton of great compositing tips from her new book, Greenscreen Made Easy.Read More |  Watch Video |  Comment Product(s) Used: Key Correct Pro, Magic Bullet Looks, Primatte Keyer Pro

Writing with Water – In this tutorial we play around with the CC Glue Gun, Fractal Noise, CC Toner, Turbulent Displace and CC Mr Mercury effects to create the appearance of text being written in as a liquid.DOWNLOAD AFTER EFFECTS CS3 PROJECT FILE  LINK HERE

Creating an Eclipse in After Effects, Part 2 In the second part of this tutorial, J Schuh shows how to take the sun animation composed in part one and block it out, then add some text.  Continue Reading

Learn how to create pillars in 3ds Max

LINK HERE

Wayne shows us how to use HDRI image based lighting in this Mudbox 2009 Quick Start Series.

LINK HERE

Frustrated with Motion’s tracking behaviors? Check out Mocha for Final Cut – you can use it in Motion! The workflow is a bit kludgy – you have to go from Mocha to FCP to Motion – but you can’t argue with the results. See the video LINK HERE.

An interesting collection of handwritten-style components bundled as templates for Motion and Final Cut Pro. LINK HERE…

Painting materials with Vue – Looking at new addition in Vue 7.4, Painting materials over terrain, How does painting works. View Tutorial [english] | Mega Pack III.

LINK HERE

LINK HERE

Need to make a handheld shakey “tryn” to focus effect? but don’t want the sharp jitters of a real handheld? Shoot your actor or artist with your cam on a tripod. Bring it into after effects and use Shaker to give some life to your footage.  LINK HERE

Have some fun creating this simple logo using only Layer Styles and built-in effects within After Effects… This tutorial shows some of the potential power of layer styles without having to create them in Photoshop…. Learn a quick method of creating some common metalic finishes including checker-plate… LINK HERE

]]> http://visualfxtuts.com/roundups/huge-thursday/feed/ 2 http://visualfxtuts.com/updates/714/ http://visualfxtuts.com/updates/714/#comments Sat, 09 May 2009 16:43:13 +0000 Topher http://visualfxtuts.com/?p=714

Alright, I know I haven’t been the best about posting lately, but fact is, I have had a lot on my plate… which seems to be the same excuse I use every late post.  You can check out my new article at AETuts+ called “31 Mind Blowing VFX Breakdowns” where I showcase some of the best VFX breakdowns I could find, from shorts to feature length movies.

Color Grade and Enhance a Horror Shot
In this first part James will teach how to create 2 scenes. First how to take a shot of a mansion and give it an intense and scary look through sky replacement and colour correction. Second we will take a shot of a stone gargoyle face and create a subtle yet creepy effect in which it frowns evilly at an oncoming victim. Continue Reading

Nick has 2 new GSGCasts up for you to check out… Cinema 4D: CS Tools – Cluster
Download the CSTools Here
Watch all of the CS Tools Tutorials
How To Install the CSTools
and
After Effects Tutorial – Pixel-Perfect Camera Move Transitions

ModernMayhem.com – 3D Arrows Using Particle Instancer
You will need to load the scene provided too.  arrow_instancer.ma
(right click and save target. Maya 7.0 and up)
The scene just has some very basic modelling and textures. But you can simply replace the geometry when youre finished animating the particles.  LINK HERE

ModernMayhem.com Happy Feet Snowflakes -
To make life alot easier for control and tweaking the effect later on, we add some attributes to the particle shape node that is accessible outside the expression. With these controls we can animate snow flakes, rain and hail at slow, fast or turbulent speeds.  LINK HERE

Toolfarm :60 Ep.01: Automatic Duck

The first episode of the Toolfarm :60 is now available! We’ll be posting them at MyToolfarm and also they will be uploaded as a regular podcast to iTunes in the very near future.

LINK HERE

@aeportal.blogspot.com

Chris and Trish Meyer have posted another free movie from the Focal Press book After Effects Apprentice (2nd Edition). This one’s “A gentle introduction to expressions.”

LINK HERE

Create a “Bullet Time” Logo Shatter Effect
Wikipedia defines Bullet Time as a digitally enhanced simulation of variable speed (i.e. slow motion, time-lapse…) photography used in films, broadcast advertisements and computer games. It is characterized both by its extreme transformation of time (slow enough to show normally imperceptible and un-filmable events, such as flying bullets) and space (by way of the ability of the camera angle—the audience’s point-of-view—to move around the scene at a normal speed while events are slowed). The first movie credited with this effect is Blade, but it was the Matrix that really made it famous.  In this tutorial, Wes shows us how to use the built-in Shatter plugin to achieve “Bullet Time” with type or a logo.  Continue Reading

Dunk Your Logo in a Wave World Apr 27th in Motion Graphics by Adam Everett Miller
Adam brings back his charm in this tutorial that is all about the rarely used Wave World plugin. You will learn all the ins and outs about this plugin that can even do 3D!

Continue Reading

Create a Stormy, Electric Type Reveal Apr 29th in Motion Graphics by Markus Gustafsson

This tutorial gives a different twist on how to use the powerful form plugin. Learn how to use it to create a mysterious and electric type reveal.

Continue Reading

Give Your Type Some Ball Action May 4th in Motion Graphics by Adam Everett Miller

We get a lot of requests for tutorials that don’t require 3rd party plugins, and since we like to make our readers happy whenever possible, Adam is back breaking down the rarely used “CC Ball Action” built-in plugin to make some very cool type transitions.  Continue Reading

20 Short Films and Music Videos Made with After Effects May 2nd in Articles by Topher Welsh

After Effects is not just for commercials and network ID’s anymore. It’s being used more and more in films and music videos. Here’s a sampling.

Continue Reading

Attribute Editor VS. Property Editor
In this lesson we will learn how to access object parameters inside of XSI 5.0+  LINK HERE

Create a Glow Effect with UV Sets in Maya 6+
In this video we will learn how to create multiple UV sets and use them to create an interesting glow effect on a brick wall in Maya.  LINK HERE

In this lesson we will learn how to use a motion path to drive a sled’s animation in Maya 8+. Motion paths are a great way to speed up your animation workflow. Instead of keyframing the complex animation of a sled moving down a bumpy hill, we can create one curve and the Attach to Motion Path command does all the work for us!  LINK HERE

In this lesson we will learn how to round corners at render time in XSI.

Uses XSI 6.0+

LINK HERE

Removing Joints In Maya 2008+

In this lesson we will learn how to delete joints within a skeleton without having to detach the bound mesh.

LINK HERE

Groups VS. Transform Groups

In this lesson we will learn how groups in Maya are different from groups in XSI.

Uses XSI 5.0 + LINK HERE

John Dickinson’s Motionworks – Recently I was asked to come up with an idea for a show and as seems to be the case lately, had very little time to develop it. Click on the thumbnail and the first picture you’ll see are my initial ideas created in Illustrator. The second one is better than the first but simply making the T and A capitals in a script font (Scriptina) wasn’t working, it needed more style. So I turned to Cinema 4D and Mograph Spline Wrap feature. This was the first time to try Spline Wrap and I found it very easy to transform the T and A into flowing ribbons, using the Scriptina letters as a guide for the shape of the ribbons. Download the project file and take a look. Download C4D Project

Here are some helpful links to learn more about Spline Wrap, let me know if you have more:

• Cineversity (Ko Maruyama): Text on a path
• C4D Cafe: Spline Wrap Review

Peder Norrby on Trapcode Particular v2

Ko Maruyama shot some video at NAB of Peder explaining some features of the much anticipated Trapcode Particular v2.
LINK HERE

Blender Tip – Wire Render

This tutorial takes a look at how to set up a wire render in Blender.

LINK HERE

Blender Tip – Loop Cut Tool

This tutorial takes a look at the Loop cut tool in Blender.

LINK HERE

Noise Junkies – Energy Flow in AE
Learn how to create cool particle systems with Particular
Use Vector Blur and some intense color correction to achieve cool looks!
LINK HERE

Noise Junkies – Fringe Inspired Stylish Molecule

• Learn how to use Trapcode Form to create a “Fringe Like” blob
• Use very simple Cycore plugins to enhance the blob
  LINK HERE

Gnomonology – ZBrush

Sculpting a Zombie Face – Part 1 Quick Sculpting

Here is a 25 minute sculpt of a zombie head using the Demo Head as a base.

Sculpting a Zombie Face – Part 2 Detail Sculpting

This one shows you how I created and used the Zombie Brush attached

Sculpting a Zombie Face – Part 3 Zombie Teeth

how I sculpted his teeth using Alex Alvarez’s Teeth and Gum set from Gnomonology.

Creating Believable Eyes – Ch. 1
Photo Reference, Modeling, Initial Shaders

Creating Believable Eyes – Ch. 2
Texturing the Iris

Creating Believable Eyes – Ch. 3
Texturing the Eye Body and Cornea
Creating Believable Eyes – Ch. 4
Shaders, Lighting and Rendering

In this tutorial I will show you how to create a scene inspired by those gangster movies and of course the great depthCORE chapter NOIR. We will use Cinema 4D to create the scene and then in Photoshop we will add the gangster and other effects.
LINK HERE

Wayne Robson shows us how to go about getting your maps to and from Mudbox and Photoshop in the fifth video tutorial in his Mudbox 2009 ‘Quick Start’ series: LINK HERE