ANIMIVIRTUS BLOG » indymogul

Link Dump: Tutorial Edition

animivirtus — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 08:00:23 +0000

As promised, here’s a pretty mondo list of tutorial and resource sites for your educational pleasure. I’ve organized the list, just like last week’s, into what made the most sense at the time. If you’ve got additions, suggestions, objections, or anything else, definitely feel free to comment on the post and let me know about more knowledge available for free on the ‘net. Yess…knowledge….

Tutorial Sites

Layers Magazine is always a great place to look for when delving into something new.
Maxafter‘s got a decent list of tutorials for AE, Max, even RealFlow. Good place to look for some random learning time.
Forging Fire Studio: lots of cool-looking tutorials.
After Effects- and 3DS Max-themed visual effects blog posting articles, tips and resources.
CMIVFX has put out some great video tutorials in the past…see if you can’t squeeze some out of here.

Filmmaking

Guidebook for Indie Filmmaking.
202 DIY Filmmaking Tutorials! Yea!
A list of Filmmaking Links & Feeds from a bunch of different sites.
IndyMogul posted a cool video with a section on cheap DIY lighting kits.

After Effects

VideoCopilot is always hugely helpful, so it follows they’d post something like this.
I may have mentioned Artbeats before, and you’ve now doubt heard of them while searching for free stock footage (no, they charge for their stock), but I haven’t mentioned their tutorials sections before. They’ve got a pretty cool video tutorial series, a great effects podcast and a written tutorial section too.
All Bets Are Off Productions is headed by Aharon Rabinowitz, an After Effects guru with a tutorial section.
A bit more technical, Studiodaily posted a tutorial video on controlling RGB to HSL conversions in AE.
Pretty cool list of a whole bunch of AE tutorials, definitely worth checking out for beginner to intermediate level users.
Ayato has been a secret of mine for a while, I don’t know that they’ve updated recently, but the tutorials were pretty cool, simple, a sort of mix between motion graphics and VFX, mostly title stuff, but all cool. Takes a bit of reading carefully, as I don’t think English is the writer’s first language, but still worth it.
Graymachine is a pretty cool all-around AE site, worth checking back on occasionally for new stuff.
AE tutorials listed on the Adobe website. Yea, I know, logical, huh?
AE I OWE YOU could be decent. Haven’t looked through it much, but there was an intriguing two-part face replacement tutorial up when I saw it last.
After Effects tutorial and resource site.
Motionscript: The go-to site for scripting and programming in After Effects. Technical. Awesome.
Tutorial on particles in AE.
People love lists, don’t they? Here’s 30 tutorials to “teach you After Effects.” I like how it’s so boldly stated too…teach you After Effects. I’m pretty sure you won’t be done after these, but give them a shot. You’ll definitely learn something.
Just in case my link dumps aren’t enough, this site‘s got a massive list of extra After Effects related stuff. Check that out if you’re in the mood to be overwhelmed.
Nice looking After Effects tutorial site for you Spanish speakers/readers out there (also, you could use Babelfish or something to translate the site for you).
Sweet looking list of tutorials here. Definitely excited about the retro sci-fi one. Check it out!
Another list…40 AE tutorials for your learning pleasure.
Cool quick motion graphics tutorial on making a shot from still images.
The Genesis Project: After Effects related articles, advice, tips, tutorials, thoughts, etc.
Steve Whatley’s After Effects Cookbook.
1001 After Effects Tutorials. Wow. I’m really happy for whoever got the ’1′ at the end.

Motion Graphics

MotionGraphicsLab: Tutorials and downloadable projects for motion graphics artists and learners.
Mograph Wiki: Cool index- and search-based site about motion graphics, covering a multitude of programs and a variety of topics. I’m intrigued by the ‘After Effects Easter Eggs’ category…
Motionographer: Cool showcase and article site on motion graphics and their creators.

Visual Effects

VFX School looks like a pretty cool VFX blog to check in on from time to time, some resource posts, tutorial videos, articles, etc. Good stuff.
VisualFXTuts looks almost like a renegade child of the TutsPlus group, but with some differences.
Check out the Tip of the Week section of this site.
Some cool Shake and Houdini resource posts, worth looking through. Also a post on an open-source render engine. Cool stuff.

Cinema 4D

Mostly Cinema4D tutorials but some AE ones thrown in there. Worth taking a peek.
3D Fluff: Cinema4D tutorial site.
Another Cinema4D resource/tutorial site.

3DS Max

3DS Max tutorial listing.
3DS Max tutorials and resources.

Eclectic

Random site with tons of links. Could be useful, worth peering through anyway, just to see.
Russell Brown’s Photoshop Tips and Techniques. ‘Nuff said.
Not tutorials, but some cool behind-the-scenes and making-of videos from classic movies (the original Star Wars series, for example).

Showcase: Games, Zombies and ‘Net Stars

animivirtus — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 12:00:52 +0000

Well, it’s been about three and a half months since my last post, and while I apologize for the wait, I haven’t completely neglected this blog. I’ve amassed a pretty massive collection of showcase and link dump material for the next while, and continue to receive newsletters and am on the prowl for tutorials and resources. Long story short, the final project’s finishing up, and there’s a vast pool of links about to come your way in the next few weeks. Starting now…

First up, the Warhammer: Age of Reckoning trailer got me excited about fantasy gaming for the first time since high school, and I found this rockin’ four-part making-of article series, as well as their video podcast page, on the company’s website.

Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV

Next up, IndyMogul posted their zombie bite test film, and I recently found this behind-the-scenes featurette on a French zombie film that sounds intriguing, but I don’t know much else about it. (Also, in other zombie news, Henry Selick’s apparently planning a stop-motion film featuring a zombie army following Coraline‘s release).

Lastly, and possibly the coolest for you web- and new media-savvy users out there, internet “star” Ze Frank starred in this apocalyptic comedy web pilot “The Remnants” recently, written by John August (Corpse Bride, Charlie’s Angels). Personally, I thought it was awesome, and would gladly continue watching it if it turned into a series. But only time can tell.

Well, that about wraps it up for this post…know however that there’s lots of stuff coming Wednesday, a new portfolio site for my new demo reel coming up within the next 2-3 weeks, and possibly some extra goodies along the way. Look forward to some attention, for a change, and some good attention, at that! Thanks for reading, and enjoy.

Link Dump

animivirtus — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 03:07:10 +0000

Alright, I know it’s late, but it’s the first week back at school, getting back into the swing of things, and, quite frankly, feeling more like spending as much time away from the computer as possible, given the amount of time spent on it while at school. Nonetheless, here’s my promised post-after-vacation (which was a great one, by the way).

To start it off with, this article, which I might have posted before, is all about The Dark Knight‘s effects, and offers some pretty crazy insight into the making of the thing. I’m heading off to see the IMAX version tomorrow. Should be fun. Next up in industry-related articles, I found but haven’t read this interview with Simon Reay, DP on the show Man vs. Wild (which I love), which should be interesting.

Among more indie resources, I came across this site, a sort of database of free sound effects. I know nothing of its value or quality or library, but it’s always nice to have one more place to look for that hard-to-find sound when you’re in a crunch. As always, IndyMogul came out with a few new episodes, and apparently are doing a steampunk combo episode with Threadbanger soon, which I’m pretty psyched about. One last thing I actually found quite a while ago but researched again for possible involvement is MobMov, a mobile movie theater group that basically promotes and premieres films in public places via projectors on cars and creating a mini drive-in theater. Sounds great, though their groups in my areas have always been small or nonexistent (though this is the only actual city I’ve been in while trying to get involved). Definitely worth checking out.