Quba HQ

Preset+Tutorial: Floaties

In this tutorial I will demonstrate the use of a new free preset from QubaHQ.com – Floaties. Floaties is a text animator based fake particle simulator allowing you to create floating specs of dust, glitters, bokeh-style out of focus abstract backgrounds and other visual elements. It attempts to emulate some of the basic behavior found in Trapcode Particular, providing limited, but free alternative to that popular plugin (as long as you are going for a certain visual style).

Running time: 51min
Difficulty: Easy
Required tools: After Effects

Music used in the preview video is a fragment of Borrel by Jukka Koops a.k.a. Sumo Lounge. Check his other works at: jukkakoops.com

New tutorials coming, no more project files

Hello everyone! Just another update on the state of things regarding new QubaHQ tutorials. As you can guess I have good news and bad news for you (and double good news for myself). Let’s start with the good ones.

New tutorials are on the way. This weekend I am planning to release a new text animator based preset, once again using After Effects’ built-in tools in an unexpected way. Originally I planned to release this preset as a part of larger, paid content, but after careful deliberation decided to throw you all another cool freebie. Follow my twitter for the updates on recording and release. Hopefully this time Camtasia will behave better than on the last recording session.

Now for the ~~bad~~ ~~good~~ other news: I have decided to stop including project files with my tutorials. There are multiple reasons for this decision, so let me just list a few.

Preset+Tutorial: Stop Motion Kit

This preset and tutorial have been inspired by true events …or to be precise – they are based on a project I did a short while ago.

In this tutorial I will show you how to quickly simulate stop motion aesthetic using my After Effects Stop Motion Kit. This collection of presets will allow you to easily add subtle imperfections to the movement of objects in your scene, emulating animator errors that are a staple of stop motion animation. Using 6 different expression sets, you will be able to apply and control glitches in movement, rotation and timing of your objects as well as simulate changes in camera position and exposure.

Running time: 37min
Difficulty: Easy
Required tools: After Effects

January 17, 2011
In Motion, Tutorials&Presets
24 comments

iDoF Camera Rig: Community Update 1.1

You simply got to love the Internet, and the motion graphics community. Less than a day has passed since the release of our Cinema 4D Camera Rig and we already have an update!

Mdhamiri a Nkemi, one of the site’s visitors decided to clean up the rig a little bit and add some new functionality. I liked it so much, I decided to share it with all of you as an official community update 1.1.

Preset+Tutorial: C4D DoF Camera Rig

A program of choice to many motion artists, Cinema 4D has a rather counter-intuitive method of producing depth of field. Both the camera controls and the way in which C4D handles depth maps can be a cause of major headache, especially for the newcomers to this program.

With the coding support from German motion artist and art director, Derya Ozturk, we have been able to construct an improved camera rig for Cinema 4D that should help you eliminate needless frustration, and get the results you need with just a few clicks.

Please note that while the tutorial will teach you how to use the preset, it will not show you how to construct the demo scene seen in the preview video.

As much as I would like to credit the awesome flute player who provided the audio for this preview, I was unable to locate the “patient zero” among dozens of videos around the net using this jingle. Whoever you are, kudos and don’t ever stop trying!

Code by Derya Ozturk
Concept and math logic by Quba Michalski

Running time: 46min
Difficulty: Easy
Required tools: Cinema 4D R11.5 or R12 (does not work with R13, sorry)
Optional software: After Effects, Frischluft Lenscare plug-in

Tutorial+Preset: Automated Light Rig

Most of the time it is the best practice to manually control the lights in your After Effects scenes. There are situations however, when you may want to automate the dynamic changes in light color and intensity while maintaining high level of control over the look of your composition. That’s what the Automated Light Rig is all about.

In this tutorial I will show you how to link your lights with automated samplers on an image map, creating an ever-changing, yet unified, light rig. While the tutorial explains the expressions in depth, I am also providing you with presets simplifying the entire process into just few clicks.

As a little extra, I will also show you how to create a 3D light-aware smoke using Trapcode Particular (my method is a bit more involved than the standard Particular setup, but produces results that are much more true to life).

Music used in the trailer comes from Mr. Oizo’s Fiat 55 from the album Analog Worms Attack.

Running time: 45min
Difficulty: Easy-Medium
Required tools: After Effects
Optional plug-ins: Trapcode Particular

May 17, 2010
In Games, Motion, Re:Post
No comments yet

Portal for Mac: Free until May 24th

Hello Mac people! It is not too late to still grab your free copy of Portal – probably one of the best games ever made, now available for OSX.

To celebrate the launch of Steam platform for Mac, Valve software made Portal free to all the Mac users until May 24th. They also produced this cute little infographic announcement animation, promoting the… promotion.

May 13, 2010
In Featured, Games
6 comments

Team Fortress 2 Spray Pack 1

A while back, I have created a set of spray images for Valve’s Team Fortress 2. It was released as the q3c’s custom sprays for TF2, but has since been taken offline. During the data recovery after the recent HDD crash, I came across these graphics, and decided to re-release them here at QubaHQ.

The pack contains a total of 11 sprays: One for each to the 9 Team Fortress 2 classes, with one extra medic spray and a little something for all the World of Warcraft players. Well… the ones who play the Horde, at least. All the installation instructions are included in the download.

Tutorial+Preset: SplatterType

If you are sick of the April Fool’s day silliness all over the net, I have some seriously cool stuff for you today. SplatterType is a custom preset I have developed recently that will allow you to create amazing ink and paint splatter animations with just a few clicks.

Updated! Please read the update info underneath the videos and use the preset instead of the project files!

Much like my previous tutorial, SplatterType relies only on After Effects text animators and does not require any additional plugins (3rd or even 1st party). Robust set of controls make it highly customizable, while the expressions work in the background to do all the hard work for you.

Whether you’re after a dark, grungy look or happy-go-lucky colorful design, whether you’re compositing 2D, 3D, mattes, transitions, you name it – this little free preset will let you spend time on creative choices rather than tedious keyframing. Enjoy!

Running time: 35min
Difficulty: Easy
Required tools: After Effects

March 30, 2010
In Featured, Games, Gotta Play
3 comments

Gotta Play: Flower

It is difficult to believe that there may still be a PS3 owner, or a gamer out there who hasn’t yet heard of thatgamecompany’s Flower. The game was showered with awards and recognition since its release in 2008, most recently winning a BAFTA award for Artistic Achievement in 2010. It is also one of my personal favorites and one of these games I’d recommend to anyone without any second thoughts.

Much like other titles of the studio, Flower is an unusual title, often categorized as ambient gaming experience. It is a genre I have been very fond of for quite a while – an interactive entertainment type where player’s immersion and emotions take precedence over the score, reflexes or button mashing. It is a game that lets you relax and enjoy yourself in front of the console – a commodity much valued at the end of a busy day.