Quba HQ

Tutorial: Scrolling LED Text

In this After Effects tutorial I will show you how to create your own highly customizable LED screen effect, ready to convert any text or image into pixelated goodness. The video covers the setup, expressions and usage of this versatile preset.

The preview video below shows but one possible way of using the Scrolling LED Text and the tutorial concentrates on the effect itself, rather than the setup of this particular scene.

Preview video uses a photograph by LonelyBob licensed under Creative Commons. It also features 5 notes from the Solitary Wasteland track on the Flower Soundtrack by Vincent Diamante and a sample from Pac-Man by Namco. This tutorial was made possible by the espresso coffee maker gifted to me as a wedding present.

Running time: 47min
Difficulty: Medium (quite a few expressions)
Required tools: After Effects (CS3 and above)

Tutorial: HolOS Password Hacking

Password hacking is usually presented as a quite dull process in Hollywood visuals. It is even more dull in real life. In this tutorial I will show you my take on a HolOS password hacking interface – spicing it up with After Effects 2.5D crossword puzzle look.

The idea for this tutorial comes from one of the Video Bits projects published back in 2008: Crossword Hax. I think enough time has passed since I created that effect, so I decided to share it with the community.

Running time: 41min
Difficulty: Advanced
Required tools: After Effects
Optional tools: Trapcode Horizon

February 22, 2010
In Featured, Games
6 comments

Review: Mass Effect 2

Yesterday I have completed the final “suicide mission” of Mass Effect 2, concluding my first playthrough of this game. Right until before the final mission I was convinced the game was one of the best I ever played. Now that I have concluded it, my feelings are more bitter-sweet. Here’s why.

February 12, 2010
In Featured, Motion, Tutorials&Presets
4 comments

Knoll Chromatic Lens 2 for VC Optical Flares

One of the most frequently (over)used After Effects lens flares is undoubtedly Chroma Lens 2 preset available in Knoll Light Factory Pro. As many other motion designers I, too am guilty of using this effect in a few projects too many.

As I am currently migrating my flare workflow to Video Copilot’s Optical Flares plug-in, I decided to re-create this client-favorite preset inside the VCOP.

February 7, 2010
In Webcomic
No comments yet

Bici Bee #128: Mass Effect 2

It seems like ages since Bici has been exposed to Mass Effect 1…

January 27, 2010
In Motion, Video Bits
No comments yet

Warp

I have been messing around with creating “painterly” look for a still image and came up with this one.

January 21, 2010
In Featured, Tutorials&Presets, Video Bits
No comments yet

Tutorial: Enhance Your Images With HolOS

The tutorial for Image Enhancement (Hollywood Style) is ready. As announced last week, this video will teach you how to create your own HolOS (Hollywood Operating System) image enhancement effect using After Effects.

Go and watch it now at:
http://ae.tutsplus.com/tutorials/ae-plus/enhance-your-images-with-holos-ae-plus/

October 20, 2003
In Motion, Video Bits
No comments yet

Chi

Back in 2003, when I was just getting started with After Effects I shot this little thing to try out some basic 2D motion tracking. The footage was totally under-lit, the tracking had uncorrected errors, but I still like this little piece.