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Archived entries: flare

Tutorial: 100% Accurate Reflections

In this After Effects tutorial I will demonstrate to you how to build a two-camera rig in order to create perfect 3D reflections. Using this technique, you will be able to reflect not only 3D layers, but also lights, particles, as well as any plug-in that obeys the movement of AE’s 3D camera.

The setup is trivially easy when using hand-animated cameras, but in the second half of the video I also show you how to create a more complex rig for use with Video Copilot’s Sure Target 2 camera controls.

The music used in the preview is a fragment of an Instrumental Mix of Perfect Exceeder by MASON vs Princess Superstar.

Running time: 51 min
Difficulty: Easy (you will be surprised how easy)
Required tools: After Effects (CS3 and above)
Optional plug-ins: VC Optical Flares, Knoll Light Factory, Trapcode Lux, Trapcode 3D Stroke, Trapcode Particular

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.

January 26, 2010
In Motion, Re:Post
No comments yet

Video Copilot Optical Flares Released

Yesterday marked the release date for Video Copilot’s Optical Flares plug-in. Set at a fairly low price point of $125, Optical Flares are soon to become a must-have tool in the arsenal of any After Effects user.

April 29, 2009
In Motion, Video Bits
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Geolines

This abstract background is a combination of swimming pool caustics and elevation lines used in topographical maps. It was created using “vanilla” After Effects, without any 3rd party plugins.

April 17, 2009
In Motion, Video Bits
One comment

Witchcraft: RTFM

I completed this experimental piece over the period of three days in April 2009. I have been experimenting with Cinema 4D, and in the course of messing with various animation settings, came up with a cool morphing crystal. I built a simple scene around the crystal with an inexperienced girl magician blowing herself to pieces by activating its powers. You can see the full-size video at the project’s page on imago site, or a smaller version with a little extra, right here, after the break.

November 12, 2007
In Motion, Video Bits
No comments yet

Monster Pitch

These are two motion sketches from the pitch I did for monster.com end-tag back in 2007. In the end the company settled on a very simple logo fading in on black background, but I still like these two ideas.

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.

Featured Articles

AE64

AE64 is a tribute to the demoscene and to the legacy of world’s most popular microcomputer: Commodore 64.

While this video was created using the typical contemporary arsenal of tools (mainly After Effects and Cinema 4D), it conforms to most of the basic graphical limitations of the C64 such as a limited 16-color palette, low resolution, use of the overscan area etc. To maintain the spirit of the demo, I also created most of the effects using various scripts and code snippets, procedurally automating many of the tasks typically animated using keyframes.

Tutorial: UFO Trolling

In this tutorial I will teach you how to create your own UFO troll video using After Effects and Mocha – a process that should take you no longer than 30 minutes from the moment you grab a camera, to the time you are ready for upload.

Quba Michalski: Creative Free Agent

I am the creative free agent, and I want you to work with me.

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.

Preset+Tutorial: Stop Motion Kit

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.

Reel 2011

Here is my personal reel for June 2011, featuring pieces I have directed, edited, animated and designed in the recent years.

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Archived entries: flare

Tutorial: 100% Accurate Reflections

Knoll Chromatic Lens 2 for VC Optical Flares

Video Copilot Optical Flares Released

Geolines

Witchcraft: RTFM

Monster Pitch

Chi

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