Category Archives: Tutorial

577 articles found

Review: DAZ Carrara 8 Pro

For illustrators and animators who don't need the technical or financial overhead of programs like Maya or 3ds Max, Carrara has been an affordable and capable alternative for almost two decades. Acquired by DAZ 3D in 2006 when the company bought Eovia, Carrara has since evolved in a formidable 3D tool. In this latest release, Carrara 8 Pro features much-needed performance improvements, better lighting and some great additions to the animation toolset. more »

Video Tutorial: Customize Vocal Tracks with Sonicfire Pro 5

In this video tutorial, trainer Larry Jordan explains how to use SmartSound's Sonicfire Pro 5 to score a video with a multi-layered instrumental and vocal track. Adding the power of words to any video soundtrack, he says, always enhances the emotional core of the visual message. more »

Production Music: Featured Tracks

FirstCom's Chronicles of Hip Hop is a seven-disc series aimed at film and television that features a wide range of performances from artists emerging from the urban club scene. In these two song excerpts from the series, you can hear the range of hip hop styles, from R&B to rap, that eclectic producer Symbolyc One (S1) helped style into a fresh mix of edgy, honest music. more »

LED Camera Lights: Finally Up to the Job?

If you want to ditch the battery belt needed to keep more power-hungry lights in continuous use, LEDs are a lightweight, surprisingly bright alternative. I still wasn't convinced, until I got the chance to take four LEDs, including a cheap consumer version, out for a test run. more »

Review: Autodesk Mudbox 2011

Don’t let the fact that Mudbox 2011 is on a development fast-track scare you: Autodesk is not cutting any corners. This major release ships with an overhauled 3D painting system, a streamlined sculpting workflow and the much-anticipated vector displacement. more »

Video Tutorial: SmartSound Sonicfire Pro 5 and Motion Graphics Elements

Motion graphics expert Jeff Foster shows you how to use Sonicfire Pro 5 to match your soundtrack to motion graphics elements with After Effects CS5 more »

Video Tutorial: Roundtrip Editing with SmartSound Sonicfire Pro 5 in AE CS5

Jeff Foster, an award-winning video producer and author/educator on Adobe After Effects, uses SmartSound's royalty-free music library to create custom soundtracks for his projects. Here, he shows you how he used After Effects CS5 and Sonicfire Pro to roundtrip edit a soundtrack for a recent project. more »

Video Tutorial: SmartSound Sonicfire Pro 5/AE CS5 Workflow

Jeff Foster, an award-winning video producer and author/educator on Adobe After Effects, uses SmartSound's customizable royalty-free music library to create soundtracks for his projects. Here, he shows you how he used After Effects CS5 and Sonicfire Pro to create the soundtrack for a three-minute book trailer video. more »

Video: The 2D-to-3D Animation Pipeline for G-Force 3-D

Rob Engle, 3-D Visual Effects Supervisor at Sony Pictures Imageworks in Los Angeles, served as visual effects supervisor for the 3D version of the 2009 animated Disney film G-Force. Engle recently was awarded our Screen Genius Award for his contribution in bringing anamorphic guinea pigs to life in the film, specifically for his skill in synthesizing 3D in post and streamlining production as a result. A team of 300 artists and four effects facilities took on the gargantuan task of synthesizing a 3D environment using 2D plate photography and 3D assets, says Engle. The resulting animation and effects pipeline let the on-set team shoot with standard 2D rigs, a much more fluid choice than many of today's bulkier 3D rigs for shooting scenes that range in scale from pint-sized close-ups to full-scale action scenes. more »

Review: Automatic Duck Pro Import AE 5.0

If you're an editor who uses Adobe After Effects then you've probably been faced with this question: How do you get your footage, easily and without a lot of wasted time, into AE for further post? There's always the option of just working with a single clip in After Effects or importing a single clip at a time to build a new compin After Effects. But that can be a very tedious task, to say the least, for a large, complex edit. more »