Magic Trackers Tracking

Everybody's pal, Andrew Kramer, has a gift for you in the form of a free script and great tutorial for an amazing embellishment to the Mocha tracker for After Effects.  You can download the script and watch the tutorial here.  This FREE SCRIPT gives you a very powerful shortcut to a process that turns Mocha into, what is almost, a 3D tracker.  Andrew explains in his usual very detailed and occasionally funny teaching style below.

Click on image below to watch tutorial.

11 Shapes A-Shaping.

Ho, ho, ho!  Here is your next little Holiday gem my fellow AE enthusiast...

Making 3D shapes from scratch in After Effects can be achieved and can actually look good.  But most people avoid this tedious process or start and eventually give up.  One exception is my good friend Pete who worked for days, maybe even weeks to make a bunch of cubes that looked pretty darn good.  But, I doubt he'd be excited about repeating the process if he had to.  Well those days are gone thanks to some After Effects genius who has been kind enough to write a bunch of scripts that make creating cubes, pyramids, cylinders, spheres and more a one click process.  You can check them out and/or download them here.  You can choose how much to pay for these great scripts.  I paid $10, tried them out and then bought again for $10 because I thought they were so helpful. (Plus, the author's suggested price was $20)  Here is one of the many videos demonstrating these amazing scripts.



Check them all out at http://aescripts.com/create3dshapes/.

The 12 Tuts of Christmas Part 1

 I've recently realized that just because I've been a little busy lately doesn't have to mean I can't share the knowledge with my peeps.  Busy or not, I tend to watch a lot of tutorials.  Why not, I thought, share the ones I find valuable with the 3 cool people who check in on my blog?  I'm going to try to do twelve before the end of the year.  But I was also going to try to eat better, exercise and work less this year and we all can see how that worked out.  Anyway, these babies are all guaranteed to be 4 stars or above based on a rigorous 16 point criteria system that I will outline below in the next two paragraphs.  Take it easy, just kidding friend, like my old pal Mr. T, I don't have time for all that jibber jabber.  I'm just serving them straight up for your holiday enjoyment.

Here's the first by Harry Frank.  He does tutorials on his site graymachine.com and as best I can tell, he's like a super-genius, or at minimum an extra-strength-genius.  This tutorial explains an awesome set of FREE presets that Harry has written, or improved, and posted for download here.  Look at some of his other stuff when you are done watching this, you will not be disappointed.


Graymachine Super Awesome Presets Volume 0001 from graymachine on Vimeo.

FCP Tip #010: Applying Transitions to a Range of Clips - From Stiles With Love

Hey, just because I like to share the wealth doesn't make me a communist.  But Soviet stereotypes can be a terrific motif to spice up an otherwise dry tutorial.  Here is a handy, step by step guide to applying transitions to multiple clips in your sequence at the same time.
And you thought it couldn't be done.  My apologies to anyone that may be offended by my shenanigans, but I've gotta keep the people entertained, or at least myself, which is more likely the case.  And golly, I hope I don't end up on some Hollywood black list.  At least not for this.  Have a great week everybody and don't forget to drink your fluoridated water!

Free Textures For All Your Motion Graphics Needs

So, today I found myself making this after effects interpretation of a camera iris, complete with quasi-realistic metal texture...

when I suddenly realized that I have neglected to share one of the best resources in the Dave Stiles Bag O' Tricks.  It's a website that has nothing but hi-res textures for motion graphics and 3D artists.    It's called CGtextures.com and like so many good things on the Internet, it's free!  It's definitely a no-frills website with just basic search and browsing ability but I can't tell you how handy of a resource it is when you need that certain wood texture, or metal as in my case, or chipping paint, rocks, dirt and on and on and on.  Here's just a small sampling from their homepage.

It has been equally helpful for grungy designs as well as the clean and pretty ones.  After a few minutes of searching, I'm sure you'll fall in love, as I have, with CGtextures.com.  Now they may not always have exactly what you need, but they rarely disappoint me.  And best of all, it's all royalty and litigation free, which is nice in our modern world of complicated copyright laws and those ever-so-eager lawyers.  Hi lawyers!  Nice lawyers.  So, now you have a choice gang, keep rolling the dice on those Google images you've been stealing or get some legit images from CGtextures.com.

The Clouds Are Rolling In!

Of course, the clouds I am referring to are those of the "cloud computing" nature. Everyone from Apple to Google has been clamoring to conquer the masses that are about to adopt cloud computing. Some will charge you and some will not while others, like DropBox, let you decide based on your needs. DropBox is an amazing app that runs on Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android machines and/or just about any web browser. It allows you to keep all of your files organized, backed up and accessible from so many places you'll never be without that file you need again. And the coolest part is, IT'S FREE! Well, free up to 2 Gigs anyway. I think we're all gonna be able to throw away our thumb drives soon!  Don't take my word for it, watch their short demo video and you'll see the light.

As you'd expect, it keeps your files on a server that is accessible via a web browser connected to the internet. But what you might not expect is that it also works as a folder right on your desktop, laptop or smart phone and keeps all of those places perfectly synced at all times. You can run DropBox entirely from the finder as a regular folder and never interface with the website(after the initial setup of course) and as long as you have the DropBox app installed on the machine you are working on, you will have an exact copy of your DropBox folder everywhere you go. It's pretty darn handy!

It also gives you the ability to share folders within your DropBox folder with friends and family making it easy to share photos, music, video, etc, without having to worry about file size when emailing and all those other things that make sharing stuff by email so cumbersome. And fear not, they will not accidentally stumble upon your hidden collection of latex fetish videos or your development and marketing strategies for your new killer app, just the files or folders you give them permission to see.

And, if that's not enough, their iPhone and iPad apps, which are also free, give you file browsing ability that you just don't have natively with those units.  I've got a ton of pictures in my drop box that are huge files and I can scroll right through them just like in the photo app on the phone, without taking up any memory on my phone.  You can also view and organize pdf's, word docs and all sorts of other documents that are normally challenging to manage with the iPhone OS.

I've been using it for a couple of days now and the performance has been flawless so far. I can see the life changing potential already for sure.  So what are you waiting for my friends?  Go to DropBox.com and try it out for yourself.  I promise you'll thank me for it.  At least I know Gene will anyway.

Free Gradient Images to use with the Gradient Wipe!

Hey Gang, I did a little research and found a nice collection of free B&W gradient images for you to use with the gradient wipe as explained in my last tutorial.  You can download them by clicking here.  It appears they are made by some nice fellow named Harry, who gives a lot of stuff away and also has stuff for sale.  It's not the slickest website you'll ever see, but he does seem to have some good stuff there.  If you missed my Gradient Tutorial you can see it here.

FCP Tip #009: The Gradient Wipe Demystified

It was such a gorgeous day today that I couldn't bear to stay inside typing this tip. So, I present a video tutorial instead. Not sure if it was actually any faster to produce, but like many of the things I do, it seemed easier in theory. Enjoy your new found gradient wiping ability my friends. If anyone knows a good source to get gradient-wipe-ready images please post a comment for the folks that don't have the handy collection that I do. Please note, if you find yourself longing for higher quality video than this YouTube version you can see a  huge, crystal-clear flash version here.

UPDATE:  It has come to my attention that unless you have had Final Cut Pro since version 3.0, the FX Scripts DVE's will not be installed.  I've been upgrading all along so they have stayed for me, but apparently a lot of you don't have them available in your Transitions menu.  Sadly, they are no longer free but are available, along with a whole host of other handy effects at www.cgm-online.com.

FCP Tip # 008: Enable/Disable Clip

OK gang,(I guess that means you Gene) I'm fresh off of a much needed vacation and ready to get back into the sharing knowledge business.  Today's tip is all about turning individual clips on and off rather than turning entire video tracks on and off for the purpose of trying out alternate shots in an edit.  Believe me, this can save you oooodles of render time.

We've all seen the warning as we are about to turn off a video or audio track about how we're gonna lose all of our render files, yada, yada, yada.  We go ahead and turn off the track anyway and then end up re-rendering stuff that we've already rendered once we turn that track back on again.  In a long timeline with a lot of effects, this can really take a toll.  And sometimes the need to do this can happen dozens of times during an edit and I can't think of a worse use of time than re-rendering the same clip(s) over and over.

Want a better way to keep alternate clips around on the timeline without having to turn off entire tracks?  When I've got an alternate clip, or several, I leave them right in the timeline on a track above and just disable them in place by selecting the clip in the timeline and then hitting Control+B on the keyboard.  You can also do this by going to Modify>Clip Enable but in case you haven't noticed, I'm a big proponent of keyboard shortcuts and I  strongly recommend against using the slow painful menu system.  Although the function is labeled "Clip Enable", it actually works as a toggle-style on and off switch.  Meaning select it once to turn off, select again to turn on.  Working with the keyboard shortcut Control+B, you can turn your alternate clips on and off very quickly.  I'll often have a stack of 3, 4, 5 even 10 and turn them on one at a time to show the various options to a producer or director.  This can be done very fast with little to no render repercussions unlike turning off entire tracks.

I not only use this feature to keep alternate clips around, it is also a great way to A/B compare a color correction or any other video effect.  For instance, if I have a clip that has 3 or 4 effects on it and I want to see what it looked like originally, I can't uncheck all of the filters fast enough to get a true before and after view, but if I keep an unaffected version of the clip on the track above it and just turn it on and off with Control+B, it works instantly.  I find this particularly useful when I am trying to match someone else's color correction.  I open the "video scopes" window and watch the scopes as I turn the top clip on and off, eventually dialing in a matching color correction.

There you have it folks Control+B...for enaBle.

FCP Tip #007: Sham Wow that Shift+Z is Awesome!

Hi, it's Vince here with an exciting new product from the makers of Sham Wow. It's called "Shift+Z 2000". Want to reveal the full expanse of your timeline in the sequence window in an instant? "Shift Z+2000" can help. Accidentally zoomed in on your viewer window when you thought you were in your sequence window and want to get it back to the way it was fast? "Shift+Z 2000" can help. Accidentally spilled some cola on your light colored carpet? Well, I guess you're screwed because we're talking about a keyboard shortcut here people. You always take the metaphor too far. I hate when you do that!

Anywho, what I'm trying to get across here is that shift+Z is useful in many situations, just like the Sham Wow. Hitting Shift+Z in your timeline zooms you out just far enough to see the entire timeline from beginning to end, no more, no less. And if you're sloppy like me, you accidentally zoom in on your viewer window thinking you're in the sequence window at least 10 times a day. Hitting shift+z after you do this in your viewer or canvas window, resizes the video in the window to fit perfectly. No matter how far zoomed in or out you were, it makes it "fit."

Tune in next week when I'll be back with, what I hope is, the Slap Chop of keyboard shortcuts. Oh and don't believe everything that you read, I didn't touch her. She fell down.

Couldn't mention Slap Chop without the payoff, could I?

FCP Tip #006: Inserting and Overwriting video without audio with fewer clicks

Ok gang, this one could save you enough time in a month to allow you to wax my boat.  It's ok, I don't really have a boat, but by the time I do you should have saved enough time to wax it a few times.  We'll talk.

So, here goes.  If you want to cut just the video from a clip in the viewer into your sequence there's an easier way than going down and clicking your audio target buttons to the off position in the timeline. All you need to do is instead of marking your in and out points in the viewer with the "i" and "o" buttons, use control +"i" and control + "o".  Do this in the viewer only for it to work.  For most reliable results.  Don't mark points in your sequence, just have the tapehead (that's what the Apple folks call the timeline indicator thingy) parked at the frame you want to cut your shot in on.  Hit F9 or F10 and voila, video with no audio without the need for turning off and on any audio targets in your sequence.


You'll have to decide when the right time to use it is, but when you are switching back  and forth from cutting audio + video and just video a lot sounds like a good time to me.

FCP Tip #005: Preview complicated timelines without rendering.

I've got a lot on my plate this week, so this is a quicky but I still think you'll find it very helpful. Most people find themselves creating sequences that have layering demands which exceed the realtime capabilities of any FCP set up. When you're short on time you may not want to render these complicated parts only to have to tweak them moments later and re-render. A handy way to play through those deep layered parts, or your render-intensive transitions, is to press OPTION+P. This will give you a nice smooth approximation of what the rendered scene will look like. Although not in real time, this technique still provides a great preview of motion and feel. Plus, it allows you to keep flowing with your edit rather than stopping to render.

FCP Tip #004: Syncing clips with the difference composite mode

If you need to "eye match" a clip and want to get it done quickly and without error, this is a great way to do it in Final Cut Pro, Vegas, Premiere, After Effects or any program that has a "difference" composite mode or transparency mode.  I thought it best to show you rather than explain because frankly, I'm already confused.  Here's a handy video that explains everything you need to know. I guarantee it will make a difference in your editing life.


By the way, that is my buddy Ray. At least he used to be my buddy. I just realized how unflattering that footage is. Apparently, not everything that happens in Vegas stays there. Sorry pal. I just can't bear to record this again. Hey maybe you'll go viral...i can just see those crazy nose scratching vegas guy mash up videos now.

FCP Tip #003: Remap your keyboard, change your life. (Dramatic much?)

One of the benefits of having worked on Avid, Final Cut Pro and Media 100 is that I've gotten exposure to different ways of doing things.  Avid got some things right, Media 100 kinda happened and FCP made some marked improvements to non linear editing, no one can deny that.(Although they certainly try in an effort to kill time while the beach ball is spinning.)

There are a few places where FCP's keyboard shortcuts don't work for me and here's how I fixed them.  The first set of keyboard shortcuts I decided to modify are the "go to in" and "go to out".  My editing style has me going to my in and out points hundreds of time per day and I think it's just absurd to have to hold down a modifyer key to go to these points. (Stock FCP setup is shift+I and shift+O).  It completely destroys my rhythm. (I edit like I'm playing a drum machine at times)  To fix this shortcoming, I have taken a page from the Avid keyboard layout and have re-mapped the Q and W buttons to "go to in" and "go to out" respectively.  If you've been on FCP for a while you might already be used to the default functions of those buttons, but I did this remap early on before I ever knew what Q and W did in FCP so it was a non-issue.  Plus, if you bounce back between Avid and FCP, like I do, it makes the first hour after crossing over much less painful. (A scented candle can be nice too)

The second life-improving re-map I did was to the X key.  I'm not sure what the heck it does in it's default setting, but I do know that it doesn't do what I'd like it to do.  I could never get it to really work like Avid's mark clip button, but I've found something that's pretty good.  I've remapped it with the "mark selection" function. You can search for it in the keyboard layout window, it's in there trust me.  "Mark selection" sets and in and out point around the in and out points of a selected clip in your sequence.  Very handy out of the gate, click on a clip, hit X and you've got an in and out to replace it or cut something into your timeline above or below it.  But wait, there's more.  If you select multiple clips, it will mark an in and out across the entire range of clips you've selected enabling you to fill all sorts of holes you'd otherwise have to painstakingly mark manually.  Oh, the places you will go with your X key my little one.  Try it out and let me know what you think.

FCP Tip #002: Nudging the position of a clip with arrow keys in Final Cut Pro

Here is the next tip in a long line of "things I wish I had known when I started using Final Cut Pro."  I'm finding even many veteran users haven't picked up on this one and it's so darn handy I need to share it with the world.  Nudging a clip in space in your canvas window without dragging it around with the mouse but by using the arrow keys like you would in After Effects.  It can be done and it's too easy, it's just not obvious unless you break out the manual occasionally.

OK, get ready to have your mind blown.  First, make sure "image + wireframe" is selected for your canvas window.  Second, click on the clip or graphic, or whatever, you want to move in the canvas window. You should see an indication that it is selected.   Now, while holding the option key, press any of the 4 directional arrow keys on your keyboard and you should see your clip moving around in space.  This is a much more precise way of positioning of clips/graphics than by using the mouse.  To Sum up, grab the clip, press option, then press an arrow key to move it.  Look at that, just like in After Effects, sort of.  Ok now get in your time machines and go fix those old projects.

FCP Tip #001: Overwrite with sequence content

With a global recession causing budgets to tighten up, faster turnaround times required for new methods of distribution, etc. an editor needs to pick up the slack by acquiring speed and knowledge. For speed, there is no substitute or shortcut for seat time to provide repetition and build muscle memory. But for knowledge, you can certainly speed things up by learning from people, as opposed to trial and error and/or hunting and pecking your way through a program. In this post, I will share some knowledge that many of you may find useful and is intended to save you some time and help you avoid some of those pesky Final Cut render file problems that come from nesting sequences.

First, let's be clear that nesting sequences is not necessarily a bad thing. There is just a time to nest and a time where you definitely don't want to, or need to, nest. Here's an example of a time where people may find themselves nesting unnecessarily. If you're like me, at some point you've made the realization that logging clips, giving them distinct names and descriptions, while helpful, can be a huge time waster in an edit and sometimes just plain overkill for a particular job that won't be around long enough to go back through all the carefully named clips in a bin. Because all of this data entry may not be worth the return on investment for many quick projects, I've taken to making “selects” sequences instead of logging clips into bins. I basically go through my raw footage and pear it down to just the stuff I like by editing clips from the raw footage into a sequence that I usually name “Selects” or something similar.

Then when I'm all done this style of “logging”, I'll load this selects sequence into my viewer window and use it like a clip marking ins and outs and overwriting to a new edit sequence. Here is where the trouble comes in. Most people will edit away using F10 to overwrite or drag those clips from the “selects” sequence (loaded into their viewer) into the edit sequence and what they end up with is a bunch of clips that are really nested chunks of the selects sequence rather than individual clips from the raw footage clips. Some people don't use this workflow because of this result and those who do tend to run into a multitude of potential problems such as; Match framing back to your raw footage from your timeline will not work, batch digitizing can be tricky and will likely require you to capture more than you really need if you ever delete your footage and need to recapture and the potential for the problem in Final Cut that I've taken to calling “sticky render files” where even though you make changes inside of a sequence, sometimes the sequence that contains a nest of the sequence you changed does not update properly because it did not force itself to re-render after the changes were made. So the old edit lingers until you disable and enable the updated section to force a new render.

How can I edit selected parts of a sequence into another sequence without getting a string of nested sequence clips? All that is required is a simple remap of your F9 and F10 keys. (There is a video tutorial of this process at www.davestiles.com if you prefer to watch over reading) Out of the box they are mapped to “insert” and “overwrite” respectively. In order to insert or overwrite the original clips from a sequence in your viewer rather than chunks of the sequence itself, we need to remap those keys with the operations named “insert sequence content” and “overwrite sequence content”. You can type “insert” or “overwrite” in the search window at the top right of the keyboard layout dialogue box to narrow down the choices to help find them. Drag the “insert sequence content” to the F9 key on the map and drag “overwrite sequence content” to the F10 key on the map. Save and close your keyboard layout. Now when you load a sequence into your viewer and F9 or F10 into the timeline you will get the original clips in your timeline, not chunks of sequence. You like that George?  Nice.