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after effects

ASHREY

ASHREY

Hey hey!

I've just newly introduced to this software, and was wondering if anyone knows of a good youtube or vimeo series that has tutorial videos on the software, or any website/blogs/books that do the same!

I really want to learn this program but my uni does not offer any kind of training on this program, yet it is installed on every editing computer in the damn place!

I mostly wanted to use it to do some more advanced colour correcting and grading than possible on FCP, but i've realised that i really am ignorant to the whole program and know nothing of how to use it to it proper capabilities.

Any advice or a point in the right direction would be appreciated!

Cheers,
Ash
 
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[soapbox]for the record, LMGTFY really upsets me... without people answering questions I'd asked when learning, I'd never have gotten to the point I am in computers or film. LMGTFY is a travesty to education and is the same as saying that people have stupid questions.[/soapbox]

for the OP, Andrew Kramer's Videocopilot.com is the source for learning high end from the ground up.
 
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knightly said:
[soapbox]for the record, LMGTFY really upsets me... without people answering questions I'd asked when learning, I'd never have gotten to the point I am in computers or film. LMGTFY is a travesty to education and is the same as saying that people have stupid questions.[/soapbox]

for the OP, Andrew Kramer's Videocopilot.com is the source for learning high end from the ground up.
Click to expand...

While I agree for the most part, sometimes LMGTFY is completely appropriate. In this case just bringing up Andrew Kramer and Video Copilot would have sufficed.
 
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WOW!

The reason I put TMGTFY is because there are more articles and more websites than just Video Copilot. He has an IMDB page which maybe you haven't seen, and other biography tidbits I think are just as cool as his Video Copilot page.

Plus, the first 3 results are his homepage, Blog, and tutorials. Exactly what the op was asking for.

You really think I was doing that out of spite?

Sorry if I offended anyone but I wasn't trying to.
 
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That video co pilot site is extremely informative, thanks!

and with the whole google thing.. it didn't bother me, i'd been googling after effects stuff for a few days before posting on here and i briefly brushed over the video co pilot site, so i'm glad i asked on here and got told to check it out again.
 
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knightly said:
[soapbox]for the record, LMGTFY really upsets me... without people answering questions I'd asked when learning, I'd never have gotten to the point I am in computers or film. LMGTFY is a travesty to education and is the same as saying that people have stupid questions.[/soapbox]

for the OP, Andrew Kramer's Videocopilot.com is the source for learning high end from the ground up.
Click to expand...

I don't think ROC was being disrespectful, my friend. His link was the quickest way to to have access to what the OP needed with variety. The OP had nothing to look up.

You're right though. In other threads, the "Look it up!" excuse is from people who forget what it's like to be new and just starting out. They were that person once. Peace.
 
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I love lmgtfy. It definitely has a purpose on forums and its damn fun to use. Whoever said there aren't any stupid questions is a liar. That said, it wasn't really necessary in this thread.
 
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And for anything you can't find on Video Copilot or similar sites, do a youtube search for "after effects [insert what you're trying to do here in a word or two] tut." 9 times out of 10 you'll find someone showing you how to do it.

In fact, that method works for just about anything, filmmaking-related or not.
 
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One last defence to my opinion, then I'll drop it and let the OP get on with their learning. When you actually follow the link to LMGTFY, the commentary made by the instruction bit in the middle of the screen specifically have that snarky, "you should have known" attitude to them ... "Was that so hard?"

It's easy to assume that questions are stupid, knowing what questions to ask... but as soon as you strip back the assumed knowledge level, the seemingly stupid questions become exactly the right questions to ask. I once had a grad student ask me or help on her Thesis... the specific problem it ended up she was having was that she didn't know how to use a mouse and couldn't figure out the connection between the brick on the table and the pointer on the screen. She'd never used a computer before - and I was forced to strip back my assumptions.

This moment in my past is why I react this way to folks grudgingly answering questions or telling people what they should know to be able to find the answers on their own... I always ether post google searches that (though I did for them, I don't rub their noses in it with the LMGTFY attitude) point them to the resources, or after answering their questions, post links on the bottom.

I'm here because I had great people answer my stupid questions early on without any attitude... I'm not on the several other popular boards that are out there due to this simple fact! It's really important to me that we are as welcoming and undiscouraging to new filmmakers as they come in frail and unconfident. That confidence only comes through experience. I would have quit long ago without the helpful folks on this site being uplifting and welcoming and realizing that learning is a process as well this craft itself.
 
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Since we are on the note of learning after effect, does anyone know a good series of video which just teaches how to color correct?

For example, instead of: "for this clip, we'll pull this part of the color curve higher, and this bit lower, and increase the midtone a little, increase the contract and we are done." like they do in so many tutorials, I'm hoping for a tutorial where they teach what each part of the color curve represent, what does it mean to pull one up and another down, what is the alpha and luma channel, how does it affect the shot when something is changed.

Are there any books or series of videos which teaches those?
 
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Synia said:
Since we are on the note of learning after effect, does anyone know a good series of video which just teaches how to color correct?
Click to expand...

I haven't seen anything comprehensive (although I'd love to read/see one)... but if you have some specifics, feel free to post them and I (and others) can post CCs and workflows for them in various pieces of software.

Generally, when shooting, I view the image in a 3-Zone format (mentally) ( Wiki - Zone System ) so that I can use the image more effortlessly in post CC with a 3-way color corrector. Then I also consider the colors within the frame as well so I know how I can grab different parts of the frame and move them around later on.

Understanding how Red, Blue and Green interact in additive color (light, not ink) to make up your image will help you deal with them. All of the images you'll deal with are comprised of black > white images that make up each of the color "channels" that go into them. If you use curves, you're adjusting how the values from light to dark are being represented in that set of black > white image. Adjusting the lower part of the curve affects the darks, while the higher bit affects the lights. The mids are adjusted in the middle ;)

Levels directly manipulate the image's light to dark ratio allowing you to adjust the points the computer considers the darkest and lightest ... and where the 50% bit of the grays are. Negative Film tends to have quite a bit more gradient in the mid to light range whereas it tends to cut off to black at some point and lose detail in the darks due to the organic nature of the light blocking emulsion that makes up the backing of the strip of transparent film.

Digital and Positive/Reversal/Slide film tends to clip in the whites (much more noticeable than the darks) and needs to be accounted for when shooting and correcting. Stretching out the darks makes digital look a little more filmy due to the fact that cinematographers spend so much time trying to make sure that the detail in the darks on negative film is quite visible. Making sure the whites don't over expose ever is a big challenge too... so on set, you'll generally light the same way as you would for film... add light to the darks to bring them up into the range of the lighter bits so you can capture detail that you can then adjust as you see fit later. Darkening is fine, where brightening will bring grain into the picture that looks like crap.

Knowing color theory will be beneficial as well. Hope that helps a bit!
 
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printed books for digital media MAKE NO SENSE to me. :) Run through the VCP Boot Camp tuts, then all the other VCP TUTS that look interesting, just about every tut on that sight touches on grading and CC during the courser of the Tutorial (TUT for short)
 
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knightly said:
I haven't seen anything comprehensive (although I'd love to read/see one)... but if you have some specifics, feel free to post them and I (and others) can post CCs and workflows for them in various pieces of software.

Generally, when shooting, I view the image in a 3-Zone format (mentally) ( Wiki - Zone System ) so that I can use the image more effortlessly in post CC with a 3-way color corrector. Then I also consider the colors within the frame as well so I know how I can grab different parts of the frame and move them around later on.

Understanding how Red, Blue and Green interact in additive color (light, not ink) to make up your image will help you deal with them. All of the images you'll deal with are comprised of black > white images that make up each of the color "channels" that go into them. If you use curves, you're adjusting how the values from light to dark are being represented in that set of black > white image. Adjusting the lower part of the curve affects the darks, while the higher bit affects the lights. The mids are adjusted in the middle ;)

Levels directly manipulate the image's light to dark ratio allowing you to adjust the points the computer considers the darkest and lightest ... and where the 50% bit of the grays are. Negative Film tends to have quite a bit more gradient in the mid to light range whereas it tends to cut off to black at some point and lose detail in the darks due to the organic nature of the light blocking emulsion that makes up the backing of the strip of transparent film.

Digital and Positive/Reversal/Slide film tends to clip in the whites (much more noticeable than the darks) and needs to be accounted for when shooting and correcting. Stretching out the darks makes digital look a little more filmy due to the fact that cinematographers spend so much time trying to make sure that the detail in the darks on negative film is quite visible. Making sure the whites don't over expose ever is a big challenge too... so on set, you'll generally light the same way as you would for film... add light to the darks to bring them up into the range of the lighter bits so you can capture detail that you can then adjust as you see fit later. Darkening is fine, where brightening will bring grain into the picture that looks like crap.

Knowing color theory will be beneficial as well. Hope that helps a bit!
Click to expand...

Wow... thanks a lot! That's a lot of information for me absorb, but it definitely helps to give an over all picture of things. and makes me realize how much more i don't know, haha....:blush:
 
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