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Visual Effects Articles

Creative COW Magazine
Creative COW Magazine : Visual Effects Articles
Art of the Edit
Molecule Fueled ImaginationMolecule Fueled Imagination

Film? Television? Production? Post? Visual effects? Animation? Stereoscopic 3D? Interactive design? By answering Yes, all of the above, The Molecule keeps its eyes beyond the horizon.

  10/15/2009
Author: Chris Healer
Cinematography
Pushing the Limits on Pushing DaisiesPushing the Limits on Pushing Daisies

Visual Effects Supervisor William Powloski helped create one of the most eye-popping worlds ever seen on TV, as part of a feature film aesthetic on a TV budget and schedule. Although it was canceled after only two seasons, it remains one of the most beautiful and innovative programs to ever air on US television. In an extended version of the original article in The Visual Effects Issue of Creative COW Magazine, here is an exclusive look at how he and his team helped pull it off.

  7/21/2009
Author: William Powloski
Cinematography
Focus on Controlling Depth of Field with Depth of Field ConvertersFocus on Controlling Depth of Field with Depth of Field Converters

Cinematographer and Creative Cow leader Todd Terry has shot countless television commercials and industrials using both 35mm film and depth-of-field converted video. In this Creative Cow Magazine Extra, from The Visual Effects Issue, learn how depth of field converters allow you to attach 35mm lenses even to video cameras with fixed lenses, how they work, and which one might be right for you.

  02/10/2009
Author: Todd Terry
Nuke
Nuke - An Introduction for After Effects UsersNuke - An Introduction for After Effects Users

Nuke, the new compositing tool from The Foundry, is rapidly becoming a favorite in high-end film production. Its price also offers an easy entry for indie producers who want to create better work, faster and more powerfully. This guided tour of Nuke for AE users, along with tips for leveraging your AE experience in the brave Nuke world of VFX creation will help you discover Nuke.

  01/20/2009
Author: Pete O'Connell
Broadcast Video
Improvising Visual EffectsImprovising Visual Effects

On-set circumstances changing fast? Improvise! In this Creative COW Magazine article Mark Allen discusses how he overcame the complications in a recent short film production by improvising the visual effects.

  12/03/2008
Author: Mark Allen
RE:Vision Effects
The Art and Science of Optical FlowThe Art and Science of Optical Flow

Creative COW leaders Pete Litwinowicz and Pierre Jasmin won an Academy Award® for the design and development of the RE: Vision Effects family of optical flow-based image manipulation plug-ins. For RE:Vision's tenth anniverary, we asked Pierre to talk to us about what optical flow is - and isn't - and how it works in their products.

  12/03/2008
Author: Pete Litwinowicz
Lighting Design Pros
Lighting with ShadowsLighting with Shadows

In this extended version of his article in the Creative Cow Visual Effects Issue, lighting expert and instructor Rick Wise draws on his decades of experience to illustrate how shadows can be the most important part of how a scene is lit. Learn how to control the direction and quality of your lighting design to add texture, dimension, and force to your images.

  12/02/2008
Author: Rick Wise
Art of the Edit
The Importance of Invisible EffectsThe Importance of Invisible Effects

Steve is a Senior Compositor and 2D Technical Director with over 20 years of production experience. His credits include over 60 films including as Traffic, Blade: Trinity,Ray, Batman & Robin, U-571, Air Force One, TV shows including Deadwood, and over 70 commercial spots. In this Creative Cow Magazine Extra from the Visual Effects issue, Steve talks about invisible effects in projects he has worked on, with ideas you can use for your own projects.

  11/18/2008
Author: Steve Wright
Adobe After Effects
Behind the Scenes from Behind OasisBehind the Scenes from Behind Oasis

When one of the worlds biggest rock and roll bands, Oasis, celebrated a careers worth of achievement, the film playing behind Rock-n-Roll Star was created by Creative Cow author Nel Johnson and the team at Studio Skylab. Learn the After Effects techniques that helped them complete the project under a ridiculous deadline, while wowing Oasis and a worldwide audience. As Nel puts it, We locked ourselves away, cranked up the music, and went nuts. In this Creative Cow Magazine Extra, we take a closer look at the story, starting with the creation of the films unique look.

  08/12/2008
Author: Nel Johnson
Adobe After Effects
Cineon Files: What They Are, and How To Work With ThemCineon Files: What They Are, and How To Work With Them

Expert film compositor Pete OConnell takes you through the world of Cineon files, including exactly what they are, how they work, and how to work with them in Adobe After Effects. If you work with film files or want to, you need to read this article.

High Bandwidth/Large File Warning: Due to the fact that this article deals with film images, the image sizes are large and this article contains 32MB of images in the HTML file.

  12/27/2007
Author: Pete O'Connell
Adobe After Effects
Building a 3D World in After EffectsBuilding a 3D World in After Effects

When a project requires a photo-realistic 3D world, After Effects isnt usually the first program that comes to mind. Typically a 3D modeling/animation program is necessary to create virtual 3D worlds, but in this article CreativeCOW contributing editor Bill ONeil demonstrates creating a 3D world for a TV spot he was hired to direct and post for the Big Ten Basketball Conference.

  08/10/2007
Author: Bill O'Neil
Motion Graphics - How Do I?
Building a Professional Machine RoomBuilding a Professional Machine Room

You bought a new Final Cut Pro system to go with your Avid Media Composer or your other Final Cut Pro systems. You have an After Effects system with an AJA, Blackmagic or other card in it, so you can capture video and audio on this station as well. Your neighbor in the next office has a ProTools or a Logic system, and he wants to tie into some of your machines. You're on your way to becoming exactly what you didn't want to be – a facility. Oh no!

  04/06/2007
Author: Bob Zelin
Adobe After Effects
Designing Content for a Multi-Screen Video DisplayDesigning Content for a Multi-Screen Video Display

Matt Hall reveals an easy method for creating multi-screen display video presentations for use in trade shows, concerts and other events and situations. By following Matt Hall's instructions in this article - and cross-checking your own settings in Adobe After Effects against Matt's settings - you can learn the secret of multi-screen display presentations.

  04/06/2007
Author: Matt Hall
Adobe After Effects Expressions
After Effects Expressions SimplifiedAfter Effects Expressions Simplified

In this After Effects tutorial from The Creative COW Magazine, see through the confusion of After Effects Expressions with just a few simple steps.

  02/05/2007
Author: Andrew Kramer
Business & Marketing
Finding the Way to Real Money - Full TimeFinding the Way to Real Money - Full Time

Industry pros reveal how they got ahead and ways to stay there... Tim Wilson reveals some professional business secrets video and effects artists have shared with him over the years of how they have come to make money doing the work they love to do.

  01/16/2007
Author: Tim Wilson
Indie Film & Documentary
Making Atomic City: Major Production Values on an Indie BudgetMaking Atomic City: Major Production Values on an Indie Budget

A talk with Markus Rothkranz: producer, director, filmmaker, storyteller, effects artist, model maker, matte painter - well, let's just say that he does most everything...

  05/27/2006
Author: Markus Rothkranz
Adobe After Effects
Fox Classics Spot: A Lesson In 3D Layers, Roto and ExpressionsFox Classics Spot: A Lesson In 3D Layers, Roto and Expressions

In this After Effects tutorial from The Creative COW Magazine, John Dickinson walks you through his creation of a completed design and animation of a spot for Fox Classics in Australia. John shares the settings, effects and filters he used in this real world After Effects video production walk-through.

  05/13/2006
Author: John Dickinson
Adobe After Effects
Feeding Live Video into Adobe After Effects - Frischluft Lensfeed for WindowsFeeding Live Video into Adobe After Effects - Frischluft Lensfeed for Windows

Frischluft Lensfeed for Windows - Rough but ready to do the job, this unique AE plug-in fills a need for After Effects users wanting live video to test and set-up shots for later compositing.

  05/04/2006
Author: Barend Onneweer
Podcasting
Creating Tutorial PodcastsCreating Tutorial Podcasts

With all the tutorials that I produce for the Creative Cow After Effects Podcast, the question I get emailed everyday isn't even related to AE, it's: ''How do you make your podcasts?'' In this podcasting tutorial from The Creative COW Magazine you will learn the long awaited answer to that question.

  05/04/2006
Author: Aharon Rabinowitz
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